Teenage Period Pain Linked to Higher Risk of Chronic Pain in Adulthood

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

Teenagers who experience moderate or severe period pain are significantly more likely to develop chronic pain in adulthood, including pain beyond the pelvis, according to a major new study from the University of Oxford.

The findings offer a timely reminder of the urgent need to take adolescent menstrual pain seriously and improve the support available to young people.

Published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, the study is the first large-scale investigation into how painful periods (dysmenorrhea) in adolescence are linked to pain in young adulthood.

Researchers analyzed data from over 1,100 participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), finding that those with severe period pain at age 15 had a 76% higher risk of chronic pain by age 26, relative to those who reported no period pain. For moderate pain, the relative risk was increased by 65%.

Among teenagers who reported no period pain, 17% developed later chronic pain. After adjustment for various factors that could explain the association, the risk difference was +4.8 percentage points for mild, +12.7 for moderate, and +16.2 for severe period pain.

A clear pattern of increasing risk with increased period pain severity was found for overall chronic pain and across body sites; including headache, back, abdominal, and joint pain.

In addition, while previous studies have focused on pelvic pain, this study is the first to reveal a link between adolescent period pain and chronic pain in other parts of the body.

The researchers believe the link between adolescent period pain and later chronic pain may be partly explained by changes in the nervous system.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-teenage-period-pain-linked-higher.html