Menstrual Abnormalities Health Advice and Treatment

Because of the fact that menstruation has no definitive timelines amongst all women, what is considered to be regular menstruation by one lady could be a very irregular period cycle for another. As a result, it is important that we clarify what is considered to be a regular period. Menstrual cycles are said to take place, on an average, about 21 days apart and last from anywhere between 3 to 7 days. However, some people may experience their periods more than 21 days apart and other will experience it less than 21 days apart. Your cycles are said to be regular when they occur after exactly the same time in each month. Although this may be the case with your niece, the period of 14 days between each menstruation seems a little excessive and it could be a case of Polymenorrhea – where the uterine bleeding is less than the 21 day length of the period. It is also essential that you are able to correctly distinguish whether your niece is suffering from polymennorhea or metrorrhagia (also known as spotting) which is the case when there is a short spell of light bleeding between two periods. However, in the case of metrorrhagia, the bleeding does not entail an entire menstrual cycle.

Just as with most menstrual abnormalities, most of the direct causes are not known, however, the hormone balance within the body is considered to play a significant role. stress, diet and overall work schedule can all play a role in causing menstrual abnormalities while the amount of physical exertion and exercise can also help determine the regularity as well as amount of blood loss of during the woman’s cycle. While the condition poses no serious medical complications, it can make getting pregnant a little bit challenging. This is mainly because the luteal phase, which is the period between the ovulation and a menstruation, is too short.

Another aspect that needs to be considered is the fact that polymenorrhea can also be a symptom of the presence of another medical condition – usually sexually transmitted such as chlamydia and gonorrhea. As mentioned previously, the condition that your niece is faced with could easily be a direct cause of the stress that she is under or even the kind of daily schedule she follows. As a result, having a closer look at these finer details of her lifestyle will going a long way into identifying the root cause of the issue, thereby helping us tackle it more effectively.

answered by G M

My niece is 12 years old and menstruates every two weeks. Is this normal or does this indicate a problem