What causes heavy menstruation and how to manage it
Although having menstrual bleeding is a sign that you are healthy (at least to a certain extent), it oftentimes comes with various symptoms that may not be very pleasant and easy to cope with. One of them is when your menstruation is heavy.
That’s something that doesn’t happen to every woman, and yet there are those who experience it from day one (referring to their first period) and those who go through it sporadically. Now, the question is, is heavy menstrual bleeding something to worry about?
In most cases, it isn’t, especially if it hasn’t happened suddenly but from the very beginning. But unfortunately, it can frequently prevent you from functioning normally due to all that heavy menstrual bleeding and cramping.
If this is something that you’ve been dealing with for a while, yet you’ve never explored its causes and solutions, then stay tuned because this informative guide is about to do it on your behalf.
Getting familiar with menorrhagia
An average blood loss during this period is roughly three tablespoons, which is about forty milliliters over four to five days. This is the case with women who have normal periods. In contrast, women who are suffering from menorrhagia, have the tendency to bleed for over one week or deal with heavy bleeding that forces them to employ one or more pads/tampons every hour for a couple of hours in a row.
Heavy menstrual bleeding isn’t uncommon. In fact, one-third of women deal with it at some point in their lives. Although it isn’t usually a reason for concern, it can oftentimes, seriously disrupt a person’s life, not allowing them to do any activities they normally do.
What you need to remember is the fact that if you do not treat heavy periods at all, it may result in anemia, which occurs when the blood doesn’t carry enough oxygen to the body and is another condition that may make you feel dysfunctional, overall weak and tired, and sometimes may even cause chest pain as well!
Fibroids can be the cause of it
So what are they? They represent an abnormal growth that is typically seen in the muscle of the uterus. They aren’t actually uncommon and strike about eighty percent of females. You’ll at times hear doctors calling them tumors, but don’t worry, in most situations, they are benign and won’t spread anywhere.
They tend to cause heavy periods if they are large, or you have more than one. If they are very small and do not cause any symptoms, then there’s no need to worry. On the other hand, if they do, then maybe you should consider having an effective uterine fibroid embolization which is a relatively new procedure (that isn’t too invasive) that has the goal of getting rid of the uterine fibroids. This is definitely something that you should discuss with your healthcare provider because ninety percent of women drastically improve the quality of their lives after it.
When was the last time you checked your hormones?
If you haven’t done it in a while, then now may be a good time to do so because this is another very common cause of heavy menstruation. In a classic menstrual cycle, there’s a balance between progesterone and estrogen (hormones).
Precisely something like this controls the pileup of the lining of the uterus, which is shed when you have a period. When a person is dealing with a hormonal imbalance, this lining becomes too thick and causes heavy menstrual bleeding, or at times, even unexpected bleeding when you’re not supposed to have a period.
There are various conditions that can cause this, such as being overweight, thyroid issues, insulin resistance, and PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). As mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, if you haven’t checked your hormones recently, then you should definitely do it as soon as possible just to cross them off your list, if they aren’t the ones causing this problem.
Adenomyosis
This is another common cause of heavy periods and a condition that usually has the same symptoms as fibroids. It happens when the endometrial glands begin to grow into the muscle of the uterus, resulting in a bigger uterus that starts feeling very tender when touched.
Unlike many other conditions, this one cannot easily be diagnosed because different tools that are used to examine the uterus, like ultrasounds, hysteroscopy, and many others, oftentimes fail to notice it. Women who are in their thirties normally suffer from it.
Aside from the above-mentioned conditions, there are many other health problems and factors that may cause heavy menstrual flow, such as certain medications, types of cancers, problems with the liver and kidneys, underactive thyroid gland, hormone contraception, etc.
Since you cannot get a diagnosis online, what you should do is go to your physician and see what needs to be done to determine the cause of this. In the meantime, you can resort to several methods that may help you manage it.
A menstrual cup can definitely be of massive help
It represents a small silicone cup that’s placed inside the vagina and that is designed to catch period blood in the canal. Although it’s not going to decrease the flow, it will definitely help you function much better when on period because it is capable of catching much more blood in comparison to pads and tampons.
Bring tampons everywhere with you
If you’re not interested in using a menstrual cup, then you can always return to the good old tampons, and be sure to bring as many as you can if you’re going out for a longer period of time. You can place them in a plastic bag and be sure to replace them every few hours or so, depending on the flow.
Stay hydrated!
Drinking at least five to six cups of water is generally recommended, particularly when you’re dealing with heavy menstruation because that’s something that can help you maintain the blood volume.
No matter how hard you try, often, it can be extremely hard to manage heavy menstrual flow, however, as you can see, there are certain strategies that you can resort to that may just make your life a bit easier.
