“Severe menstrual pain is normal and must be endured.”
Severe period pain is not something you have to just endure.
Period pain that disrupts your life is worth treating, not toughing out. Simple treatments help many people, and pain that does not get better with them is a reason to look for a cause.
For your next period, try an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen or naproxen, starting the day before your period is due, and book a visit if it does not help.
Safety note: Check with a clinician before using ibuprofen or naproxen if you have had stomach ulcers or bleeding, have kidney or liver disease, asthma or a bleeding disorder, or are allergic to aspirin or other NSAIDs. Do not take ibuprofen at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy unless your doctor tells you to.
Talk to a healthcare professional if: period pain keeps you from school, work or daily activities, treatment does not help after 3 months, the pain started after years of normal periods, or you have pain at other times of the month. Get care right away for fever with pelvic pain, foul-smelling discharge, or sudden severe pain, especially if your period is late.
Many trials show that anti-inflammatory pain relievers give good relief to about half of people with period pain, compared with fewer than 1 in 5 on placebo, and current guidance treats severe period pain as a possible sign of endometriosis. Confidence is moderate, not strong, because the pain-relief benefit is large and consistent across many trials, but the reviewers rated those trials low quality, mainly for poor reporting.
Severe period pain is not something you have to just endure. It is common, but proven treatments help many people, and severe pain can be a sign of a condition like endometriosis that deserves care.
Painful periods are common and are the leading cause of missed school and work among women in their teens and 20s. In a 2015 Cochrane review of 80 trials in 5,820 women, about 18% got moderate or excellent pain relief on a placebo, compared with 45% to 53% on anti-inflammatory pain relievers (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or naproxen; mild side effects such as stomach upset were somewhat more common. Birth control pills and hormone IUDs are other options when self-care is not enough. Pain that starts after years of normal periods is often linked to conditions such as endometriosis or fibroids. A 2026 guideline from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists lists painful periods among the symptoms that should raise suspicion of endometriosis and says treatment can start based on symptoms and an exam, without surgery first; people wait an average of 4 to 11 years for an endometriosis diagnosis.
- MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. Painful menstrual periods. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Reviewed May 29, 2026
- Marjoribanks J, Ayeleke RO, Farquhar C, Proctor M. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for dysmenorrhoea. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2015;(7):CD001751. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001751.pub3. PMID: 26224322. PMCID: PMC6953236
- Medical Dialogues. ACOG releases updated clinical guidance on endometriosis to accelerate diagnosis and improve access to care. March 2, 2026
- MedlinePlus. Ibuprofen. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Revised September 15, 2023