Here's Why You Get Back Pain During Your Period—and How to Get Some Sweet Relief

Oh, the joys of PMS and periods. During the days leading up to and during your period, you get to experience a variety of symptoms, from hot flashes to nausea to painful cramps. For a lot of women, those days of the month can really throw them off track—sometimes making them call out sick at work, skip social events, and just feeling uncomfortable throughout the day when they've got a million other things to do.

Lower-back pain is another common (and annoying) symptom that you might experience before and during your period. As I'm writing this story, I'm currently going through some lower-back pain problems and on the first day of my period. If life is imitating art, I'd like it to stop now… I've been getting up from my desk to walk around after every paragraph I write because it's been helping me with my discomfort but also making it a lot harder to get this story done in a timely manner.

Why do we get lower-back pain during our time of the month? All roads lead to prostaglandins, a chemical your body makes. It triggers uterine muscle contractions, which helps your uterus expel its lining, but can also cause cramping, which leads to back pain. "If you have uterine cramping, it can radiate to the back, and hip pain can radiate to the pelvis. The body's way more interconnected than we even think," says Heather Bartos, MD, a board-certified OBGYN and founder of Be. Women's Health and Wellness clinic in Texas.

Some women might feel more intense pain than others. "Our uterus is either tilted forward, it's right mid-line, or is tilted backward, and those are all normal variants," Bartos says. "If you have a tilted backward uterus or retroflexed uterus, it can then, of course, exacerbate that because it's tipped toward the back. It can create those symptoms even more."

For the most part, it's normal to experience some back pain during this time, but you'll want to chat with your doctor if the pain continues for a long time. "If you're having it all month long, or it's not with your period or around your period, then you should have that evaluated," Bartos recommends. "It shouldn't last past the first day or so of your period. If it's lasting six or seven days into your cycle, that's not normal." She suggests keeping track of when you're feeling pain to make sure it's not a sign of something else.

You should also see a doctor if it becomes too debilitating that you can't do anything. "If it sucks severely enough where you're having to stay home from school or work, or you're having trouble walking, those are definitely signs you need to get that evaluated. Or if it's pain where it's not being helped by common remedies," she says. And what exactly are these remedies? We've outlined them below.