How Long Is A Menstrual Period

What Is A Menstrual Cycle And How Does Age Affect It

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You can think of your menstrual cycle as a biological calendar that starts from the first day of your period until the day before the start of the next period. Girls can get their first period from as early as 10 years old or as late as 16 years old, although 12 is the average age. When a woman goes through menopause, her periods stop, which usually happens in her late-forties to early-fifties.

Although fertility levels start to go down from the age of 35, until menopause there is still the chance a woman could get pregnant, as long as she has no other fertility issues. However, if you are under 35 and havent been able to conceive within a year , see your doctor.

A womans menstrual cycle is highly individual though, just like some women get their first period or go through menopause at different ages to other women, the length of the menstrual cycle will vary, too.

When Do Periods Start

Periods start during puberty. The average age for puberty to start in girls is 11, but can be earlier or later.

Periods usually begin at around the age of 12. Some girls will start them later, and some earlier everyone is different. To start with, periods might not happen every month but from the ages of around 16 to 18 most people who menstruate will find their periods are regular.

It can be helpful to keep a note of your period dates and symptoms using a calendar, a diary or an app. This can help you know when to expect your period and have period products with you.

If you havent started your period by around 16 though, its a good idea to see your doctor to find out why it hasnt happened yet. However, a delay in starting periods isn’t usually anything to worry about.

Period Length In Adolescence

Preteens or teens who recently started menstruating might have unpredictable cycles and flow for a while. Thats because younger females have an immature hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, which controls periods and menstrual cycles

Once women reach their late teens or 20s, periods usually become more predictable, Dr. Higgins says.

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How Often Should I Change My Pad Tampon Menstrual Cup Sponge Or Period Panties

Follow the instructions that came with your period product. Try to change or rinse your feminine hygiene product before it becomes soaked through or full.

  • Most women change their pads every few hours.
  • A tampon should not be worn for more than 8 hours because of the risk of toxic shock syndrome
  • Menstrual cups and sponges may only need to be rinsed once or twice a day.
  • Period panties can usually last about a day, depending on the style and your flow.

Use a product appropriate in size and absorbency for your menstrual bleeding. The amount of menstrual blood usually changes during a period. Some women use different products on different days of their period, depending on how heavy or light the bleeding is.

Signs Or Symptoms Before Your Period

A menstrual cycle is measured from the first day of your period. There ...

Premenstrual symptoms may occur in the one to two weeks before your period. Symptoms can include irritability, mood changes, bloating, pimples and tiredness. Normally these symptoms might be irritating, but would not interfere with your day-to-day activities. More commonly, around two out of three women experience some breast pain during their cycle. Symptoms appear to peak in adolescence and again in perimenopause, possibly because of fluctuating hormone levels.

If you are having regular periods, but have spotting of blood for a week or so before each period, see your doctor, as there can be several reasons for this.

Premenstrual symptoms usually settle when the period starts, or during the first two to three days of the period. Period pain that interferes with your everyday life is not normal. Around 15-20% of women who have periods experience symptoms so severe that their lifestyle is affected and they cannot function properly. If this occurs, seek help from your doctor.

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Why Should I Keep Track Of My Menstrual Cycle

If your periods are regular, tracking them will help you know when you ovulate, when you are most likely to get pregnant, and when to expect your next period to start.

If your periods are not regular, tracking them can help you share any problems with your doctor or nurse.

If you have period pain or bleeding that causes you to miss school or work, tracking these period symptoms will help you and your doctor or nurse find treatments that work for you. Severe pain or bleeding that causes you to miss regular activities is not normal and can be treated.

What Is The Typical Period Length For People On Hormonal Birth Control

Hormonal birth control options like the pill, vaginal ring, or patch control the release and regulation of hormones like estrogen and progesterone within your body. When used correctly, the hormones in your HBC prevent your ovaries from preparing and releasing eggs .

Your number of bleeding days and cycle length will depend on the type of HBC you use. Bleeding typically happens during your âno hormoneâ days . The bleeding you experience while using hormonal birth control is called withdrawal bleeding, and is not considered a menstrual period. Withdrawal bleeding is caused by the decline in reproductive hormones in your body during days when you get low or no hormones from your pill, patch, or ring .

Many people experience lighter bleeding and some donât bleed at all while using hormonal birth control . When affected by hormonal birth control, the lining of your uterus doesn’t thicken as much as it does without hormonal birth control. This typically results in lighter, shorter, or occasionally absent âperiods,â especially for people who have been using hormonal birth control for many months or years.

Some people also decide to skip any bleeding while using HBC, by skipping over the âno-hormoneâ days. Some hormonal birth control options have a cycle that mimics a typical cycle length , while other types of hormonal birth control are continuous, which limits bleeding to once every three months, or even once a year .

