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Background: Dysmenorrhoea is a common gynaecological problem that affects women and has a detrimental impact on their lives. However, women seldom seek medical advice and prefer self-care methods to manage their dysmenorrhoea. Identifying the self-care methods used to manage the pain and the source of information related to self-care methods used among dysmenorrhoeal nursing students would assist health care providers in devising an intervention to improve students' health. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st of March up to the end of April in 2018 to identify the characteristics of dysmenorrhoea and the self-care methods used among female nursing students at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. Data were collected from 194 participants using self-administered questionnaires. Results: More than half of respondents (60%) complained of moderate menstrual pain followed by severe pain (22%). The majority of respondents (73.7%) experienced cramping pain in the lower abdomen (89.7%), beginning with menstrual flow (50.1%) and lasting one to two days (64.8%). Nausea (52.1%), dizziness (47.9%) and headaches (45.9%) were the most prominent dysmenorrhoea symptoms. The most common method used to relieve dysmenorrhoea was rest (86.6%) followed by a warm compress (67.0%). Ibuprofen was the most common medication used to manage dysmenorrhoea (22.2%), while the most common herb used was cinnamon (39.2%). Family was the main source of information on the methods used for 80.9% of the respondents. Conclusions: The nursing students used various methods to relieve their …