Period Pains and Cramps-From a Guys Perspective

[Panay]

Earlier in my life, I didn't really take period pains seriously. It wasn't because I didn't think they were bad, it's more because I felt that, even if they were horrible, the pain was slightly exaggerated.

I think this is mainly from the cramps my sister had: she doesn't have a very high pain tolerance, and will complain incessantly if I so much as bump her in the arm, so I assumed that when her reaction to cramps wasn't much different, neither was the pain.

However my sister, it turns out, has fairly mild period pains, and after seeing a friend with such bad cramps that she threw up, and clearly suffering a huge amount I became much more aware of just how bad they can be.

The worst thing, in my opinion, is the regularity of them. The fact that even after they're over, there's only a month to wait until it starts all over again. And along with the pain comes a whole host of other issues of course.

How much do they hurt?

I think a lot of guys assume that they can't be that bad from seeing how the girl in question reacts to other things. For example, if a girl breaks down crying because they get a paper cut, then moan a bit because of cramps, they don't think it can hurt much.

But after getting caught up in arguments about how painful period pains really are, and arguing that girls tend to have lower pain thresholds, I realised that it doesn't matter! Maybe this is obvious to most people, but I had genuinely never thought of it this way: it doesn't matter how much you'd be affected by cramps-maybe you think you have a higher tolerance and would handle it better, but the fact is, if the person with the pain has a lower threshold, they'll feel more pain than you would. And that's fine. It doesn't mean that they're overeacting to the pain, it just means they feel more from a cetain stimuli than you would.

Of course many girls have a higher pain threshold than guys, and period pains vary hugely form girl tho girl. However most of the girls that I personally know at least seem to have a lower tolerance, and the last paragraph in particular is aimed at guys in similar situations.

[luvstoned4him]

I am glad that at least one male is making an effort to understand. Sometimes in all that pain, I think my bro and mom think am overeacting but I am not. I dont know how they can say that women can handle pain a lot more than men especially in Pregnancy. Great take !

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if my female freinds have very mild period or a very high pain threshold. I can never tell when they are having one and they won't talk about it even if they are having one. I want to try and understand but they won't even let me try.

[Elena_the_Star]

I have severe ones, I am planning on going on the Pill ASAP when I get sexually active. I get mild throughout the week before it actually starts, and when it starts, oh boy my first reaction is to rush to the medicine cabinet and pop some painkillers. Period is a mean, cruel, manipulative bitch, first the cramps start out as mild and you think you can handle them and sometimes they disappear for a while and you think," Ah! there, nothing big I don't need to pop some medicines to handle a little pain" and then suddenly like you are sailing in a boat and a huge wave crashes over you and everything goes bonkers, huge painful cramps start as if my uterus is ruptured or something. I don't cry or moan, no, not even a bit and one look at me is enough to know how much I am suffering. Never have I ever approached a friend or teacher in school when they unexpectedly started, and asked to be sent home and they didn't agree immediately. my face goes " white, frightening with my eyes bulging out" according to my friends and honestly i think they are scared of me at that time. Oh and then suddenly again the cramps will stop for a while and you think its over but no, not even the start. The second wave is even painful and each time I don't know how I get through, how I just don't bang my head in the wall and kill myself. Its only after 2-3 times I have been deceived into thinking I can endure I take the painkillers ( if I am in school) otherwise at home I just rush first thing to the cabinet and pop it. Then sometimes come the crazy urge to poop, I had to use the school washroom when it became absolutely unbearable ( and I am usually against using school washroom for doing that, i don't do that anywhere except my own toilet). Oh and did I tell you about the nausea, body aches, the feeling of being unhygenic and uncomfortable with wearing a kind of diaper between your legs? My lower legs and knees immediately start to ache, and so does my back and rest of my body. I have thrown up a few times during this. I just want to curl up and sleep it off on these days.
When I am home, its not THAT bad, still quite bad not that much.
When I am anywhere else, and out of painkillers, its... I don't have the words, the most dreadful thing that will ever happen to you. At least I know one thing, I need the drugs they give out during labor or I will die :)

[BambooforPanda]

Women in general are really self-conscious about their periods around men because it's completely unrelatable to them. Not just that, it's thoroughly disgusting. And what woman wants to appear thoroughly disgusting to men? I'm pretty sure half of my cramps are from constipation and gas and god knows wtf the rest of them are. And I know mine are mild to moderate in contrast to most women I know. To top it off I discovered that wearing tampons was causing me more and worse cramps, so I switched to pads and there is always ALWAYS leaking. At a point you just quit caring that all your underwear and bed sheets have period stains because it's a nightmare changing them, soaking them in cold water and scrubbing them out by hand with laundry soap. Every day for an entire week once a month. Sometimes I don't know how I did high school because of it. Such a fucking mess. And then you feel obligated to deal with it without anyone around you knowing that you're dealing with it.

Something that might have even contributed to the attitude you had about it initially is that almost all women pretend that it doesn't bother them even when it does or play it off as something else (sick, slept badly, sore from workout, etc.) because it's so taboo, so the only person you see complaining is someone who trusts you implicitly but there are all these other women who obviously get them that seem just fine.

[Cookies_AndMilk]

I think I'm fairly good with pain, even with my period cramps. When I was 10 sometimes I'd cry from the pain most of the time I sleep through it. I have a medical condition that causes very painful periods along with other issues. I vomit all day, I can't eat food and sometimes I can't drink water. I've passed out several times before and usually I wind up dehydrated. My periods are absolutely horrible, they're crippling and typically I can't go anywhere or eat food for 2-3 days. This was causing issues with work and school so I've now started birth control for the issue. Since taking my pills I've no longer had this problem which is great. However if I stop them my periods will go right back to being sucky.

[vertigo3201]

I'm not sure what my pain threshold is, but I know that period cramps can be extremely painful for me. I've vomited, cried, and have been nearly paralyzed with the pain. Frequently I've missed school and called in sick to work because I can't get out of the fetal position.

I feel like a lot of the guys I know make fun of girls when they talk about their period cramps, and call them wimps. They almost always think you are exaggerating, so I don't talk about it with my guys friends. I've tried to explain it to my boyfriend but it's hard for him to understand.

[Dulcedulcexoxo]

Pain tolerance plays a role but some women just have horrible period, cramping, bleeding, emotions. like feeling depressed , well super depressed for a few hours to days suck,. I've had time a where I'd just start crying out of nowhere guys would ask if something is wrong and girls would ask if I'm on my period. I mean it sucks but it's a price of being a woman and having babies.

[SakuraCherryBlossoms]

Thank you for mentioning the pain tolerance part. It's not just you, lots of people don't see that low tolerance people are the ones suffering the most. <3 <3 <3 This post

[Alibab]

I have minor cramps and pains but my I go off the charts in the bitch-o-meter

[SunsetRose]

Thank you!!!

[IceEverest]

Preach...