Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Menstrual cramps, which can be categorized as primary or secondary depending on the etiology, are a painful feature of dysmenorrhea. Researchers from throughout the country found that self-care practices for dysmenorrhea included reducing physical activity, adjusting diet, medications, or treatments, adopting alternative therapies, recording symptom clusters of discomforts, and expressing feelings. Methodology: There were 246 women in the reproductive age range who took part in this study. Thiruvallur district's Thirumazhisai town panchayat served as the location of a community-based cross-sectional study. Parameters such as menstrual history, food history, self-care techniques during dysmenorrhea, and sociodemographic information were evaluated using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. RESULTS: The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was found to be 71.54%. Among 47.15% of the participants, 75.8% who were married were found to have dysmenorrhea, whereas 67.7% of the 52.54% participants who were unmarried had dysmenorrhea. The association between age, smoking habits, exercise, and the presence of dysmenorrhea was found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Women, especially in India, have certain taboos and misconceptions associated with menstruation which can hurt their hygiene and self-care practices. This study highlights the need for menstrual hygiene awareness among women and proper self-care methods to be followed.