How Often Do Periods Occur – A menstrual period is the vaginal bleeding that occurs at the end of the menstrual cycle. Every month, the body prepares for a possible pregnancy. The uterus develops a thicker lining and the ovaries release an egg that can be fertilized by sperm.
If the egg is not fertilized, pregnancy will not occur during that cycle. The body then removes the built-up lining of the uterus. The result is a period, or menstruation.
How Often Do Periods Occur
Most people with a uterus will have their first period between the ages of 11 and 14. Menstruation will continue regularly (usually monthly) until menopause, or around age 51.
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Monthly or regular periods are a sign that your cycle is normal. Your body is working to prepare for a possible pregnancy.
Of menstruating people say they experience different symptoms. Food cravings are a common symptom. Actually, a 2017
Breast tenderness is another common symptom of menstruation. It can peak in the days just before the start of menstruation. An increase in the hormones estrogen and progesterone leads to the expansion of the breast ducts and the swelling of the mammary glands. The result is pain and swelling.
The cause of this pain is prostaglandins. These are chemicals that cause the muscles in your uterus to contract. These hormones help the body shed excess uterine lining, which can cause pain and cramping in the first days of menstruation.
Critical Periods Of Development
Some people do not have regular periods. Intense exercise or certain medical conditions can lead to irregular periods. Irregular periods can also occur in people who are:
Of people who have periods report that their pain is so bad that they have to miss work or school.
Endometriosis causes tissue that is similar to the lining of the uterus to grow in other parts of your body. This can lead to:
Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women between the ages of 15 and 49, estimates the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). ACOG notes that 30 to 50 percent of people with this disorder will experience infertility.
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These non-cancerous tumors develop between the layers of tissue in your uterus. Many people with a uterus will develop at least one fibroid during their lifetime.
Menorrhagia is very heavy menstrual bleeding. Typical periods produce 2 to 3 tablespoons of menstrual blood. People with menorrhagia can produce more than double this amount.
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a series of symptoms that usually occur 1 to 2 weeks before the start of menstruation. Symptoms may include:
Poor menstrual hygiene is also a health concern during your period. Blood and tissue loss during a period can lead to bacterial problems.
How Ovulation Works
This can pose a serious health issue if menstrual products are not available or basic hygiene services such as clean water are not accessible.
Each year in the United States, people spend over $2 billion on menstrual products. During their lifetime, the average menstruating person uses almost 17,000 tampons or pads.
This is a personal cost to the individual and an environmental cost to the planet. Many of these products do not degrade easily in landfills.
However, more than 16.9 million American women live in poverty and may not have access to menstrual products and medications that treat symptoms. There are also reports suggesting that people in jail or prison often do not have access to tampons or pads. These necessary products can be used as bargains and traded for food or favors.
Ovulation & Fertility During Menstruation Cycle
In the United States, sales tax is often imposed on menstrual products. Currently, five states do not charge sales tax:
Access to menstrual products can be complicated elsewhere as well. In Kenya, for example, half of all school-aged women do not have access to menstrual tampons. Many also do not have access to toilets and clean water. This often leads to missing school days and some dropping out entirely.
The stigma surrounding menstruation dates back centuries. References to menstruation are found in the Bible, the Koran and Pliny the Elder’s “Natural History”.
In these references, menstruation is referred to as “damage” and “unclean” and something that can turn the “new wine sour.”
Signs Your Period Is Coming
In 1920, Dr. Béla Schick coined the phrase “menotoxin” for a theory he had that women produce toxins during menstruation.
Schick came to this conclusion after a menstruating nurse handled a bouquet of flowers. Schick noticed that those specific flowers faded faster than the flowers that the nurse did not touch. He decided the cause was her period.
In the 1950s, researchers injected menstrual blood into animals to test the toxic theory. The blood, in fact, killed the animals. But years later it was proven that the death was the result of bacterial contamination in the blood and not a toxic effect.
That menstruation taboos may be closely related to how men participate in procreative activities. In other words, the less men deal with the birth and raising of children, the more unpleasant a period is for them.
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In 1897, Lister’s Towels were introduced by Johnson & Johnson as the first mass-produced, disposable menstrual pad. These were far from the pillows of today’s period. They were thick pads of material worn inside underwear.
The Hoosier ladies’ sanitary napkin came a few decades after the turn of the century. The strap was a series of straps designed to hold reusable sanitary pads in place.
A few years later, in 1929, Dr. Earle Haas invented the first tampon. His idea came from a friend who mentioned using a sea sponge inserted into the vagina as a way to absorb menstrual blood.
The adhesive pads used today were not introduced until the 1980s. Since then, they have been improved and updated to meet the changing needs of lifestyle, flow and shape.
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Today’s period products seek to solve many of the issues that menstruating individuals have dealt with for decades, from leakage and period tracking to cost. They are also helping to remove the stigma that often surrounds menstruation. Plus, they seek to solve environmental and financial concerns.
These products include reusable menstrual cups and period underwear. There are also many smartphone apps that can help people better understand how their body prepares and acts during their period.
Much has been done to de-stigmatize menstruation and help people take care of themselves during their period, but there is still work to be done.
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In Britain, a 2017 study by Plan International reported that 1 in 7 girls say they have struggled to afford menstrual protection. More than 1 in 10 girls have had to improvise period wear because they can’t buy the right products.
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Although the UK was set to scrap taxes on tampons and other menstrual products, Brexit talks had stalled on the final removal of the tax. The tampon tax was finally phased out in 2021 in the UK.
In Nepal, a 21-year-old woman died of smoke inhalation after lighting a fire to warm herself during chhaupadi.
In this Nepalese practice, menstruating Hindu girls and women are forced from their homes to sleep outside in sheds or cattle sheds until their periods are over. Temperatures can drop into the single digits or lower during the winter, but the huts may not be heated or insulated enough to provide adequate warmth.
In some countries in Africa, the onset of menstruation is seen as a transition from one stage of life to another. It’s a rewarding and valued experience. Specific huts or houses are set aside for women to stay in when they have their first period. They are joined by their female family members and other women during this time.
Facts And Statistics About Your Period
Meanwhile, countries like Canada, which abolished taxes on tampons and other menstrual products in 2015, are looking to ease the financial worries about getting your period.
In 2018, the United Nations (UN) reported that shame, stigma and misinformation surrounding periods can lead to serious health and human rights concerns. This is why they declared menstrual hygiene an issue affecting public health, gender equality and human rights.
This is also why the UN has added it to the 2030 Agenda. This is a 15-year plan for sustainable social and economic development that the creators believe can help end poverty, hunger and lack of access to health care .
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Our experts constantly monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available. The menstrual cycle is powered by hormones and includes a regular period of bleeding in women from puberty to menopause. During the monthly menstrual cycle, the lining of the uterus builds up in preparation for a possible pregnancy. If pregnancy does not occur, the hormones progesterone and estrogen decrease, telling the uterus to begin shedding its lining. This begins a short period of bleeding that often follows a predictable number of days. The time between periods is usually similar in length from month to month, although it varies for each person.
Sometimes the cycle goes wrong and periods don’t come as planned, come too often or involve heavier bleeding than normal. When a woman experiences any of these phenomena, she is experiencing irregular periods (x).
Irregular periods are a change in a woman’s regular menstrual cycle. This could mean that any of the following happens:
What is “normal” varies from person to person.
Phases Of The Menstrual Cycle
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