How long do menstruation last? This is a common question. We will examine it in more detail.
A huge number of factors affect the duration of menstruation in women, which also include physiological characteristics, lifestyle, the presence of certain acute or chronic diseases of the genital area and endocrine system. Significant deviations from the norm, as well as instability of the menstrual cycle are the main symptoms of pathologies of the reproductive system.
And in this case, only an examination by a gynecologist will help establish the exact cause of these disorders. You can not postpone going to the doctor in the hope that the cycle will improve on its own. Launched forms of the disease are much more difficult to treat, and their consequences can be very serious.
So how long do menstruation last?
The norm and pathology of menstruation in reproductive age
The duration of bleeding during menstruation is normally 3-7 days, as a rule. These days, a woman’s body is weakened due to blood loss. She has fatigue, weakness, dizziness, and headache. Such ailments can be the norm only when they do not last long, and pass with the end of menstruation. The norm also characterized by the allocation of menstrual blood volume from 30 to 100 ml. In healthy women, the duration of the monthly cycle is usually 21-35 days. How much menstruation lasts for girls, we consider below.
The presence of pathological disorders can be said in cases where menstruation lasts less than three days or longer than 7 days, and the blood volume is less than 30 ml, or more than 100 ml. When spotting of a dark color occurs before or after menstruation, which increases the number of critical days, this can also be considered a violation. How many days last a period, it is interesting to many.
Factors that affect the duration of menstruation
How many days are menstruation, may depend on the following factors:
- Genetics. In some women, menstruation lasts up to 10 days in the absence of pathologies. In some cases, this is also considered the norm if such a duration of menstruation is observed in women of a particular family.
- The presence of inflammatory as well as infectious pathologies of the genital organs, the occurrence of benign neoplasms (myoma, polyp, cyst), or malignant tumor processes in the uterus and ovaries. In these cases, there is a violation of the structure of the mucous membranes, damage to blood vessels and tissues, due to which menstruation becomes plentiful and lasts longer than it should.
- Ovarian dysfunction. Factors for the occurrence of this violation can be genital diseases, abortions, the introduction of an intrauterine device, the use of hormonal drugs. During ovarian dysfunctions, caused by hormonal disorders in the endocrine system, menstruation, as a rule, lasts 2 days, and sometimes less.
- Violations of the endocrine glands. These organs are responsible for the hormonal background in the body, with changes in which, the duration of menstruation also changes.
In addition, the number of days of monthly bleeding can be sharply reduced in the presence of active physical activity (playing sports, weight lifting). Nerve stress, psychological defects, and depression can also cause heavy and prolonged menstrual bleeding that lasts more than 10 days, or disappears for several months.
Starvation and a lack of vitamins in the body also lead to hormonal changes, a decrease in the number of menstrual days, or to their complete cessation. Such a result can give smoking and alcohol abuse, the impact of adverse environmental conditions.
How many days do menstruation periods for girls last?
The duration of menstruation in adolescence
At the age of 12-14, the first menstruation begins to appear in girls. In the body during this period, serious hormonal changes begin to occur, which is associated with the maturation of the ovaries. Menstruation in girls comes, as a rule, irregularly, sometimes with long delays. This has been happening for two years. At the same time, the volume of menstruation can be different, and the number of critical days can vary from 2 to 10.
It is difficult to say exactly how many specific days such periods should last until their character is finally determined. This in healthy adolescents depends on the characteristics of the body. Their duration gradually returns to normal - 3-5 days. The girl is recommended to have a special calendar in which to mark the days of the beginning and end of menstruation. How many periods last, mother should tell her daughter.
With deviations
If there are any deviations (menstruation does not occur, end too quickly or drag out), the girl’s parents have no reason to panic. There can be a lot of factors provoking this - all kinds of overwork, diets, weight change, sports loads, mental instability, climate change, etc. Such violations should disappear after eliminating their causes. However, if they are persistent, and menstruation is too painful, you must consult a doctor. Similar symptoms can indicate the presence of certain diseases of the reproductive organs of the girl.
How many menstruation periods in girls are normal, not everyone knows. In any case, you can always consult a specialist for advice.
Monthly during pregnancy
During pregnancy in women, menstruation should disappear, however, there are cases when they occur at normal times, which is an obstacle to determining pregnancy. If menstruation came during the first month of pregnancy, this is due to the fact that the fertilization of the egg occurred at the end of the monthly cycle, when part of the endometrium had already exfoliated. Blood is released in very small volumes.
Sometimes it happens that the eggs of both ovaries mature at the same time. One of them can be fertilized, and the second goes outside. At the same time, there is slight bleeding that looks like a meager period for 1-2 days.
If during pregnancy menstruation occurs for more than two months, this may indicate an incomplete cessation of the production of some sex hormones, due to physiological characteristics. However, in any case, a woman should be under the supervision of a doctor, since the appearance of such secretions during pregnancy can portend a miscarriage or talk about endocrine pathologies.
Next, consider how long the period after childbirth lasts.
Menstruation after childbirth
The timing of the onset of the first menstruation depends on the nature of the birth and the general condition of the woman. If she is breastfeeding, then during her breastfeeding, her periods should not appear. If the baby immediately after childbirth is transferred to artificial nutrition, then a woman’s menstruation begins in about 10-12 weeks, after the complete restoration of the inner layer of the uterus and hormonal levels.
Cycle stability
After childbirth, as a rule, stability is characteristic of the menstrual cycle. If a woman had previously had too plentiful and long periods, then in the postpartum period, their indicators begin to approach normal. They tend to become more painless. This fact is due to a change in the position of the uterus, as a result of which the outflow of blood from it improves. The number of days of menstruation largely depends on the nature of the hormonal adjustment that occurred in the woman.
How long do menstruation periods for women take when using birth control?
Menstruation during the use of oral contraceptives
Contraceptives contain sex hormones - estrogen and progesterone. Their action is aimed at suppressing ovulation by changing their ratio. After several months from the beginning of the use of such funds, the body begins to adapt to changes in the hormonal background, and the nature of menstruation also changes. How many days they last, as well as their intensity, depends on the selected hormonal drug. Menses may become long or very scarce and short.
If after 3 months their duration does not return to normal, you should consult a gynecologist or change the drug. Doing it yourself is also not recommended.
We examined how long the period should last.