A 14-year-old girl does not have her period—modern children are ahead of us in everything: they make new acquaintances faster, absorb an abundance of information more easily, and even physically look older than us at their age.
Acceleration? Scientists say yes.
But personally, I had to face the other side of this coin.
At the age of 14, my daughter was in no way inferior to her peers in intellectual development, and could even give many a head start, but purely outwardly she was just a child.
I wouldn’t attach much importance to this, because any mother wants her child to stay small longer, but her classmates already had rounded shapes, wore a bra and chose pads in the store...
And one day my daughter came home in tears and said that she was the only one who still didn’t have menstruation. That’s when I started wondering, is it normal for a 14-year-old girl to not have periods?
Symptoms of delayed periods in girls
Symptoms of a 14-year-old girl not having periods include the natural, most obvious absence of bleeding at the scheduled time. Although at such a young age the cycle has not yet fully formed, its approximate duration can be calculated in order to determine the time frame when menstruation should begin. As you know, approximately 7-14 days before your period, menstrual symptoms appear, which become a kind of wake-up call that you will soon need to be much more careful about your hygiene. There are many such symptoms, and if they are absent in a girl at 14 years old, then this may also indicate a delay in menstruation. The most obvious include:
- frequent headaches, dizziness;
- painful sensations in the mammary glands;
- sudden mood swings, most often negative: touchiness, irritability, moodiness and tearfulness. There are also sudden outbursts of anger;
- increased appetite, rapid weight gain. Changes in taste preferences, craving for salty or sweet;
- skin rashes, acne on the face and back;
- frequent nausea and vomiting;
- aching pain in the lower back and lower abdomen;
- sudden changes in sexual desire.
Symptoms do not appear all at once in one girl; more often the arrival of menstruation is accompanied by mood swings and an increase in appetite, other signals are more individual. And if they have been absent for a long time, then this indicates a delay in puberty, as a result of which menstruation stopped at the age of 14.
Reasons for missed periods at 14 years old
There are many reasons why there are no periods at the age of 14, and not all of them require medicinal intervention to the problem. A failure in the cycle can occur due to the following factors:
- Constant stress, nervous breakdowns.
- Poor nutrition, sudden weight changes.
- Lack of physical activity or, conversely, too much of it.
- Metabolic disorders, hormonal imbalances.
- Hereditary diseases of the reproductive system.
All these reasons can be eliminated on your own, without the help of a doctor. For example, the problem of poor nutrition can be solved by the following methods:
- increasing the amount of lean meat and fish in the diet;
- giving up crackers and chips. If you really want to, you can make them at home - it will be tastier and less harmful to the teenager’s body;
- transition to eating at intervals of 2–3 hours between meals. This time is enough for the body to digest what is in the stomach;
- reducing food portions;
- taking various vitamin complexes;
- eating seasonal fresh vegetables and fruits;
- It is worth considering that the temperature of hot dishes should not be higher than 55 degrees, and cold dishes should have a temperature of no lower than 15 degrees.
In this way, you can not only help your body, but also keep your figure in shape, because following the described recommendations does not lead to excess fat formation. However, if the girl is eating normally, then there is a reason to consult a doctor and have her blood tested to check if there are problems with her glucose balance. In general, if there are problems, it is recommended to take monthly blood tests to make it easier to control sugar and hemoglobin in the body.
Physical activity is a wonderful thing for a young body, helping to strengthen bones and muscles and keep oneself in good shape. However, at the age of 14, girls are impressionable and begin to worry about their appearance, and in order to be more athletic and fit, they abuse physical activity. At this age, it is better not to allow this to happen and simple exercises such as exercise or a short jog will be quite enough. A teenager already receives a “loading dose” of loads in physical education lessons at school.
Hormonal imbalances are also a common occurrence in teenage girls; they are often caused by genetics or diseases of the endocrine system. In order to prevent severe hormonal imbalance, it is necessary to undergo examination by a doctor every month if the girl has a certain predisposition.
In addition, it is important to take into account the emotional component of a teenager’s life. At this age, youthful maximalism is often found, and problems at school or family can lead to severe stress, anxiety and conflicts. However, a teenager’s emotions are influenced not only by other people, but also by their daily routine: lack of sleep, poor nutrition, and severe overwork have a detrimental effect on the girl’s mood and often lead to increased irritability and moodiness.
