We all know from school that the female body is much more complex than the male. The balance is so fragile that the slightest deviation can lead to quite serious consequences. Therefore, women's health must be valued and protected very carefully. The main indicator of any abnormalities may be menstrual irregularities. And you should especially pay attention to your health if your period lasts 2 weeks or more. You should be more worried if your periods are not just smeared, but come profusely. In this case, you should consult a doctor immediately, as there is a great danger here.
The normal duration of menstrual bleeding is from three days to a week. For all women, the duration of the cycle is established a year or two after the first menstruation and, under normal conditions, fits within the established time frame. But the fragility of the female body is determined primarily by the fact that this complex mechanism is controlled by many factors. Therefore, menstruation can be protracted and periods last from 12 days.
The main danger during prolonged periods, which last from 12 days to 2 weeks, is heavy blood loss, especially with heavy bleeding with clots. Heavy blood loss is considered when changing pads more often than every three to four hours. Therefore, if menstruation lasts 2 weeks or more, a woman needs to monitor blood loss.
Periods take a long time - when is this normal?
Based on statistics, we can conclude that on average, the normal duration of the menstrual cycle for a healthy woman should be between 3 and 6 days. If your period lasts 1 or 2 days, this is already considered a significant deviation. The same applies to those moments when menstruation lasts more than 1 week. If menstruation lasts 8, 9 or 10 days, all these are signs of certain disorders in the female body, pathological or physiological. But there are a number of factors when such long periods are the norm.
What reasons for long and prolonged periods can be considered normal? Heredity can become the main factor in how many days menstruation will be normal. If the mother and grandmother had their periods on average for 4-7 days, then the daughter’s menstruation is very likely to be within these limits. Taking hormonal contraceptives can affect the menstrual cycle and the duration of the menstrual cycle. The use of an intrauterine device, implants as mechanical and barrier contraceptives can affect how many days a woman will have her period.
During menopause, menopause, the menstrual cycle can become chaotic, the same applies to the period when a young girl is just getting her period. Menstruation after an abortion can be irregular and heavy, and prolonged. The same applies to postpartum bleeding. Sometimes, if a woman’s period lasts 10 days or more, if menstruation of 9 or 10 days happens quite often, then the reason for this may be extra pounds. Obesity is one of the common causes of irregular menstruation.
What other physiological or non-dangerous reasons can provoke long periods? Sometimes medications, especially their long-term use, can cause long and prolonged periods, menstrual irregularities, and other health problems. Especially often, heavy periods last more than 6, 7, 8 or 10 days when a woman takes medications for a long time that affect blood clotting. Rough or too active sexual contact, sexual intercourse for too long, all this can affect the monthly cycle.
Long periods in the absence of obvious pathologies
Sometimes menstruation lasts two weeks due to endocrine system disorders due to obesity. Often, when a woman is overweight, her period lasts 10 days; the reasons for this deviation lie in the extra pounds. Menstrual bleeding on the 9th – 10th day is weak and spotting; such long periods do not indicate a serious pathology; they require nutritional correction and lifestyle changes.
If the situation worsens and your period has been going on for 15 days, what should you do in this case? Contact your doctor. Because with prolonged bleeding, a woman loses a significant amount of blood. Standard menstruation removes up to 100 ml of ichor; this loss is easily restored by the female body. With prolonged bleeding, blood loss increases. If the situation is chronic, anemia, general weakness, loss of strength and depression develop.
Pathological causes of menstruation 7, 8, 9 and 10 days
A very important question remains: what diseases can there be, if menstruation lasts more than 1 week, more than 8, 9 or 10 days, which of these diseases can be considered dangerous?
The most common pathology that provokes long periods is endometriosis. This disease is characterized by a pathological process of excessive growth of the mucous layer of the uterus. What does this mean? With endometriosis, the mucous membrane of the uterus begins to actively grow and gradually form additional cavities. And during menstruation, the mucous membrane is torn off and comes out, which is why menstruation lasts much longer than usual.
There are a large number of factors that cannot be classified as diseases, but which affect the duration of menstruation. These are stress, nervous strain, prolonged emotional stress on the body, weak and inelastic walls of blood vessels in the woman’s genital area, and hormonal imbalances. Sometimes the reason that periods take too long is the need for internal cleaning of the uterine cavity.
