I have a friend who has menstrual cramps, which started before her period with a small abdominal cramp, and also two days before her period with lower abdominal pain, and after her period everything goes back to normal. However, I don’t feel anything before or during my period, but when my period is almost over, I have discomfort in my stomach. Is this still dysmenorrhea? The definition of dysmenorrhea is that a woman experiences periodic pain in the small of her back, or pain leading to the lumbosacral region, or even fainting in severe pain, when she is on her period or before or after her period. We can see that as long as you are experiencing periodic discomfort in the lower abdomen after your period, it is also called dysmenorrhea. Then why do you have different symptoms from most patients with dysmenorrhea? In the Ming Dynasty “Jing Yue Quan Shu” there is a relevant discussion: “but the real pain, more pain before the line, the period pass and pain since the reduction; false pain, after both the line, blood to go and pain has not stopped, or blood to go and pain is more.” It means that abdominal pain before menstruation is mostly a real evidence, while after menstruation is mostly a deficiency evidence. Periodic menstruation in women is a manifestation of the fullness of Qi and Blood, and the overflow of the Sea of Blood. Chinese medicine believes that the pain is caused by local obstruction and poor circulation of qi and blood, using two classic phrases: “if it does not pass, it hurts” and “if it does not glory, it hurts”. “Rong” is the appearance of luxuriant grasses and trees, and here it means to nourish and nurture. Just like the river water rushing down the riverbed, if there is an obstacle blocking it, it will cause localized discomfort, “if it does not pass, it hurts”; and if the river water dries up and does not fill the entire riverbed, the river water will also not pass, which is the reason for “if it does not glory, it hurts”. Because the breast belongs to Yangming, and is connected to the sea of blood, so the typical symptom before menstruation is breast swelling and pain, which is a manifestation of fullness of qi and blood, but with local obstruction. During menstruation, qi and blood drains down with the menstruation, if it is blocked by cold and dampness, stagnant blood and stagnant qi, it will naturally be blocked and painful. After menstruation, the sea of blood is empty, then if the body can not quickly fill the deficit, can not glorify the meridians, pain and discomfort will be inevitable. Therefore, deficiency of qi and blood is the main cause of discomfort in the lower abdomen after menstruation. There is also a passage in Fu Qingzhu Women’s Medicine that says: “Women who have pain in the lower abdomen after menstruation think that the deficiency of qi and blood, but who knows that it is the drying up of the kidney qi”, stating that another cause of postmenstrual abdominal pain and lumbago is kidney deficiency. Chinese medicine believes that the lower abdomen and lumbosacral is the location of the liver and kidneys, the liver collects blood, the kidneys collect essence, the liver and kidneys are the same source. The overflow of a large amount of menstrual blood during menstruation can cause a momentary void in the liver and kidneys. If you already have liver and kidney deficiency, but also addicted to spicy, greasy, damp heat in the body caused by the sea of blood “boiling”, menstrual blood will increase, and even with menstruation time is extended, the result is more and more aggravated by your liver and kidney deficit; or menstrual period do not pay attention to rest, stay up late and work overtime; or too frequent intercourse, are bound to lead to not glory and pain. All in all, the post-menstrual abdominal pain and lumbar soreness is inclined to deficiency evidence, or from the lack of qi and blood, or from liver and kidney deficiency, all belong to the category of menstrual pain. In fact, any uncomfortable symptom is a message from the body to us, alerting us that we need to pay attention to something to prevent the situation from deteriorating further. What we need to do is not only to seek medical advice for pain, but also to understand the meaning and significance of these messages, and know how to correct our diet, lifestyle, temperament and other bad habits, so that our bodies can return to normal as soon as possible and embark on a smooth and unhindered path.