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What To Do When You Get Your Period

Before you start getting periods it is good to be prepared for when it eventually comes. Hopefully you will have an opportunity to talk with your mother or sister or someone else in your family who can help you to prepare. Meanwhile here are some tips for when you do start bleeding.

  • Keep a period kit somewhere handy. This is because you might get your period unexpectedly or forget its due. Keeping some painkillers, period products and a spare pair of underpants in your bag, at school or at work can be a lifesaver.
  • Enjoy life as much as possible. Its safe and often possible to do all the things you would normally do. Its also okay to have sex when you have your period, but if youre using a tampon youll need to take it out first.

If you have period pain you can take painkillers that you can buy over the counter at the chemist. If your pain isnt relieved with regular painkillers, visit your GP .

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What Is The Typical Period Length For People On Progestin

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There are many different types of hormonal birth control, all containing differing types and levels of hormones. Some types of birth control do not contain any estrogens and only contain progestinsâa synthetic form of progesterone . These methods include progestin-only pills , progestin injections , or progestin implants .

Bleeding can vary a lot on progestin-only contraceptives. Changes in period length and heaviness happen in response to the changes in hormones. These hormones affect the growing and shedding of your uterine lining.

Methods like the contraceptive injection and the implant usually suppress ovulation . Some progestin-only pills also suppress ovulation, but it depends on the type . Most people who donât ovulate due to progestin-only contraceptives experience shorter, lighter, or occasionally absent bleedings days, though this doesnât always happen .

Unpredictable bleeding, spotting, and prolonged bleeding are common when using these methods, especially during the first few months . These symptoms usually improve with time, but they can continue for some people.

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How Long Is The Menstrual Cycle

Womens cycles can vary in length and from month to month, but the average is around 28 days. Its normal to have regular cycles that are longer or shorter than this .

It doesnt matter how long your cycle is, most women will ovulate around 10 to 16 days before the start of their next menstrual cycle.

What If My Cycle Is Irregular

It can be more difficult to get pregnant if you have irregular periods because you may not ovulate regularly.

There are many possible causes of irregular periods, which may affect your fertility. For example:

Having irregular periods does not mean you wont get pregnant and there are things you can do to boost your chances of success.

See your GP if your periods have stopped, youre missing monthly periods or you have irregular periods and are struggling to get pregnant.

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How To Track Your Period

In just 3 months, you can get a picture of whatâs normal for you by tracking your periods. Keep a record of:

  • When your period starts and when it stops
  • How light or heavy your flow is
  • Whether or not you passed any blood clots
  • How frequently you change pads or tampons
  • How severe your cramps are
  • Changes in mood

How Heavy Should A Period Be

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The rate of your menstrual flow depends on many factors, including the thickness of your uterine lining and hormone levels. Some people have light periods while others have a heavy flow. Both can be normal.

Like period length, your period flow should be somewhat predictable, Dr. Higgins says. If you used to have heavy periods and they become light, or vice versa, talk to your doctor.

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What Is A Fertile Window

Your fertile window is the time in your menstrual cycle when you can get pregnant. The day before ovulation and the day you ovulate are known as your peak fertile days, but since sperm can survive for up to 5 days inside a womans body, you are also fertile on the few days before ovulation. Once an egg is released it will survive for up to 24 hours, so you remain fertile for this period too. Outside this fertile window, the chances of conceiving are highly unlikely.

Because many women miscalculate their cycle length, and as there is some natural variation, its easy to get your fertile window wrong. Many couples who are trying to conceive struggle to do simply because they get their timing wrong and have sex on the wrong days. As we have discussed before, the day of ovulation for a specific cycle length can still vary over a 10-day period. One way to better understand your fertile window is to take an to see when you ovulate. An ovulation test works by identifying your LH surge, which happens 24 to 36 hours before you release an egg, so you need to take an ovulation test each day from the until you see a surge. Some ovulation tests also identify the rise in estrogen which happens before the LH surge, so identifying additional high fertility days.

Youve Upped Your Workout Intensity

A strenuous exercise regimen can also cause missed periods. This is most common in those who train for several hours a day. It happens because, whether intentionally or not, youre burning way more calories than youre taking in.

When you burn too many calories, your body doesnt have enough energy to keep all its systems running. More strenuous workouts can increase hormone release that can affect your menstruation.

Periods typically go back to normal as soon as you lessen training intensity or increase your caloric intake.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a set of symptoms caused by an imbalance of reproductive hormones. Many people with PCOS do not ovulate regularly.

