Lived Experience of Women with Severe Dysmenorrhea

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning and nature of the lived experience of women with severe dysmenorrhea. Methods: Hermeneutic phenomenology by van Mannen and feminist philosophy informed this study involving 20 women who were 10~40 years old. Data was collected by using focus group interview 2 times from 10 women and in-depth interview from other 10 women from September to December, 2010. Results: The essential themes were message from body, deconstruction of negative stereotyped body, and authorship of my body. Participants described their own painful experiences. They recognized that psychological stress impacted on severe dysmenorrhea, so they made self caring time. They had positive attitude to menstruation, said that dys-menorrhea was not illness, but normal life process. They had internal strength, wisdom, and sistership. Conclusion: This study revealed meaning of pain experience in sociocultural context. This finding have implications for healt