Does a woman need a period? Or maybe he does not have to menstruate at all, but can take advantage of the luxury of amenorrhea? What methods can he use to avoid having a period? These and other questions are answered by prof. dr hab. n. med. Violetta Skrzypulec-Plinta, gynecologist.

Menstruation on average lasts from 3 to 5 days (with the maintenance of the natural cycle). This means that currently women have up to 60 days of bleeding a year, which is more than 2,000 days throughout the reproductive period. That's 6 years of a woman's life. However, once women had their periods very rarely, they gave birth to more children and breastfed for a long time.

In the past, women married early, so they had only a few months before their wedding. Then they got pregnant right away, so they didn't have a period. Then they breastfed and the menstrual period did not start either.

They got pregnant again during this time and still had no period. And this pattern was repeated for many years. Currently, the opposite is true - women give birth to fewer children than before, but they have periods. It turns out, however, that a woman does not have to menstruate at all. Is it a luxury, as some argue?

- The luxury in this case is that on the Polish pharmaceutical market there are means that allow a woman to decide when and with whom she wants to become pregnant and has the knowledge of how to regulate the menstrual cycle so that could freely enjoy the vacation or physical activity during these days - says prof. dr hab. n. med. Violetta Skrzypulec-Plinta, gynecologist.

Does a woman have to menstruate? Does a woman need a period?

Menstruation is essential, but only at certain times in a woman's life. The first is adolescence. The arrival of the first menstruation until the menstrual cycle is regulated allows a young woman to enter the period of sexual maturity. Menstruation is also needed when a woman wants to get pregnant.

According to an expertprof. dr hab. Violetta Skrzypulec-Plinta, med., gynecologist

Physiological functions of a woman's body - the cyclical nature of certain biological changes affect the functioning of a woman on her life: family, marriage or social relations. The periods of a woman's life, starting with the periodadolescence, adulthood and finally menopause, depend on the proper and full functioning of the system, which is achieved thanks to the correct relationship between the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary axis.

This allows a woman to achieve homeostasis, i.e. full maturity. The appearance of the first menstrual bleeding - menarche - until she reaches cyclical menstrual bleeding (it takes about 2 years to regulate menstrual cycles) allows the young woman to complete the process of growth and enter the period of sexual maturity.

At this time, a woman gets education, takes her first job, achieves success and thinks about starting a family, and at the same time wants to consciously respond to her needs in relation to the physiological functions of her body, i.e. she wants to consciously and skillfully regulate her menstrual cycle so that it can decide about extending the family, vacation or other activities.

Disturbances in the menstrual cycle, the absence of the first menstruation up to the age of 15 may reflect an abnormal function of the axis-hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary, which may cause dysfunction that will affect her later life.

When amenorrhea is not a luxury but a necessity?

In some cases, monthly bleeding for most of your life can be harmful to your he alth.

- Any abnormalities related to the menstrual cycle - pathological conditions (e.g. painful, abundant menstrual periods) can lead to anemia and symptoms related to PMS (nausea, diarrhea, mood disorders) can significantly affect a woman's quality of life - says prof. Skrzypulec-Plinta. Then it may be necessary to stop your period .

You don't want to have a period? You have several options to get rid of the period

- Currently, modern and effective contraception can be adapted to the needs of every woman. We can offer our patients various schedules for the use of contraceptive pills (21 tablets + 7 days break (or 7 placebo tablets), 24 + 4 placebo tablets or 84 + 7 hormone tablets, i.e. 4 menstruation a year) - explains the gynecologist.

- Today we use not only tablets. We offer unusual contraception (patches, vaginal rings) or long-term contraception such as injections, inserts, subcutaneous implants or hormone-containing intrauterine systems. They make it possible to use different doses of the hormone every 3 or 5 years - adds the expert.

Due to this period, women who cannot take birth control pills for he alth reasons can also get rid of this period.

See the gallery of 7 photosAccording to an expertprof. dr hab. Violetta Skrzypulec-Plinta, med., gynecologist

It should be remembered that contraceptives also have a non-contraceptive effect - they are used in the treatment of acne, hirsutism and PCOS syndrome.

The use of combined hormonal contraception has an anti-androgenic, anti-mineralocorticoid or anti-gonadrotopinic effect, i.e. it reduces the risk of endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer, reduces symptoms resulting from benign diseases of the breast gland, endometriosis or reduces the severity of RA symptoms and improves bone mineral density.

Category:

Female diseases