RoboticWhat causes heavy menstruation?
While menstrual bleeding is a healthy part of the menstrual cycle, it can be a vital indicator of your health. It is thus essential to know if your period is heavy or light.
The significant difference between normal and heavy menstruation is how much menstrual fluid is discharged every cycle. The fluid can be measured using a menstrual cup or estimated when using tampons or pads.
Usually,on average, women lose about 30-40 ml of blood during the period. However, women with heavy bleeding may lose up to 80 ml of blood. Women who experience heavy bleeding may have a condition called menorrhagia.
Symptoms:
The following are signs and symptoms of heavy menstruation:
- Bleeding for longer than a week
- Soaking through one or more pads or tampons every hour for several consecutive hours
- Usage of double sanitary protection to control your menstrual flow
- Passing blood clots larger than usual
- Unable to perform daily activities due to menstrual flow
- Waking up in the middle of the night to change sanitary protection
- Experiencing symptoms like fatigue, tiredness, or shortness of breath.
If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms,theyshould be discussed with a healthcare professional.
Causes:
Many factors affect your period, i.e., bleeding + length of your period).The following could be the possible causes of heavy menstruation:
- Polyps: Small growths on the lining of the uterus may cause prolonged or heavy bleeding
- Dysfunction of the ovaries: If ovaries do not release an egg during the menstrual cycle, it inhibits progesterone production. Thus, resulting in hormonal imbalance and may result in heavy bleeding.
- Hormonal imbalance: This may be caused by PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), thyroid problems, obesity, and insulin resistance.
- Adenomyosis: A medical condition in which glands from the endometrium is embedded in the uterine muscle, which often causes painful periods and heavy bleeding
- Intrauterine device (IUD):Menorrhagia is a well-known side effect of IUD’s
- Pregnancy complications
- Uterine fibroids: Uterine fibroids are usually not cause of bleeding
- Cancer: Uterine and cervical cancer can cause excessive menstrual bleeding
- Bleeding disorders: Disorders such as won Willebrand’s disease can cause abnormal menstrual bleeding (a condition in which there is deficiency or impairment of blood clotting factor)
- Medications: Hormonal medications (estrogen and progestin), anticoagulants (warfarin), or enoxaparin may cause prolonged heavy bleeding
- Other medical condition:Some conditions such as kidney or liver diseasemay influence your menstrual bleeding
Moreover, other factors such as diet, exercise, stress, or even consumption of emergency contraceptive pills may affect your period. In some cases, the cause may be unknown.
Treatment:
Treatment of heavy bleeding depends on a variety of factors, including:
- Severity and cause of the condition
- Overall health and medical history
- Tolerance of medications, therapies, or procedures
- Personal preference
- Effects on lifestyle
- Childbearing plans
The treatment is mainly divided into two categories: Medications and Procedures.
Usually medicines are able to cure it.
- Medications: NSAID’s, oral contraceptives, oral progesterone, hormonal IUD’s and tranexamic acid can be prescribed by the physician in monotherapy or in combination to treat the disease.
If menorrhagia is caused due to anemia, your physician may recommend you to take iron supplements
- Procedures: If medical treatment does not help in such cases, the treatment options include: dilation, curettage, myomectomy, endometrial resection, uterine artery embolization, endometrial ablation, or focused ultrasound surgery.
Many of the procedures mentioned above are done on an outpatient basis. It may require a general anesthetic; however, you will likely be able to go home later. Hysterectomy is usually not required for this problem.
