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Monthly periods, or menstruation or the menstrual cycle is body’s way of preparing for pregnancy each month in a woman. It is when the body sheds the lining of the uterus and the menstrual blood flows from the uterus through the cervix and the vagina and finally out of the body. For most women, the menstrual cycle each month lasts for three to five days.
A menstruation cycle is the normal regular cycle of menstruation or periods occurring every month in a woman, signifying that all the important parts of the body are functioning properly.
The menstruation cycle prepares the body for pregnancy every month and also helps cause hormonal changes in the body to keep a woman healthy.
Hormones are chemicals generated by glands in the body that controls most of the major bodily functions, from simple basic needs like hunger to complex systems like reproduction, and even the emotions and mood. In a woman, among other hormones, estrogen and progesterone are the key hormones produced by the ovaries.
The average menstrual cycle among women is usually 28 days. The first day of the menstrual cycle is when blood starts to flow out from the vagina.
The complete duration of a menstrual/period cycle can be divided into four main phases:
After the peak, both estrogen and progesterone fall, triggering your next period to begin. This marks the end of one menstrual cycle and the beginning of the next one.
This is how a menstrual cycle runs:
Though every girl’s body has its own schedule in preparing for the first period or menstruation, the average age in India for a girl to experience her first period is between 10 to 13 years.
Some women experience symptoms before or while menstruating. This is called Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS).
Some common symptoms triggered by the two main hormones, estrogen and progesterone are:
Estrogen effects:
Progesterone effects:
For most women, a period lasts for around approximately five days.
Women continue menstruating till they reach a phase in their lives known as menopause which usually occurs between the ages 45 - 50 years.
Some women may experience early menopause due to medical reasons such as undergoing hysterectomy.
For some women, the time between periods and the amount of blood shed during menstruation vary considerably. This is known as irregular menstruation. Irregular menstruation may have different causes such as:
A woman may experience late period or miss periods due to a variety of reasons such as:
Women can experience pains or cramps during menstruations due to various reasons such as:
You should change your sanitary pad before it becomes completely soaked with blood and unable to retain the blood. If you use a tampon you should change it every 4 to 8 hours. A girl will easily understand when she needs to change her pad/tampon.
You need to consult a doctor if you experience the following symptoms related to menstruation:
According to a case study published in the medical journal, Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, a rare condition known as vicarious menstruation can cause women to bleed from organs other than the uterus, such as their eyes. This occurs when the endometrial tissue (that normally grows in the uterus and sheds during menstruation) is transmitted through the bloodstream. This condition however, is luckily very rare.
According to a study published in the journal "Multidisciplinary Respiratory Medicine", increased sensitivity to allergens occur in the week leading up to the period. Between 19 and 40 % of the women suffering from asthma experience what is known as premenstrual asthma (PMA).
A study published in the journal "Psychiatry Research" back in the early 90s shows that sleeping with the light on during the last two weeks of the period cycle can have therapeutic properties. Light exposure affects the secretion of the sleep hormone melatonin, that helps to control the release of the female reproductive hormones which determine when the menstrual cycle begins and ends. The study discovered that when women experiencing extra long or irregular cycles slept next to a regular 100-watt light bulb for a few days, during the last two weeks of their cycles, it invariably shortened their menstrual cycles by an average of 12 days. This study showed that a targeted approach could be used to regulate irregular periods. The method to be followed is to sleep with the light on during the last two weeks of your cycle. However, keeping the light on everyday at night can have an adverse effect, as this might make the periods more irregular, which is something women working shift jobs suffer from.
Hysterectomy is an invasive surgical procedure, performed on women, to remove the entire uterus (womb), or parts of it.
Breast cancer occurs when healthy cells of breast tissue change and may begin to grow out of control which can appear as a lump within breast tissue. Breast Cancer Treatment includes chemotherapy, radiotherapy,surgery depend on the type of cancer.
Rhinoplasty is known as nose job. It is a plastic surgery which helps in reconstructing and correcting the shape of the nose. Reconstructive surgery and Cosmetic surgery are the two types. Nose job helps in improving the appearance of the nose.