Mittelschmerz
Sign in to saveAlso known as ovulation pain, midcycle pain, cyclic pelvic pain
Key facts
- Medical condition.synonyms
- Ovulation pain, mid-cycle pain
- Medical condition.image
- AbdoPainDif.png
- Medical condition.caption
- Approximate location of abdominal pain based on potential causes
- Medical condition.specialty
- Gynecology
- Medical condition.symptoms
- One sided lower abdominal pain, spotting
- Medical condition.onset
- Mid menstrual cycle
- Medical condition.duration
- Minutes to days
- Medical condition.causes
- Related to ovulation but mechanism unclear
- Medical condition.diagnosis
- After ruling out other potential causes
- Medical condition.differential
- Appendicitis, endometriosis, ovarian cyst, ectopic pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections
- Medical condition.prevention
- Birth control pills
- Medical condition.treatment
- Paracetamol, ibuprofen
- Medical condition.prognosis
- None serious
- Medical condition.frequency
- 40% of women
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- medical diagnosis
- Subclass of
- pelvic pain
- Image
- AbdoPainDif.png
Show 4 more facts
- ICPC 2 ID
- X03
- facet of
- women's health
- health specialty
- gynaecology
- possible treatment
- ibuprofen
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
8 sectionsContents
- Signs and symptoms
- Other ovulation symptoms
- Causes
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
- Usefulness
- References
- External links
Mittelschmerz () is a term for pain due to ovulation. It occurs mid-cycle (between days 7 and 24) and can last minutes to up to several days. The pain affects one side of the lower abdomen and may be dull or sharp in nature. Other symptoms may include spotting. Often it occurs monthly and may alternate sides.
The underlying mechanism is unclear but may involve irritation due to release of blood and fluid from the follicle or high blood levels of luteinizing hormone causing contraction of smooth muscle. Diagnosis involves ruling out other potential causes such as appendicitis, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, ectopic pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mittelschmerz” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.