Periods are an absolute minefield. While they're a pretty incredible and totally natural process that deserve to be celebrated, they can also be totally excruciating with cramping, mood swings and leaking.
And it seems despite having periods for centuries, women still don't understand their own bodies. According to a new study, 56% of British women rely on search engines such as Google for information on their menstrual health, and one in 10 women turn to social media – with TikTok alone having 7.6 billion video views under the #womenshealth hashtag.
So what does a ‘normal period’ look like? And when should you seek medical advice for something that's concerning you?
According to Karen Hooton, a Complementary Therapist & Holistic Fertility Specialist, periods are a totally natural part of your menstrual cycle and can give an insight into how your well your body is working - but there are times you should seek help.
Wondering if your period is ‘normal’? Karen cites the below as normal period symptoms:
- menstrual cycle that lasts between 26 and 32 days
- the bleed should last 3 to 5 days
- be red in colour
- not contain large clots (some small clots may be present)
- there shouldn’t be any spotting before the full period arrives, it should just arrive and start flowing
- there shouldn’t be any PMS beforehand (mood swings, emotional ups and downs, bloating, headaches, spots, breast tenderness, cramping) - these can be a sign of pre-menstrual magnification
- any cramps and pain should be minimal
“Remember if you have a shorter cycle then you could be ovulating before the textbook day 14, this is set for a 28-day cycle which many women don’t have,” she notes. “Look out for signs of ovulation - a change in cervical mucous, it goes tacky and stretchy to allow sperm through; a pain in your side; bloating; a slightly elevated temperature and just before ovulation you may experience a rise in sex drive. Healthy ovulation helps to release the progesterone from the corpus luteum and prevents progesterone dropping off during the second half of the cycle, it’s the drop of the progesterone that causes the PMS symptoms.”
If your cycle doesn’t quite fit all the ‘ideal’ it might still be your ‘normal’, however when the pain (Dysmenorrhea) means it is impacting your ability to go to school, college, Uni, work or carry out your day-to-day life, then Karen says this is the time to get it investigated. “Severe pain that inhibits your day-to-day life often means that there is an imbalance of hormones over the month, namely oestrogen and progesterone,” says Karen. “Symptoms can include lower abdomen pain radiating out to lower back pain and pains going down the legs. Alongside nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, fatigue or headaches. The bleed may also be heavy (Menorrhagia) with or without clots.”
Touted as a way to manage heavy periods and balance hormones, Laura Hampson sees if seed cycling lives up to the hype.
Karen says that while painkillers may help, this is not a long-term solution. So what can you do to alleviate the symptoms?
“GPs will offer either the pill or coil to help reduce the thickness of the endometrium lining and reduce the amount of prostaglandins the body releases (prostaglandins cause the womb to contract more and thus increases the pain levels). Blood hormone tests (FSH, LH, Oestradiol, Prolactin, TSH) carried out on day 2 to 4 of the cycle and 7 days post ovulation, for progesterone, will give an indication of what is happening with the hormones during the cycle and if they are within the right ranges or out of balance. Further testing may be carried out to rule out endometriosis, where endometrial cells grow outside the womb, this can be anywhere in the body, when they shed each month they cause intense pain, sadly it often takes 8 to 10 years to be diagnosed with endometriosis and the gold standard for diagnosis is with a laparoscopy. Other causes maybe fibroids (non-cancerous tumours), pelvic inflammatory disease, adenomyosis or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.”
Premenstrual magnification is when underlying mental and physical health conditions are premenstrually worsened
Karen says that diet and lifestyle can help balance out hormones, eating well, not smoking, reducing alcohol intake, exercising, reducing stress levels, therapies such as reflexology, acupuncture, womb massage, homeopathy and Nutritional Therapy can all have a beneficial effect on the mind and body.
If you have any concerns regarding your period, you should always speak to your GP.
