I Need Help With... Abnormal Bleeding
What You Should Know About Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding
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Will I be seeing red today? |
Heavy bleeding, or bleeding when you don’t think you should be bleeding can be a cause for concern. The more you know, the safer you’ll be. If you have any doubts whatsoever, please do not hesitate to contact us for an appointment right away. Your health comes first.
What’s normal vaginal bleeding?
Normal vaginal bleeding is the periodic blood that flows as a discharge from your uterus. Normal vaginal bleeding is also called menorrhea. The process by which menorrhea occurs is called menstruation.
Your ovary is one of a pair of reproductive glands – one on each side of your uterus. It’s about the size and shape of an almond. Your ovaries produce eggs and hormones.
During your monthly menstrual cycle, an egg is released from one ovary. It travels through your Fallopian tube to your uterus. Unless you get pregnant, the cycle ends with the shedding of the inner lining of your uterus – what we call menstruation. The first day of menstrual bleeding is called “day 1” of your menstrual cycle.
What is abnormal vaginal bleeding?
If you are bleeding at the wrong time of the month, or in larger amounts than usual, then you may have abnormal vaginal bleeding or irregular vaginal bleeding. To help us diagnose your situation, we’ll usually ask you:
Are you ovulating?
Are you pregnant?
What is the pattern of bleeding? (Spotting, heavy flow, etc.)
For example, we might want to know if you’re experiencing any of the following:
- abnormal bleeding after menopause
- vaginal bleeding during intercourse
- vaginal bleeding after intercourse
- vaginal bleeding during pregnancy
- bright red vaginal bleeding
- constant vaginal bleeding
- heavy vaginal bleeding
- light vaginal bleeding
- spotting during pregnancy
- spotting between periods
- spotting before period
- spotting after intercourse
- spotting during ovulation
We’ve found that women can experience irregular bleeding during the early part of pregnancy, so you might actually be pregnant!
You might also be having problems with ovulation. Signs that you’re not ovulating regularly include:
- Longer than usual bleeding at irregular intervals after no period for several months; or…
- Your body temperature doesn’t fluctuate as it usually does during your expected ovulation time
But if you know that you’re not pregnant and you have periods that occur too frequently, too seldom, or if you have excess or too little bleeding or spotting, then we’d like to see you.
Not only is abnormal or irregular vaginal bleeding stressful, you might also be experiencing severe cramping. Worse, you can lose so much blood that you become anemic and actually faint. There are some causes that might require more urgent treatment, although these are rare.
How many days of bleeding is considered abnormal?
This is a tough question for us to answer. You wouldn’t be asking if what’s occurring isn’t “normal” for you.
However, you can experience light bleeding (“spotting”) between your periods. Hormonal birth control pills or patches, and IUD’s can sometimes lead to light bleeding between periods. Stress and certain medications can also cause light bleeding.
Remember that if you’re in doubt, it’s best to check it out with us.
How heavy must the bleeding be to be considered abnormal?
Again, you’ll know what’s normal for you. If you’re bleeding more than usual, or bleeding at off times, then we can usually figure out why pretty quickly.
It’s always best to play it safe, as a few simple tests may be all we need.
Please call us for an appointment. We’ll gladly answer all your questions. Your health always comes first.