The duration of menstruation is 8, 9 days, is this normal? Of course not. Because such symptoms may appear due to poor blood clotting, or be a consequence of anemia or chronic anemia. A number of gynecological diseases can provoke long menstruation, for example, inflammatory diseases. Diseases of the endocrine system are often accompanied by menstrual irregularities in women of different ages. A benign or malignant formation can produce heavy and prolonged periods, which sometimes, in terms of intensity, can be equated to uterine bleeding.
If your period has been going on for 10 days, and the reason for the failure of the menstrual cycle is pathology, then there is a high probability of developing polyposis or uterine fibroids. What are uterine fibroids? Uterine fibroids are a benign tumor that affects muscle and connective tissue. Due to the formation of multiple nodules, a gradual disruption of the contractile function in the uterus occurs, which is why the endometrial layer takes longer to pass through during menstruation. So menstruation with uterine fibroids lasts much longer than usual. But if menstruation does not stop for a long time, it may not only be fibroids or endometriosis, there is a possibility of developing polyposis. What is polyposis? Polyposis is the process of formation of polyps, round growths. Is polyposis dangerous? This disease is considered benign and treatable. During polyposis, due to improper contractility in the uterine area, there is constant pressure on formations in the form of polyps, which causes bloody discharge. During this process, the menstrual cycle is delayed; menstruation can take a very long time with polyposis.
Causes of menstruation lasting two weeks
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The duration of critical days exceeding a week may be due to the following reasons:
- Taking hormonal contraceptives. The amount of blood released while taking oral contraceptives may be reduced, and the duration of menstruation, on the contrary, may increase. This is especially true for the first 2–3 months from the start of taking the drug. But if the bleeding continues, this indicates that the product was chosen incorrectly and needs to be replaced.
- An intrauterine device, which is also a contraceptive. For her, long and heavy periods are normal, but in any case, consultation with a specialist is necessary. Especially if there is prolonged bleeding.
- Hormonal disorders that occur during the first menstruation in a teenage girl’s life or after childbirth, refusal to breastfeed, or during menopause. In these cases, the hormonal balance generally improves on its own, but some situations require consulting a doctor.
- Failures in the functioning of the endocrine system can be manifested by an increase in the duration of critical days, during which discharge can intensify and lead to anemia. In this case, hormone tests and ultrasound of the thyroid gland can explain the cause of the malfunction.
- Gynecological diseases, which are often treatable with timely consultation with a doctor. Malignant and benign tumors also often cause menstruation, which can last 2 weeks or more, each time changing the nature and amount of blood released.
- Stress, emotional tension, excessive exercise, injuries, excess weight or lack thereof, climate change can cause irregularities in the menstrual cycle.
- Disorders of hemostasis - blood clotting system.
- Ectopic pregnancy in some cases causes prolonged periods. This is one of the most dangerous factors, which can lead to pipe rupture, internal bleeding and peritonitis.
- Menstruation after miscarriage or abortion.
See also: How to calculate due date using menstruation
Abdominal pain, unpleasant odor from menstrual discharge
If you experience a foul odor from prolonged vaginal discharge, it is recommended that you seek help from a doctor. The same applies to pain in the lower abdomen. If, against the background of the fact that menstruation does not end for a long time, a woman has pain in her lower abdomen, this may most likely be a sign of the development of pathology. And itching or a foul odor from the discharge is often a symptom of infection.
What does pain in the abdomen mean, in the lower right or left abdomen, if menstruation lasts for a long time? Pain in the lower abdomen and prolonged discharge may indicate the development of an inflammatory process in the pelvic organs. Often, abdominal pain begins due to the fact that, against the background of long periods, blood accumulates in the uterine cavity and clots gradually form. The inflammatory process and its symptoms, when menstruation does not end for 6, 7, 8, 8 or 10 days, can appear not only in the uterine cavity, but also in its appendages.
Is menstruation dangerous if menstruation lasts 1 week or more days?
If the reason for prolonged menstruation is physiological, then there is no need to worry. But if menstruation often lasts 7, 8, 9 days or more, if menstruation has already been longer than 10 days several times, then this can already be considered a cause for concern. Hypomenorrhea or long periods can have its own complications. Vitamin deficiency, a threat to infertility and sometimes even the life of the woman herself. For example, if menstruation is very heavy and lasts more than 10 days, then this can even threaten the woman’s life. It is very important to seek help from a doctor if a woman has symptoms of uterine bleeding, because... in some cases, it may even be necessary to call emergency medical assistance to save the life and health of the patient in case of severe and prolonged blood loss. One of the complications of hypomenorrhea, when very heavy and prolonged periods occur very often, is infertility. Excessive blood loss is dangerous due to vitamin deficiency. With prolonged blood loss during long periods, beneficial microelements are washed out of the body, the body weakens, and the immune system weakens.
