I have come across many patients who have come to see me about “irregular periods” and many women do not know enough about this old friend. Menstruation has become a woman’s “most familiar stranger”. What is irregular menstruation all about? You need to know what normal menstruation should be like. Menstruation Profile Name: Menstruation. Alias: Auntie, period, old friend, physiological period, that, bad luck, good things, bad things. Age: The age of menarche is usually between 11 and 15 years old, and the age of menopause is between 44 and 54 years old; the average age of menopause for Chinese women is 50 years old. Height (menstrual period, referring to the duration of menstruation): 3 to 7 days, average 4 to 6 days. Weight (total blood loss): 20～60 ml. Arrival cycle: 21 to 35 days, average 28 days. Blood type: It depends on what blood type you are. Personality: introverted, self-disciplined, uncommunicative, sensitive, emotional, vindictive, and unwilling to accommodate others. Hobbies: Playing pranks. Occupation: Underground communicator, responsible for delivering information about your body to you. Menstruation is not necessarily a “monthly” period You see, although the name is menstruation, the cycle doesn’t actually have to be a month to be considered normal, and a difference of one or two weeks before and after for different people may be fine, the key is to be regular. That is to say, each time the interval is the same, each time the duration is also the same, each time the amount of menstruation is also about the same, then it will be fine. In this way, quite a few of the irregular periods that are seen by many people are not really irregular at all, but are just individual variations in different people. If you have been very regular and suddenly have a period that is earlier or later, or lasts longer or shorter, then you may have an irregular period. But don’t worry yet. Think about it, you have to have hundreds of periods in your life, how can you guarantee that every time is so accurate, occasionally a small fluctuation is inevitable. So don’t worry if you have just one irregular period, let the bullets fly for a while and wait until your next period to see if it’s back to normal, then there’s no harm in it. Beware of irregular vaginal bleeding! However, one situation to take very seriously is not to mistake irregular vaginal bleeding for menstruation. Menstruation is characterized by vaginal bleeding, but vaginal bleeding doesn’t always mean you’re having your period. In some cases, irregular vaginal bleeding is not menstruation, but may be a sign of a medical condition, such as an ectopic pregnancy. What is irregular vaginal bleeding? For example, if the period suddenly drags on for a long time, or if there is a significant change in the amount of menstruation, or if there is a significant change in the color or character of the menstruation, this may not be a normal menstruation, even if the vaginal bleeding occurs when it is supposed to occur. Clinically, there are often patients with ectopic pregnancy who have a little bit of blood when they are supposed to menstruate, and the amount of blood every day is less than the usual menstrual flow, but then it lasts for a long time without cleansing and is dark in color, which is actually menopause, but because this is the time when they are supposed to menstruate, it is mistaken for menstruation. As a result, the triad of “menopause, vaginal bleeding, and abdominal pain”, which is a typical symptom of ectopic pregnancy, turned out to be ignored because the patient mistook it for menstruation, and ignored both the symptoms of “menopause” and “vaginal bleeding”. Therefore, if you feel that your menstrual period is not normal, it may not be a menstrual disorder, but some other disease, because it may not be your period at all. Especially for women who have had sex, regardless of the method of contraception you use, test for pregnancy before you decide it’s an irregular period. Body Intelligence Transmitter If you have been having problems with your menstrual cycle for two or three consecutive cycles, or have been having irregular cycles and period times, then you may actually have irregular periods and need to go to the hospital. As mentioned earlier in the “Menstrual Profile”, the profession of menstruation is to convey information about your body to you, and the occurrence of irregular menstruation means that there may be something abnormal in your body. Therefore, irregular menstruation is just a symptom, just like a fever or a stomach ache, it is just an external manifestation of a certain disease. For example, a stomach ache could be appendicitis, or an intestinal obstruction, or a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, etc. So the stomach ache itself is not important, but what is important, is which disease is causing the stomach ache, and the doctor has to treat that disease. The same goes for irregular menstruation. When irregular menstruation occurs, it is actually a response to a problem with the reproductive system or hormones related to reproduction, so the doctor has to conduct various tests to find out what kind of disease is causing the irregular menstruation. For example, uterine fibroids, uterine adhesions, polycystic ovary syndrome, hyperprolactinemia, and so on, and then go to the treatment for these diseases. Therefore, if you have irregular menstruation, don’t blindly look at the advertisement saying that a certain supplement can regulate menstruation and nourish your skin, and then you use it; instead, you should go to the regular hospital to receive professional doctor’s examination and treatment.