What to do if you have heavy menstrual flow during puberty

  In adolescent girls, mainly anovulatory functional uterine bleeding (referred to as anovulatory hemorrhage) occurs because adolescent girls begin to menstruate, which is a physiological sign of the maturity of female sexual function. However, because the mechanism regulating menstruation during adolescence is gradually being improved as the body develops, the cyclical regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis is not yet stable, so menstrual irregularities are likely to occur. Of course, most of them can turn to normal on their own as they grow older, but some of them need timely treatment for abnormal menstruation, such as long menstrual cycles, prolonged periods, heavy menstruation, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, etc. Some young girls experience abnormal menstruation because they experience high academic stress, mood swings, weight loss and confusion about sexual development during adolescence, which can affect the cerebral cortex of the central nervous system and interfere with the regulatory function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. If it continues for a long time, it will affect the physical development and physical condition of adolescence, and then affect the future reproductive age, old age, and the whole life. Therefore, whether in adolescence or adulthood, when menstrual abnormalities occur, appropriate treatment should be given in time.  The most common symptom of anovulatory anemia in adolescence is irregular bleeding from the uterus. The most common symptom is irregular bleeding from the uterus, which is characterized by disrupted menstrual periods of varying lengths, sometimes heavy or even heavy bleeding, and dripping bleeding. Sometimes menopause (absence of menstruation) occurs for several months, followed by irregular vaginal bleeding, which is often heavy and lasts for 2-3 weeks or even longer. It may also manifest as cyclic bleeding similar to normal menstruation, but with significantly heavier periods and prolonged periods, etc. Heavy bleeding and prolonged periods can cause anemia. Often, many secondary school and college students, due to stressful homework, bleed a lot during their periods, causing anemia, and faint in the classroom during classes or exams, when teachers and parents realize that the students are having excessive periods. Therefore, parents (especially mothers of young girls) should be more concerned about their daughters’ menstruation. You can ask your daughter about the time of her menstrual flow and the amount of menstruation. If she has excessive menstruation or even if you suspect that she is anemic, you should take her to the doctor in time.  Adolescent girls, as well as individual women who enter their childbearing years after the age of 20, are afraid to speak up about their menstrual condition, especially excessive menstruation, and to go to the doctor. They mistakenly believe that they are not married, see the gynecological disease is very ashamed, to the doctor is also difficult to say, especially unmarried and sexually active women, mistakenly think that after having sex, menstrual volume will increase or menstruation will be very different from the situation before sex. Some women think that they cannot go to the doctor at the time of menstruation, that they must have a gynecological examination if they go to see a gynecologist, that they are unwilling or unable to have a gynecological examination because they are not married, and that they allow their menstruation to be disordered and miss the time for treatment, resulting in haemorrhage, severe anaemia and fainting. In fact, these are all misunderstandings.  When you go to the doctor when heavy bleeding occurs during adolescent menstrual disorders, the doctor will not perform a vaginal double examination or an anal double examination (gynecological examination). The doctor can determine the condition by taking a careful history, if necessary, by ultrasound of the abdomen, and by testing the endocrine hormone levels in the blood, and then give appropriate treatment without the need for a gynecological examination. It is worth mentioning that every woman is recommended to create her own “menstrual record card” after the first menstruation until the menopause. The content of the card should record the start date of each menstrual period, the number of days of menstruation, the volume of menstruation (use of menstrual pads), the occurrence of dysmenorrhea, the date of menstrual pain, etc., month by month, in order to detect abnormalities in a timely manner and to accurately reflect your menstrual situation to the doctor in case of menstrual disorders, which will help the doctor to make a diagnosis and differential diagnosis and to take timely treatment measures.  Unmarried women or unmarried women who are sexually active should see a doctor promptly if they have irregular vaginal bleeding, especially heavy bleeding, not only for functional uterine bleeding, but also for diagnosis of organic diseases (such as blood disorders, thyroid disorders, hypertension, cancer of the reproductive organs, etc.) that may be causing menstrual disorders.