This helps explain why nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs work for menstrual pain. There may be a more fundamental approach. After all, we know that birth control pills reduce menstrual pain, and they apparently do this by reducing the growth of the endometrial cell layer. The smaller this layer of cells is, the less tissue there is to make prostaglandins. In every monthly menstrual cycle, the amount of estrogens in a woman's body rises and falls.
Estrogens are female sex hormones.
You can think of them as a sort of hormonal fertilizer, making the cells of your body grow. Estrogens are responsible for breast development at puberty, and each month, they cause the lining of the uterus to thicken in anticipation of pregnancy. If you were to measure the amount of estrogens in a woman's bloodstream as her period ends and a new cycle begins, you would find that it is gradually rising. For about two weeks, it rises toward a peak and then falls quickly around the time of ovulation. It rises again in the second half of the month and then falls just before her next period.