Cramping Their Style

An unfortunate few on campus volunteer to experience menstrual cramps for the very first time using a simulation machine.

For anyone who spent their summer scrolling through TikTok, occasionally a video of men trying period pain simulators would pop up. Grown adults wriggling around with a small machine attached to them as their faces scrunched up in pain was definitely as entertaining as it was unusual. While it was amusing to watch, questions inevitably come to mind about the accuracy of the simulator and the validity of the loud and expletive filled reactions of the men putting it to the test.

A brief amount of research reveals that these machines weren’t actually made for the purpose of period pain simulation. They are actually TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) machines, which are used as a form of pain relief. They are attached to the body using sticky pads that send small electrical impulses to the area they are connected to. The impulses can reduce the pain signals going to the spinal cord and brain, which can help to relieve pain. However on TikTok and in a recent experiment conducted at NRS, the device was used for a different purpose. When the intensity level of the electrical impulse is high enough, it can start to cause pain instead of relieving it, and when placed on the spot where menstrual cramps are felt, it can replicate that sensation. The machine used in this experiment has a central controller with intensity levels ranging from 1-20 rating how strong the electrical impulses are, and four sticky pads placed on the body that the electrical signals are sent through. 

The simulator was first used on 10 people who experience periods in order to find what their average intensity of pain is, which was found to be an 8.5/20. After being surveyed it appeared that the majority of these participants experience cramps on both their stomachs and lower backs, as opposed to just one or the other. These findings were reflected in experiments with volunteers who do not suffer from menstrual cramps. Each participant wore the simulator during one class period (50 minutes), at an intensity level of between 8 and 9 out of 20, with two pads on their stomach and two on their lower back. 

A Town Hall announcement asking for volunteers who don’t experience periods to participate in this experiment led to a group of 7. When asked why they wanted to voluntarily experience this pain, most explained that they knew periods were very painful and had a genuine desire to gain more empathy by experiencing that pain for themselves. “I heard they suck and I imagine they suck but I [didn’t] know for myself,” said senior Andrew Evans, a participant in the experiment. 

“It sounded pretty fun,” said sophomore Jonathan Melaku. But Melaku didn’t describe it as being fun later on: “I felt like my stomach was gonna get torn… It was pretty painful.” Other accounts support Melaku’s claims. “At first you think that it’s fine, and it just feels normal. Then after the next few minutes, it’s punching you in the same spot again and again and again, and it’s sore and it keeps on going and it doesn’t let up and you don’t get used to it. It’s terrible!” reported junior Cole Prawer. 

For most, the pain became difficult to hide. “I did, like, scream and punch the table a few times, I’m not gonna lie,” said senior Fabian Villena (It should be noted that Villena elected to have his simulator at an intensity level of 20/20 in order to match his girlfriend’s pain level.) While some kept themselves more composed than Villena, they still had a tough time. Even the most composed of them all, Physics teacher Jeff Hindman, was unable to demonstrate the method for solving a routine kinematics problem while wearing the simulator. “I think it’d be hard to carry out daily activities while experiencing that pain. I’d suffer through it, but it would make it hard to do other things,” Hindman said.

The participants’ lack of ability to perform schoolwork (or teach class) became the most telling result of the experiment: all of them had a lot of difficulty participating in class the way they usually do. “I was the last to finish a quiz by far [about 15 minutes], it was very hard to pay attention,” said junior Cy Arato-Orlovski. One participant, who requested to remain anonymous, failed a quiz he felt adequately prepared for while wearing the simulator.

Apparently, the issue these subjects experienced wasn’t handling the pain, but maintaining composure and concentration while enduring it. And while volunteers felt that they could have dealt with the pain throughout the entire day, they didn’t particularly want to. 

Luckily for all involved, they don’t have to experience this “time of the month” on a regular basis or, really, ever again. The same cannot be said for those who suffer from menstrual cramps and are forced to feel like this every month. And for people who have conditions such as endometriosis, their experiences are much worse than what these men went through, according to the Mayo Clinic. Add on any of the many possible additional symptoms — headaches, nausea, bloating, fatigue, and the blood itself — and it is hard to fathom how those who menstruate are able to live normal lives. Despite the fact that some companies have begun to implement menstrual leave policies, and even countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Zambia, it doesn’t seem likely that this will become a widely accepted practice in the U.S. any time soon. While periods are still seen as a taboo subject by some, progress in daily discourse is being made, and perhaps the gained empathy of a few in our own community will move the discussion even further along.