Women’s Health: The Menstrual Cycle
• Menstrual flow occurs every 21 to 35 days and lasts two to seven days • The menstrual cycle (counted from the first day of one period to the first day of the next) isn’t the same for every woman. • Every woman past the age of puberty has vaginal discharge; it’s normal, necessary, and healthy. • Normal discharge can be clear, thick, white, thin, creamy, or slippery during ovulation, and sexual arousal. • Normal discharge can have no odor, or even a mild odor.
Common Irregularities/Problems
Spotting
Cause
• Birth control pills • Polyps (overgrowth of normal tissue in the uterus or cervix caused by high estrogen levels. (changing your pad/tampon more than 5 times a day)
Heavy Flow
(requiring nothing more than a light panty linter/pad)
Light Flow
What To Do
• 99.95% of the time it’s nothing to worry about. • If it doesn’t resolve itsel, ask a doctor about a higher dose birth control pill. • Polyps can be removed to check for premalignancies.
Cause
• Fibroids or benign tumors in the uterus distort the uterine wall causing more bleeding when you shed your uterine lining during your period.
What To Do
• Fibroids typically shrink or disappear when you hit menopause. • Can be eliminated with ultrasound surgery, artery embolization, or other methods.
Cause
• Low dose combination or progestin-only pills can reduce flow. • If you’re not on birth control, and you see nothing but bits of staining, you could have an imbalance of thyroid or pituitary hormones.
What To Do
• Try a different birth control method. • If it’s a thyroid problem, you may need medication. Consult your physician. • If the case is a malformed uterus, you may need corrective surgery.
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Cause
Irregular Cycles
Cause What To Do
• If your period change is sudden, see your gynecologist. • Hormone therapy or low dose birth control pills can also help you with irregularities.
Cramps
What To Do
• Ibuprofen, naproxen, or aspirin can fight off the production of prostaglandins and reduce pain. Tylenol is not effective. • Take these medications at the first hint of cramps or even before your period starts since they will have no effect on the prostaglandins that have already been made by your body. • With endometriosis, you may need hormonal treatments that will lower estrogen levels in the body or surgery to remove the tissue.
No Period
Cause
• If you’ve ruled out hormonal problems/other ailments linked to an irregular cycle, you could be pregnant. • Long periods can overlap with the beginning of ovulation, so there is a possibility that you can be fertile even though you’re menstruating. • If you have sex close to the end of your period, you could become pregnant since sperm can live for 72 hours in your reproductive tract.
What To Do
• If you don’t want to get pregnant, always use protection. • If you have unprotected sex, emergency contraception is available.
• Pregnancy, menopause, or perimenopause (5 years prior to menopause). • Stress, severe weight loss, extreme weight gain. • Medications and endocrine disorders. • Metabolic syndrome.
• Chemicals (prostaglandins) in the uterus that bring on contractions to expel the uterine lining during your period. • Intense cramps can be a sign of endometriosis marked by uterine tissue growing outside of the uterus, typically in the pelvis and is sloughed off during your period.
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