But some girls get their periods a little less or more often. You have many choices about how to deal with period blood. You may need to experiment a bit to find which works best for you.
Some girls use only one method and others switch between different methods. It may look like a lot of blood, but a girl usually only loses a few tablespoons of blood during the whole period. Women also won't have a period while they are pregnant. PMS premenstrual syndrome is when a girl has emotional and physical symptoms that happen before or during her period. These symptoms can include moodiness, sadness, anxiety, bloating, and acne.
The symptoms go away after the first few days of a period. Many girls have cramps with their period, especially in the first few days. If cramps bother you, you can try:. Periods are a natural, healthy part of a girl's life.
They shouldn't get in the way of exercising, having fun, and enjoying life. If you have questions about periods, ask your doctor, a parent, health teacher, school nurse, or older sister. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. There is a lot to learn about periods. Here are some common questions that teens have. But there are some clues that it will start soon: Most of the time, a girl gets her period about 2 years after her breasts start to develop. Let's take a closer look at the factors that may affect the duration of your menstrual flow.
A number of medical issues may affect the duration of your period. Factors that change the thickness of the endometrium uterine lining or the number of blood vessels play a role in how many days your bleeding lasts.
This is because your menstrual flow is made up of the endometrium that's shed, as well as blood from the little vessels that are exposed after the lining sheds. Other examples of health conditions that may cause prolonged or heavy bleeding include:.
During the first few years after the onset of menstruation, you may experience unpredictable bleeding patterns. This is because you might not be ovulating regularly yet. Since ovulation requires a complex interaction between your brain, ovaries, and hormones, it can take some time for your body to get it right. Menstruation usually normalizes within about three years. If you continue to have irregular periods, it could be a sign of an underlying hormonal or medical condition, so be sure to get it checked out by your healthcare provider.
As you approach the end of your reproductive years, usually sometime in your 40s, you may begin to experience irregular periods again during perimenopause also called the menopausal transition. It's a time when estrogen production by the ovaries begins to decline. With lower estrogen levels, there is less buildup of the uterine lining, so you also experience lighter and shorter periods, in addition to irregular periods. Using hormonal birth control can affect the number of days your period lasts.
Combined hormonal contraceptives affect your period duration a little differently than progesterone-only hormonal contraception. If you are using a combined hormonal contraceptive, including an oral contraceptive pill, contraceptive patch, or contraceptive ring, it is likely that you will experience shorter periods and lighter flow.
This is because the hormones in the birth control pill override the hormones produced by your ovaries. For example, the estrogen in oral contraceptive pills leads to a lighter build up of tissue in the uterus, and the progesterone thins the endometrium, leading to less overall shedding. Any of the continuous combined hormonal contraceptives may cause you to stop your period altogether, or at least decrease the number of times a year that you have a period. If you are using progesterone-only contraception, you will have lighter and shorter periods.
In fact, your periods might stop while you are using this method. Progesterone-only methods include:. If your periods are heavy or prolonged, your healthcare provider may suggest using a hormonal contraceptive like the levonorgestrel-release intrauterine device Mirena to help control your bleeding.
When it comes to your period, there is a small range of what is considered normal in terms of duration and frequency. Some methods of hormonal contraception — such as the combined pill , the contraceptive patch and the contraceptive injection — work by stopping ovulation. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when ovulation happens but in most women, it happens around 10 to 16 days before the next period.
This might be true for women who have a regular, day cycle, but it won't apply to women whose cycles are shorter or longer. For more information on fertility awareness, see the FPA guide to natural family planning. Vaginal secretions sometimes called vaginal discharge change during the menstrual cycle. Around the time of ovulation, they become thinner and stretchy, a bit like raw egg white.
See your GP if you are concerned about a change in your vaginal discharge. Read more about getting pregnant , fertility and period problems.
Take our survey. Page last reviewed: 05 August Next review due: 05 August Periods and fertility in the menstrual cycle - Periods Contents Overview Delayed periods Period problems.
The menstrual cycle is the monthly series of changes a woman's body goes through in preparation for the possibility of pregnancy. Each month, one of the ovaries releases an egg — a process called ovulation. At the same time, hormonal changes prepare the uterus for pregnancy. If ovulation takes place and the egg isn't fertilized, the lining of the uterus sheds through the vagina.
This is a menstrual period. The menstrual cycle, which is counted from the first day of one period to the first day of the next, isn't the same for every woman. Menstrual flow might occur every 21 to 35 days and last two to seven days.
For the first few years after menstruation begins, long cycles are common. However, menstrual cycles tend to shorten and become more regular as you age. Your menstrual cycle might be regular — about the same length every month — or somewhat irregular, and your period might be light or heavy, painful or pain-free, long or short, and still be considered normal.
Within a broad range, "normal" is what's normal for you. Keep in mind that use of certain types of contraception, such as extended-cycle birth control pills and intrauterine devices IUDs , will alter your menstrual cycle. Talk to your health care provider about what to expect. When you get close to menopause, your cycle might become irregular again.
However, because the risk of uterine cancer increases as you age, discuss any irregular bleeding around menopause with your health care provider. To find out what's normal for you, start keeping a record of your menstrual cycle on a calendar.
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