A woman should constantly pay attention to her health. Therefore, it is important to have a correct idea of the functioning of the female body, the processes that occur in it. Lack of awareness on this issue leads to panic moods with the appearance of minor problems or, conversely, a frivolous attitude towards severe symptoms.
Doctors believe that the peculiarity of the course of the monthly cycle serves as an important indicator of a woman's condition. The most frightening are profuse and prolonged bleeding. No less doubt arises with scanty and short-lived excretions. The main question that women ask is: "How many months are there, and when do you need to worry?" We propose to understand what is considered the norm, and for what reasons deviations can occur.
Contents
- 1 What is the norm
- 2 What determines the duration of menstruation
- 3 What causes the change in the duration of critical days
- 4 When to call a doctor
What is considered the norm
It is very important to monitor the duration of menstruation, as this is an important indicator for:
- determining the state of functioning of the ovaries;
- establishing the presence of inflammatory diseases;
- revealing neoplasms in the uterus;
- administration of hormonal drugs.
Women are advised to keep special calendar menstrual cycle, where you need to mark the beginning and end of critical days.
First of all, it should be noted that in women in adulthood, the duration of critical days is different from how many months the girls have.
The first menstruation appears in girls in 12 - 14 years and during the year the process of its normalization takes place. At this time, the monthly lasts 2 - 3 days. Allocations are rather meager, more like "daub" or scarlet droplets of blood. Over time, the duration of critical days for girls is set within 2 to 4 days.
For a healthy woman, the norm is considered if the duration of the monthly is 3 to 7 days. And the main intensity of secretions falls on the second and third day. Quite often there are deviations from this norm, which are absolutely natural for an individual organism.
There is a case where a woman with a monthly period of up to 18 days, doctors recognized a normal phenomenon.
With age, the duration of the monthly decreases again, returning to 2 to 4 days.
Also considered to be the norm of temporary cycle changes that occur after delivery or abortion. In these cases, the first few months of critical days can take place a couple of days longer, but, over time, the natural menstrual cycle is restored.
What determines the duration of menstruation
In addition to age criteria, there are other reasons that determine how many days should go monthly. First of all, it is heredity. Often the girl's duration of critical days and the process of their passage is the same as that of her relatives. This is due to the genetic characteristics of the structure of the genital organs, blood coagulability, hormone secretion.
In addition, how long the monthly lasts, depends on the work of hormone-producing glands and the central nervous system, individually for each woman.
Therefore, noticing deviations from the norm, you need to apply not only to the female doctor, but also to visit other specialists.
Reasons for changing the duration of the critical days of
Each woman, watching how her period runs, determines for herself how many days are the norm. Any changes in the established order of passing menstruation, signal a problem.
- This is directly related to the state of health. Emerging inflammatory diseases of female reproductive organs or the occurrence of venereal diseases necessarily affect the process of the menstrual cycle. In addition to changing the color and nature of the discharge, the duration of the periods often changes. If the menstruation lasts only about two days, this may indicate a decrease in the activity of the ovaries, a decrease in the amount of hormones produced. Prolonged periods may be caused by sexually transmitted diseases. Doctors advise if the bleeding lasts 10 days, be sure to pass tests, a smear. Especially on this should pay attention, if a woman also feels pain in the abdomen.
- Another, quite serious cause of prolonged and profuse discharge, are neoplasms in the uterus, as benign( fibroids, fibroids, polyps), and malignant. Prolonged bleeding can speak a serious illness - iron deficiency anemia.
- On how many days are the months are having an impact and some serious changes in the way of life of a woman. With large sports or physical loads, the duration of critical days is dramatically reduced. In some cases, they completely cease.
- No less serious impact occurs due to nervous overstrain or stress. Violation of the nervous system, psychological trauma, depression often become the root cause of violations of the duration of menstruation. Against this background, heavy bleeding can begin for more than 10 days.
- Fasting or rigid diets, because of the decrease in the body amount of vitamins, trace elements, will also lead to a violation of the hormonal balance. A similar action is noted for alcohol or drug intoxication, poisoning with harmful substances.
- The environmental situation or change of residence and climate conditions, although not so much, but can shorten the duration of the months for a short time.
- It is proved that a noticeable change in body weight will definitely affect how many critical days last. It turns out that fat tissue in the body of a woman, to some extent, affects the production of hormones, and changing their number leads to a malfunction of the menstrual cycle. If the body weight is less than the norm by more than 20 kilograms, amenorrhea may come - stopping the menstrual period. With excess weight, it is also possible that there is no menstruation. Or, conversely, there are prolonged, up to 10 days, heavy bleeding.
- And, of course, the use of hormonal or contraceptives, in most cases, leads to a change in the duration of critical days. Usually, they contribute to the normalization of the monthly cycle and are used to reduce the duration of menstruation, making them more scarce. Intermenstrual secretions may also appear, it is necessary to abandon such drugs or replace them with another. Another contraceptive is the intrauterine device. Its application leads to the appearance of painful and profuse periods. But it should be noted that it does not affect their duration in any way.
When to call a doctor
In any case, if the duration of the month is less than two days and more than seven, this is a reason to visit a doctor. Sometimes it can be an endocrinologist, a mammologist, a psychologist, a neuropathologist.
The problems that arise in connection with how many monthly periods last, may be primary or secondary. And all of them require timely qualified help:
- The primary ones are violations of the duration of the critical days that occurred initially, during the hormonal formation of the girl. In such a situation it is necessary to undergo a survey that will exclude pathogenic factors and confirm the normal functioning of its organism.
- Secondary causes are associated with a malfunction in the hormonal balance or the performance of internal organs. It happens that such violations of a woman are also inclined to perceive as individual characteristics and do not react in any way to these processes. Meanwhile, problems can become chronic or life-threatening.
Timely treatment can restore the health and fertility of women. A correct and healthy lifestyle will help to stabilize the cycle.