---
title: Does chronic pain get worse before your period? | Niyora
description: For some women, yes. About 37% of the women with chronic pain reported pain getting worse before menstruation, especially those with pain in multiple areas of
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/chronic-pain-and-the-premenstrual-phase-1987/
---

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- Does chronic pain get worse before your period?

Study, 1987

# Does chronic pain get worse before your period?

For some women, yes. About 37% of the women with chronic pain reported pain getting worse before menstruation, especially those with pain in multiple areas of the body or severe pain.

 Early or limited evidence

90 women ages 16 to 45 with chronic pain lasting longer than 6 months

## What they did

Researchers studied 90 women ages 16 to 45 who had chronic pain lasting longer than six months. They asked whether their pain changed during the premenstrual phase of their cycle.

## What they found

33 of the 90 women (37%) reported changes in pain before menstruation. Pain got worse in 29 women and less severe in 4 women. Women with pain in multiple areas of their body and those with severe pain were more likely to report changes before menstruation. Nine women also had premenstrual syndrome, and four of those nine reported that their pain got worse before their period.

## What it means for you

If you have chronic pain, you may notice it gets worse around your menstrual cycle, especially if you have pain in multiple places. The hormone changes before menstruation might affect how pain feels. We don't yet fully understand why this connection exists.

90

women studied

33

had pain changes before period

29

had increased pain

## About the study

Original title Chronic Pain and the Premenstrual Phase Authors Santosh K. Chaturvedi Journal Clinical Journal of Pain Year 1987 Study design Study Participants 90 Read the paper [doi.org/10.1097/00002508-198703020-00002](https://doi.org/10.1097/00002508-198703020-00002)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Premenstrual exacerbation (PME)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pme/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Chronic pain and fibromyalgia](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-chronic-pain/)

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