When should you contact your healthcare provider about menstrual cramps?

When should you contact your healthcare provider about menstrual cramps?

Bad cramps keep some women from working and going to school. You don’t have to suffer and you don’t have to put your life on hold. Contact your healthcare provider if you have painful periods.

It may be helpful to keep track of your periods and the days on which pain is the worst so you can make a complete report. If you notice other symptoms, like headaches or heavy flows, you should keep track of those, too.

Your provider will probably ask you when you started getting your period, how long they last, if you are sexually active, if other women in your family have problems with their periods and what kinds of treatments you might have tried already.