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5 Things Your Heavy Period Could Mean
While periods aren’t exactly convenient for any woman, those who deal with heavy bleeding have an even tougher time of this monthly visit. From ruined underwear and sheets to painful cramping and fatigue due to blood loss, heavy menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia) can cast a wide net over your life.
About one-third of women seek help for periods that are anything but light, so you’re in good company if you’re experiencing heavy periods.
When it comes to what’s driving this common gynecologic condition, there are many possibilities. To give you an idea, Dr. Gary Willen and the team here at Tahoe Women’s Care touch on a few possible reasons why your periods are heavier than they should be.
Defining heavy periods
You have friends who only bleed for 2-3 days and their periods are very light — and you wish you had the same. Instead, you’re soaking through pads or tampons every couple of hours and the bleeding lasts for much longer.
Defining heavy periods can vary from one women to the next, but there are a few rules of thumb, including:
- The aforementioned bleeding through pads or tampons every two hours
- Needing to use both tampons and pads together
- Having to change your pad or tampon during the night
- Bleeding that lasts for more than 7 days
- Passing large blood clots — the size of a quarter or bigger
If any of this applies to you, it’s time to seek our help. Ongoing heavy bleeding can lead to health issues, or it may signal an underlying gynecologic issue that we should be addressing.
Common causes of heavy bleeding
Now let’s get into what’s behind your heavy periods and, as we warned, there are many possible culprits, including:
1. Endometriosis
This condition affects more than 11% of American women between the ages of 15 and 44, and heavy bleeding is one of the possible symptoms. If you have endometriosis, endometrial tissues grows outside your uterus, which can lead to abnormal periods and pelvic pain.
2. Uterine fibroids
These are benign growths in the walls of your uterus that affect a majority of women during their reproductive years. In most cases, fibroids don’t cause any issues, but for those that do, heavy bleeding can be one result.
3. Pelvic inflammatory disease
If you have a sexually transmitted infection that goes untreated, you can develop pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to abnormal menstrual bleeding.
4. Ovulation issues
Another potential cause of heavy periods is irregular ovulation, which can stem from issues like polycystic ovary syndrome or hypothyroidism.
5. Cause unknown
We want to include this on our list because there are times when we can’t identify what’s causing your heavy periods. They may just be part of your menstrual cycles.
The above list isn’t comprehensive, but it gives you an idea of the many possible roads to heavy bleeding.
If you want to figure out what’s behind your heavy bleeding and get treatments that can better control your menstrual cycles (and improve your quality of life), it’s a good idea to come see us for an evaluation.
To get started, we invite you to contact our office in Carson City, Nevada, to set up an appointment.
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