According to medical statistics, girls and women of reproductive age normally have a stable menstrual cycle. Gynecologists argue that any deviations from the norm should make a woman think, because the changes that may occur may indicate the development of a pathological process in the pelvic organs. Symptoms include not only the uneven duration of the phases of the cycle, but also the number of secretions during menstruation and their total duration. Treatment of meager periods should be monitored by a physician. Therapy is selected based on the causes of hypomenorrhea.
Why periods are poor
The most common cause for concern for girls and a reason for contacting a gynecologist is hypomenorrhea. This is the name of one of the deviations from the norm, which manifests itself in the form of meager periods, when there is little blood released during menstruation and the amount of blood loss barely reaches 50 ml, and the duration is reduced to 2 or 3 days. The norm is considered indicators from 50 to 150 ml of blood over a period of 5-7 days. It is worth noting that a visit to a doctor is inevitable. In most cases, it is impossible to get rid of the pathology without medications.
Causes of hypomenorrhea: normal or not?
To confidently state the causes of hypomenorrhea in a particular case, the female body must be carefully examined. Every gynecologist knows that there is a list of non-hazardous situations that should not cause fear on girls and women. These include the following points:
- Teenage years. When a girl is puberty from 12 to 16 years old, there is little blood in the first month, the discharge is unstable and meager. The reason - the hormonal background of a teenage girl has not yet had time to fully stabilize. In a year or a half after the beginning of the active work of the ovaries, a cycle will form. Monthly girls will return to normal, and the number of secretions will increase.
- Birth of a child. The absence of menstruation during pregnancy and little blood during menstruation during lactation for one and a half or two years should not worry a woman. Nursing mother almost always has an unstable cycle. The reason is prolactin, produced by a woman’s body during breastfeeding. Prolactin does not allow the eggs to mature. Therefore, in the early days of menstruation there is little blood and a shorter duration. With the introduction of complementary foods in the baby’s diet, transferring the child to another diet, and finally weaning him from the breast, the woman’s cycle will quickly return to normal.
- Menopause. Over time, during the onset of menopause at the age of 45-55 years, the woman's reproductive system fades and her functions lose their strength. As a result, production of estrogen, slowly but surely slowed down. The eggs stop ripening, less blood is observed during menstruation.
- Heredity. The most harmless reason for the occurrence of meager periods, because hypomenorrhea is embedded in the genetic code and, therefore, is not a pathology.
- Exceptional situations when a completely healthy girl observes only once or twice a little blood during menstruation. A possible reason is the period of acclimatization. In subsequent cycles allocated blood rate should stabilize.
Having excluded all the situations described above and not having found similar moments, you need to visit a gynecologist.
Reproductive organ diseases contributing to the development of hypomenorrhea
Another reason why there is little blood during menstruation is a progressive pathological process in the pelvis. Some of them:
- Endometriosis is a condition in which the growth of the inner layer of the uterus occurs inside or outside it.
- Endometrial hyperplasia is a type of endometriosis, when the growth of the mucosa occurs in the deep muscle layers of the uterus.
- Endometritis is an acute or chronic inflammation of the uterine mucosa.
- Ovarian dysfunction - a violation of the ovaries as a result of hormonal failure. Unstable hormone production and irregular menstruation.
- Polycystic ovary - a condition characterized by cystic formations in the ovaries in an amount of more than one.
- Polyps in the uterus are growths of a benign nature on the endometrium as a result of hormonal pathologies.
- Infectious diseases of the reproductive organs (STIs) are sexually transmitted infections. For example, viruses, fungal pathogens or bacteria.
Varieties of hypomenorrhea
There are two types of hypomenorrhea - primary and secondary. If from the very beginning of the formation of the cycle, the girl has little blood during menstruation, the cause may be underdeveloped genitals - this is primary hypomenorrhea. Girls and women with this diagnosis are given medication and constant medical supervision. Secondary hypomenorrhea is characterized in that earlier the blood secreted during menstruation was normal, and then the discharge decreased for certain reasons.
Causes of hypomenorrhea
The reasons why there is little blood during menstruation with secondary hypomenorrhea are several:
- Rapid weight loss due to strict diets or fasting, anorexia. In the latter case, the risk of a complete disappearance of menstruation increases.
- Excess weight. In the adipose tissue of a woman, the production of estrogen also takes place and there is an excess of hormones in the body. That is why with menstruation there is little blood.
- Impaired metabolism.
- Hormonal changes in the body, such as pregnancy, breastfeeding, or menopause.
- Genital damage. Provoking circumstances are curettage or abortion. Curettage (cleaning) procedures are done to cleanse the uterine cavity from accumulated secretions.
- Stressful situations. Constant overwork of the body leads to exhaustion.
- Poor and malnutrition without vegetables and fruits.
- Exhausting physical activity. There is a relationship between muscle mass and menstruation. The larger and stronger the muscle corset in women, the less blood with menstruation.
- Endocrine disorders in the body.
- Infectious diseases.
- Partial removal of the genitals.
- A difficult recovery period after surgery.
- Violation in the development of genital organs.
- Iron deficiency anemia, which inevitably affects the work of the reproductive organs and the whole organism.
- Reducing the protective properties of the body, a weak immune system.
