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What is menstruation (menstruation) is known firsthand to almost every female representative. Women also know that this biological process is characterized by cyclical changes that occur throughout the month in the body of all mature women. Such changes usually end with bloody discharge from the genitals. The first menstruation begins in girls at 11-15 years old, and menstruation ends in women aged 45-55 years, during menopause.
Scanty and profuse periods
If the menstrual cycle does not cause pain and deviations in duration (not shorter than 20 and not more than 35 days), the amount of discharge (not less than 50 and not more than 150 ml) and cyclicity, then it is considered normal. Usually during menstruation, a woman feels aching and pulling pain in the lower abdomen, but this is normal for this process.
According to doctors, every woman should know the frequency of her menstrual cycle in order to respond in a timely manner to any changes in the normal activity of the body. To do this, you need to have a calendar where you should mark the date of the beginning and end of menstruation, the degree of bleeding.
Scanty and rare discharge, absence of menstruation or, conversely, prolonged and abundant discharge, as well as uterine bleeding not associated with the menstrual cycle, are symptoms of a number of gynecological diseases. If such phenomena recur, a woman should immediately consult a doctor.
So, oligomenorrhea refers to menstrual irregularities, characterized by scanty and rare bleeding. Menstruation in this case takes place less often than once every 35 days. Such a disorder is accompanied by the growth of unwanted body hair and weight gain, which indicates ovarian dysfunction.
Causes of ovarian dysfunction
The causes of ovarian dysfunction are varied. It can be:
congenital pathology of the ovaries,
diseases of the thyroid gland, pituitary gland, hypothalamus, adrenal glands,
miscarriage (spontaneous termination of pregnancy) or abortion (artificial termination of pregnancy),
prolonged stress or infectious diseases of the genital organs.
Also, oligomenorrhea can be a sign of endometriosis and polycystic ovaries.
Abundant periods is another of the menstrual disorders, called menorrhagia (hypermenorrhea), in which bleeding continues for more than 7 days, and the total amount of discharge is more than 100 ml.
The most common causes of menorrhagia are:
endocrine diseases,
diseases of the pelvic organs,
blood clotting disorder.
Delay or absence of menstruation
Delayed menstruation is one of the most common female problems that requires a visit to a gynecologist.
If the reason for the delay in menstruation is not pregnancy, then these external factors can be such as:
excessive physical activity – athletes and ballerinas often suffer from a delay or absence of menstruation;
dramatic weight loss – for podium models, the absence or delay of menstruation is a common thing;
psychological stress – a woman’s body is designed in such a way that any adverse effect on the psyche can respond with a delay in menstruation. The body, as it were, independently decides whether or not a woman can become pregnant in a particular situation, and then processes occur in the brain that cause the menstrual cycle to fail;
acclimatization – moving to a permanent place of residence in another climatic zone, a vacation trip to exotic islands or “eternal snows” can also cause a delay in menstruation.
In addition to external factors, the female body can also fail in the following cases:
ovarian dysfunction (lack of ovulation, polycystic disease),
with a viral or bacterial infection,
with hypothyroidism (dysfunction of the thyroid gland) or insufficient production of certain female sex hormones.
Another female problem is the lack of menstruation – amenorrhea. It happens: false – due to a mechanical obstruction to the outflow of blood, for example, when the hymen is infected. Such cases require urgent surgical intervention. Amenorrhea can be physiological and occurs during pregnancy or after childbirth, while breastfeeding. They also distinguish between pathological or secondary amenorrhea – a violation of the menstrual cycle with the absence of spotting for more than six months with various diseases.
Failure and pain during menstruation
Pain during menstruation is a common occurrence in many perfectly healthy women. They can also be joined by: intestinal upset, weakness, nausea, headache, which are considered common female ailments during this period. Most often, during the examination, the doctor does not find any diseases in patients with such complaints and diagnoses “primary algomenorrhea”.
Experts know that there are different causes of pulling pain in the abdomen, and they conditionally divide them into 3 groups:
Pain during menstruation with gynecological diseases. One of these diseases is endometriosis, when the cells of the inner layer of the uterus (endometrium) grow in the cervix, peritoneum, rectum, ovaries, and muscular layer of the uterus. And since the endometrium is subject to cyclical changes, even in places atypical for it, this causes pain in the abdomen during menstruation.
Pain during menstruation with hormonal disorders. If there are other violations of the menstrual cycle, then most often the pain during menstruation is associated with hormonal disorders in the body. Such disorders are treated with preparations of female sex hormones. Pain that first occurs during menstruation may indicate an ectopic pregnancy.
Pain during menstruation with a genetic predisposition. Pain in this case usually occurs during the first menstrual cycles and the reason for this may be a violation of the normal development of the connective tissue – dysplasia. Naturally, when making such a diagnosis, the doctor must make sure that the patient has no gynecological diseases.
With connective tissue dysplasia, women are advised to lead a healthy lifestyle, engage in aerobics and swimming, as well as other sports for recreational purposes. Professional sports and dancing are prohibited. Foods rich in magnesium and calcium will also help to cope with pain, since in people with dysplasia, the concentration of these trace elements in the blood is reduced.
Depending on the results of the examination, the gynecologist, in case of menstrual irregularities, prescribes the appropriate treatment for the woman. So, with heavy and prolonged bleeding, the doctor, first of all, uses medications to stop them, and then prescribes progesterone preparations to stimulate ovulation in order to normalize the menstrual cycle. Typically, a woman takes such medications for several menstrual cycles.