As a teacher, you can lead cultural change to support young people to care for their health across monthly menstrual cycles and through pelvic pain. Patterns of healthcare established in childhood and adolescence empower the adults of the future.
Fast facts
- Pelvic pain can affect a student's concentration, attendance, participation and wellbeing.
- Pain is real, individual and should always be taken seriously.
- Stress can make pain feel more intense and harder to manage.
- Small adjustments at school can help students stay engaged in learning and maintain participation in school life.
- Students may need temporary adjustments, such as rest breaks, modified participation in PE or access to class notes.
- Privacy, consent and confidentiality are important when supporting students experiencing pelvic pain.
- Severe pain, heavy bleeding, dizziness or fainting should prompt medical attention.
What is pelvic pain?
The student’s pain is real. It’s due to hormonal changes and inflammatory responses related to menstruation and periods.
The hormones released prior to and during periods commonly cause:
- muscle cramping, inflammation and pain in the pelvis
- Changes in bladder function like needing to go more often and more urgently as well asbowel function, with diarrhoea
- if other areas of the body are painful, the pain can be more intense
- rapid emotional changes such as sadness, irritation and anxiety.
For most students, menstrual bleeding and pain does not interrupt daily activities, but for others pain can be intense and sometimes also associated with heavy menstrual bleeding.
Stress hormones
Pain is influenced by situations that activate stress-related hormones. When the student is more stressed, their pain and anxiety may be more intense.
Focus and attention
Pain interrupts focus and attention. A student with pelvic pain may find it more difficult to:
- concentrate in class
- listen effectively to teachers or peers
- recall information.
A student may also need to go to the toilet more often.
How can I support students with pelvic pain?
You play an important role in helping your students by acknowledging pelvic pain.
You can:
- believe a student’s pain.
- let your students know that you recognise pelvic health is integral to physical health and wellbeing
- respect the need for students to manage these changes and their periods
- encourage your students to let teachers know what they need to do to manage their health and pelvic pain
- ensure all staff are trained on respectful and inclusive language
- make any changes or accommodations to make students more comfortable
- ensure privacy and consent will be respected
- maintain confidentiality and always obtain consent before sharing details with parents/guardians unless safety requires it
Strategies to help reduce pain
In many instances, and with milder pain, we can help calm the nervous system by:
- using calming strategies
- resting
- using a heat pack
- stretching
- doing gentle physical activity
- connecting with friends and family.
Some students find that focusing on their work or the task they are doing can help distract them from pain and make symptoms more manageable.
Young people are learning and trying their own strategies to manage their pelvic pain. It’s important to allow students to make their own decisions about how to manage their symptoms.
Adjustments to help a student with pain
There are a few small changes you can make to help support a student with pelvic pain.
You could consider:
- the student may need to take breaks from class to access a private space or attend the school nurse to help to manage their pain, such as using a heat pack
- the student may need to engage in physical education and sport at reduced intensity, for example taking a gentle walk or giving them space to stretch.
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due to a reduced attention span, the student may need work to be modified for a short period of time.
- it can be helpful to provide class notes if they’ve missed bits.
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Support the student to make their own decisions about pain management, such as:
- using a heat pack and/or TENS machine in class
- practicing calming strategies like belly breathing
- sitting or standing
- leaving the classroom to do some stretches
Intense menstrual pain and heavy bleeding
Some students will experience heavy periods, menstrual bleeding and intense period or menstrual pain. Symptoms include:
- severe cramping that limits their ability to undertake daily tasks
- soaking through a pad or tampon in under one to two hours, meaning they need to change more frequently
- large clots
- light-headedness or fainting
- extreme fatigue
- dizziness
- nausea
- anxiety
- noticeable changes in personality, mood or mood swings.
Students can experience substantial blood loss, which might look like:
- reduced capacity to maintain upright positions and physical activity due to light-headedness or dizziness
- extreme fatigue
- nausea and vomiting
- the need to access the bathroom frequently
- general withdrawal.
Supporting a student with intense menstrual pain and heavy bleeding can include:
- giving them a quiet place to rest and drink water, with access to a support person
- allowing them to stop activity without penalty
- providing access to menstrual products if available, and allowing extra breaks for changing
- encouraging use of heat packs and their personal TENS machine for pain relief (if available)
- promoting access to one of the student's trusted support people within the school environment
- considering the need to contact the young person's parent or guardian
- providing verbal and/or written information as hand over to the parent or caregiver
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allowing the student to access over-the-counter analgesics per guardian and/or medical advice consistent with school policy, and rest.
- do not administer medication unless authorised
Conversation starters
Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start. If you think a student might be experiencing pelvic pain, you could try saying:
- “I noticed you looked uncomfortable today, is there anything I can do to help you.”
- “You mentioned you get more tired than your friends, can I make any changes to help you take part?”
- “What would help you today?”
- “Would you like a short break?”
- “Is there anything we can adjust to make things easier?”
- “Would it help to talk with the wellbeing team or school nurse?”
Remember, it’s important to respect a student’s privacy if they don’t want to talk to you about their pain.
The Department of Education: School operations policy
This resource provides:
- policy outline
- guidance
- resources
Including:
- free menstruation product ordering
- free menstruation education guides across all ages and external sessions opportunities
- student support plans
Schools must support all students to manage their own personal hygiene routines, including those with disability or those who identify as trans or gender diverse.
Quick teacher checklist
- Believe the student's pain
- Respect privacy and confidentiality
- Allow bathroom and menstrual product access
- Offer breaks when needed
- Modify learning or PE participation temporarily
- Share notes or learning materials if concentration is impacted
- Escalate concerns when symptoms are severe
When does a student need medical attention?
- encourage family and/or guardian to seek medical follow-up if severe pain, or malaise is recurrent or getting worse.
- these can be signs of treatable conditions like hormonal imbalances, or anaemia .
Seek urgent medical attention if a student:
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shows signs of significant blood loss including:
- pale skin
- very low energy
- faints
- is light-headed
- has difficulty breathing
Helpful links: