Unusually heavy or prolonged menstrual periods are a monthly problem affecting the lives of many women. Aside from the inconvenience and social distress they can cause, heavy periods can also have a negative impact on the body’s iron reserves.
How heavy your periods are compared with other women is difficult to gauge. Scientifically speaking, periods are deemed to be heavy if they involve the loss of 80mls of blood for each menstrual period. What is far more meaningful however, is the extent to which periods affect your life.
If you are at all worried about your periods, there are many ways in which we can help you.
There are a variety of different causes behind heavy periods or menorrhagia. Conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, pelvic inflammatory disease and endometrial hyperplasia can all present you with this problem, as can fibroids.
When you come for your consultation, you will be asked how long your bleeding lasts, how long your whole menstrual cycle lasts, and whether you have any associated pain. In particular we will want to know whether you have ever passed blood clots or had your clothing or bed linen flooded with blood.
You will have a physical examination, including an internal examination, and in all likelihood an ultrasound scan. Essentially, we will be trying to find out the underlying cause of your heavy periods. Quite a few patients have no abnormalities detected, and when heavy periods occur without a demonstrable cause, this is known as dysfunctional uterine bleeding.