- Bad ecology.
- Pregnancy, the presence of which a woman does not even realize. Not enough blood with menstruation in the period up to 4 weeks is the norm, but from 5-6 weeks this condition signals placental abruption and spontaneous abortion. A pregnancy test will clarify the situation.
- Incorrectly selected hormonal birth control pills. An independent choice of this type of contraception threatens not only meager periods, but also a hormonal disorder and other diseases of the reproductive system. It is better to entrust this to the attending physician.
In most cases of diagnosing hypomenorrhea, to restore menstruation, it is enough to conduct an examination and eliminate the provoking factor.
Symptoms of Hypomenorrhea
Both primary and secondary hypomenorrhea are manifested by distinctive symptoms, namely:
- Not enough blood during menstruation. The nature of the discharge is smearing. However, the duration of menstruation may remain unchanged.
- In exceptional cases, very little blood is recorded with a monthly volume of a few drops.
- Menstruation is reduced by the number of days. This pathology is called "oligomenorrhea." There are episodes when menstruation was reduced to 3 or less days.
- Change the color of the selection. The color of bloody discharge with hypomenorrhea is light, closer to a brown shade.
- Bleeding from the nose during menstruation.
- A systematic delay in the onset of menstruation and little blood in the first days of menstruation.
- Painful sensations in the lower abdomen during menstruation, since a small amount of discharge is accompanied by strong contractions of the uterus muscles.
- Often manifested headaches.
- Aching in the lower back and chest.
- Disorders of the gastrointestinal tract: nausea, constipation or diarrhea.
- General weakness.
- Decreased sexual desire due to falling estrogen levels.
Even if these symptoms do not accompany menstruation, the fact of meager periods instead of the usual ones is a reason for concern.
Lean periods: what needs to be examined?
Any deviation from the norm in the body is subject to mandatory examination and treatment. In the case of such a phenomenon as very little blood during menstruation, a woman should seek help from a gynecologist. The doctor will conduct an examination, taking into account all the symptoms and complaints. If necessary, submit to further examination and laboratory tests. What exactly is done to accurately establish the diagnosis:
- Thorough examination of the patient on a gynecological chair.
- Examination of the genitals for the degree of purity and flora by taking a smear from the vagina.
- Diagnosis of the cervix and vaginal walls by colposcopy. A special colposcope device will allow you to see polyps, cysts, or the growth of the endometrium.
- Blood test for the concentration of sex hormones. To do this, you need to take venous blood on certain days of the menstrual cycle.
- Ultrasound examination of the condition of the pelvic organs - ovaries and uterus.
- It is necessary to exclude or confirm the presence of genitourinary infections by passing PCR smears and blood.
Treatment of hypomenorrhea without drugs
If a woman after the examination did not show pathologies, and the meager monthly continues, then gynecologists recommend:
- Improve your lifestyle: move more, eliminate bad habits, often visit the fresh air, give preference to outdoor activities and get enough sleep.
- Tidy up the diet to fully saturate the body with the necessary nutrients. A high protein content is present in meat and fish, as well as legumes. Cereals are rich in complex carbohydrates. Without fats, the female body cannot function properly, which is why vegetable oils must be included in the diet. Eat more fiber in the form of fresh vegetables and fruits. Reduce the amount of fatty, fried and sugary foods. Establish a diet.
- Cross out diets and starvation from your life.
- It is mandatory to take vitamin-mineral complex courses to maintain the health of a woman.
- To restore psycho-emotional balance, take a course of sedative drugs. Stress in the 21st century is one of the most striking examples that provoke the development of hypomenorrhea. Not every woman is able to cope with anxiety and feelings on her own. As a result, sedatives are prescribed.
- It is possible that massage is recommended to improve blood circulation and relieve tension.
How to treat gipomenoreyu medical drugs
Diagnosed hormonal disorders in the female body are subject to drug recovery. Balance is achieved by treatment gormonosoderzhaschimi drugs. The selection of a medicine, of course, is based on the hormones in the blood of a woman. The course of treatment, as a rule, is no more than six months. Such therapy is aimed at stabilizing the functioning of the ovaries and restoring the menstrual cycle. After some time, the volume of discharge during menstruation normalizes. Clinical patterns arise when you can restore the menstrual cycle and hormonal levels with the help of birth control pills, which the gynecologist will also pick up.
If an infection in the genitals is detected, it is necessary to concentrate the treatment on a provoking factor. A woman is prescribed modern antibiotics, antifungal agents, or anti-inflammatory drugs. In case of complaints of girls about soreness during menstruation, gynecologists recommend taking antispasmodics. Often prescribed drugs such as Sapzmalgon, No-shpa, Baralgin or Papaverine.
Important! The early stages of cancer are very similar to the symptoms of ovarian dysfunction, which are manifested in meager periods. Therefore, to delay the survey life-threatening.
Folk recipes to combat scanty menstruation
Cope with an illness easily help folk recipes. Well established onion broth. The recipe is suitable for people who do not have problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
Method of preparation: take one medium-sized onion, boil it in two glasses of water, take the broth before breakfast on an empty stomach. Infusions on tansy and calendula also work effectively. Recipe: Add 2 teaspoons of herb to 1 liter of water. Insist, take on an empty stomach.