What to do?
This question is asked by an obscene number of women. And really, what should a woman do if the duration of her menstruation suddenly increases, which now lasts for 12 days and does not stop? First of all, it makes sense to think about visiting a doctor. This must be done in order to find out the cause of menstruation irregularities, as well as to prescribe competent treatment. Self-medication without visiting a doctor is not only stupid and ineffective, but also extremely dangerous! This is what a woman should think about first of all.
If, when visiting a doctor, no diseases are detected, women should pay special attention to their lifestyle. It is possible that this is where the cause of menstrual irregularities and the duration of menstruation from 12 days lies. As the duration of menstruation increases, you should change the regimen and composition of your daily diet, and give up bad habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol.
Often, representatives of the fairer sex should pay attention to their own weight. Often, disorders in a woman’s body are associated with metabolic disorders and excess weight. If the problem is relevant, then you should normalize your weight and the percentage of body fat. Sports, a lot of movement and life, this is useful for any woman, regardless of the presence of problems. Moreover, an active lifestyle will not only help normalize metabolism and hormonal balance, but can also prevent many deviations in those who are still in good health.
Treatment of menstruation, what to do if menstruation lasts a very long time?
If a woman does not know the reason why her period lasts so long, more than 10 days, then she should definitely seek help from a gynecologist on the 11th day. And if there is itching in the perineum, if there is an unpleasant odor from the discharge, if it itches in the external genital area, if there is mucus, blood clots or mucus in the discharge, all these are symptoms for which you should immediately seek help from a doctor.
If menstruation occurs on the 10th day, then the doctor most often prescribes Vikasol, Dicion, Etamzilat. These hemostatic drugs are most often used if menstruation does not stop for a long time or the discharge becomes very heavy. How can hemostatic pills help with long periods? Vikasol - used because is an analogue of vitamin K. This ingredient helps improve blood clotting. It is important to note that Vikasol is prescribed for heavy and long periods when the cause of poor blood clotting is a lack of vitamins and minerals.
Dition is a very effective hemostatic agent that is used when there is very heavy discharge or uterine bleeding. Etamsylate - reduces blood loss and stimulates an increase in the formation of thromboplastin. Why can’t you take medications on your own to treat heavy periods and menstruation on 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 days? Each drug or tablet has many contraindications. Treatment of the cause of the pathology should be carried out after an accurate diagnosis has been made. Self-treatment of the problem often comes down to the banal elimination of symptoms, which means simply stopping menstruation. But if painful and problematic periods are not treated, then the symptoms in the form of long periods may recur.
What to do if your period does not stop for more than 1 week? If your periods are still taking a long time, it is better to consult a specialist, because... Without a comprehensive diagnosis, even an experienced specialist doctor will not always be able to make a diagnosis. In addition to a gynecological examination, the doctor usually prescribes an ultrasound of the pelvic organs (ultrasound). Most often, doctors check the quality of blood clotting, check for hormonal imbalance, and check for the presence of inflammatory diseases. Such a comprehensive diagnosis is necessary due to the fact that many types of diseases have similar symptoms, which is why it is not always possible to determine an accurate diagnosis without diagnostics.
What medications can stop long periods, what pills to take?
Not all women know what to do if their periods do not stop for more than 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 days. If the doctor sees the need to stop uterine bleeding, strong and heavy periods, he may prescribe hemostatic drugs to improve blood clotting. Sometimes drugs are useful that help normalize uterine contractions and have a restorative effect on the walls of blood vessels. As an additional treatment for very heavy and prolonged menstruation, the doctor may prescribe vitamin and mineral complexes and preparations with a high iron content. Sometimes doctors prescribe hormone therapy.
What to do if your period takes a very long time, how to stop the bleeding? It is important to know that self-administration of medications is contraindicated, because There can be many reasons for long menstruation, and the treatment of each problem has its own specific nuances. An exception is the use of hemostatic drugs before the arrival of a doctor or ambulance, when stopping blood loss is critical to saving a woman’s life.