As a result, your periods may:

  • be lighter or heavier than standard periods
  • arrive at inconsistent times

Other PCOS symptoms can include:

  • excess or coarse facial and body hair
  • acne on the face and body
  • weight gain or trouble losing weight
  • dark patches of skin, often on the neck creases, groin, and underneath breasts
  • skin tags in the armpits or neck

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Ovulation And Phases Of The Menstrual Cycle

There were 18,761 cycles with positive LH ovulation tests, signifying the end of the follicular phase, and the following day to be the day of estimated ovulation. The highest percentage of cycles was at an estimated ovulation day 14 , indicating a 13-day follicular phase . There was a similar percentage of cycles with estimated ovulation at day 13 and day 15 . The number of cycles with estimated ovulation continued to reduce outside these days. Across age groups , the highest percentage of cycles was at an estimated ovulation day 15 for women aged between 18 and 24 years , day 14 for women aged between 25 and 39 years , but at day 12 for women aged 40 years . Across BMI categories , more frequent positive ovulation tests occurred at day 14, indicating a 13-day follicular length, except for a BMI of 35 to 49.9 kg/m2, which was highest at day 13 .

Understanding Your Menstrual Cycle

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Women’s cycle lengths vary, and the most common cycle length is somewhere between 23 and 35 days. Any variation in menstrual cycle length that does occur is more likely to be during the part of the cycle before you ovulate . For most women, the length of time between ovulation and their monthly period is between 12 to 16 days .

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What Causes Prolonged Menstrual Bleeding

While irregular menstrual periods can be bothersome, many are caused by hormonal changes, which are common and rarely mean something serious. Younger girls just entering puberty and older women approaching menopause are most likely to experience these hormonally based prolonged or irregular periods.

Usually, a changing level of estrogen is to blame. Estrogen helps build up the uterine lining, called the endometrium, which if it is fertilized will support a pregnancy. If no pregnancy happens that month, the lining is shed as a menstrual period. Doctors use the term dysfunctional uterine bleeding when a hormone imbalance is the cause of the bleeding.

In some cases, birth control can impact the frequency, duration, and flow levels of menstrual periods. The copper IUD may cause extra bleeding, Thielen says. And while birth control pills usually shorten your periods, its possible some can have the opposite effect. Changing the type of birth control you use may help with this issue. But if you are on birth control pills you should not stop taking them or alter your birth control strategy without speaking to your physician.

How Does Ovulation Relate To Periods

Ovulation is the release of an egg from the ovaries. The same hormones that cause the uterus lining to build up also cause an egg to leave one of the ovaries. The egg travels through a thin tube called a fallopian tube to the uterus.

If the egg is fertilized by a sperm cell, it attaches to the wall of the uterus, where over time it develops into a baby. If the egg is not fertilized, the uterus lining breaks down and bleeds, causing a period.

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How Can Knowing About Your Menstrual Cycle Help You Get Pregnant

Understanding your menstrual cycle can help you know when you are at your most fertile that month, so you can get the timing right for intercourse and be more likely to get pregnant. One in six couples in the UK have trouble conceiving1. An important reason for some couples failing to conceive is that they dont have sex at the right time to coincide with the time of the cycle when a woman is fertile. The length of your menstrual cycle can give you a clue into when this fertile window is, but many women are unaware of the actual length of their menstrual cycle, or they dont appreciate that their cycles can vary and so incorrectly calculate their fertile days. If youre planning to get pregnant, then and ovulation can help you get the timing right and may increase your chances of conception.

Does The Length Of A Menstrual Cycle Matter

menstrual cycle

The length of a menstrual cycle is determined by the number of days from the first day of bleeding to the start of the next menses. The length of your cycle, while not on any form of birth control, can be a key indicator to hormonal imbalances and whether or not ovulation is occurring in a predictable manner. Hormonal imbalances can affect if and when ovulation occurs during your cycle. Without ovulation, pregnancy cannot occur.

Normal menstrual cycle:

Days: 24 to 35 daysOvulation Indicator: Regular cycles indicate that ovulation has occurredWhat Do Normal Cycles Tell Your Doctor?Cycles of a normal length suggest regular ovulation and that all of the sex hormones are balanced to support natural conception.

Short menstrual cycle:

Long or irregular menstrual cycle:

There are many causes of oligo-ovulation, the medical term used to describe when ovaries do not grow a dominant follicle and release a mature egg on a regular basis. Polycystic ovarian syndrome , the most common cause for oligo-ovulation, is a syndrome resulted from being born with too many eggs. This can result in an imbalance in the sex hormones, and failure to grow a dominant follicle and unpredictable or absent ovulation. In addition, irregularities with the thyroid gland or elevations of the hormone prolactin can disrupt the brains ability to communicate with the ovary and result in anovulation.

When menstrual bleeding lasts more than 5-7 days:

What if I never menstruate?

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