Excessive exercise
Physical exercise has a very good effect on the development of the body during adolescence. The main thing is not to overdo it. It is enough just to attend every physical education lesson at school to keep your body and body in shape. If all this is observed, menstrual cycle disruption will not occur.
If you overuse physical activity or lift heavy objects, heavy bleeding may begin. You cannot exercise from the first to the last day of your period.
Menstrual cycle in teenagers
It is worth noting that the appearance of menstruation in adolescents is not necessary from the age of 13; in some girls, maturation occurs as early as 11 years, while others can wait until they are 16. In addition, the cycle may be unstable for the first 2–3 years, and when menstruation is delayed, this may indicate a natural restructuring of the body.
It is important that this delay is not accompanied by other unpleasant factors or hereditary problems associated with the genitals. If the delay does not exceed 2 weeks, then, in principle, there is no reason to panic.
In adolescence, it is also difficult to calculate how long your period lasts, for the same reasons why your cycle fluctuates. By the way, the causes of these fluctuations may also be an unstable emotional state associated with problems at school or family.
Problems in the hormonal system
Disruptions in the menstrual cycle are quite common. There are many reasons for this:
- pathologies in the endocrine system;
- violation of the adolescent's diet;
- infectious diseases;
- genetic predisposition.
Sometimes, the difficulties that a teenager has may seem trivial. But indifference to this topic can lead to disastrous consequences. It is worth remembering that such hormonal problems often lead to diseases of the reproductive organs.
What can be considered a deviation from the norm on the part of hormones if menstruation is late and there is often no menstruation for a long time in adolescence? If there is no normal indicator of the development of the mammary glands, the voice becomes rougher, male-type hair growth occurs, all these are symptoms that a hormonal imbalance is occurring in the child’s body. Such signs are characteristic of the predominance of male hormones; in this case, an irregular menstrual cycle and frequent delays in menstruation at the ages of 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 years indicate a deficiency of the hormone estrogen in the body.
When should 14 year old girls menstruate?
As we have already mentioned, the average age of puberty begins at 13 years old, but there are cases when menstruation begins at 11. Age is also determined by a hereditary factor: if there is a girl in the family, the closest generational relatives - mothers and grandmothers - have periods started later than 14 years of age, then it makes no sense for a teenager to expect them earlier.
The first signs of menstruation in girls begin to appear three years after breasts begin to grow. In this case, it is logical to believe that if by the age of 13 a teenager’s mammary glands have just begun to enlarge, menstruation will not appear in the same year.
When should you contact a gynecologist?
Many natural and easily correctable factors do not mean that the delay cannot have serious causes that require treatment. Also, the delay may have the following symptoms that indicate the need to go to the gynecologist:
- Complete absence of any signs of puberty. For example, a girl does not grow hair in her armpits and pubic area.
- If by the age of 14 the breasts have not begun to grow, then this is also a reason to consult a doctor, as it indicates a severe delay in the onset of puberty.
- Long-term (more than a month) absence of menstrual symptoms, as well as unhealthy vaginal discharge that is not related to menstruation.
The state of the reproductive system largely depends on hereditary factors, so if a mother knows that her diseases could be passed on to her daughter, then it is necessary to visit a doctor every month and undergo an examination.
What to do if the doctor said there were serious problems that caused the delay? The most important thing is not to self-medicate, but strictly follow the recommendations of a specialist and follow the instructions.
What to do
Parents of teenage girls should know what to do if their daughter's menstrual cycle is irregular:
- adjust the diet, remove harmful foods from it (crab sticks, crackers, carbonated drinks, chips, etc.), add more vegetables, fruits and vitamin complexes for teenagers;
- reduce the level of intellectual and physical stress;
- do not allow stressful situations for the child;
- take frequent walks together in the fresh air;
- review your child’s routine, be sure to ensure that the girl has full and healthy sleep.
During puberty, many internal and external changes occur in a girl’s body; she needs to learn to perceive herself in a new status. In some cases, the help of a psychologist may be needed.
If a girl does not have her period and at the same time develops severe pain in the lower abdomen, you cannot self-medicate, you should definitely seek help from a gynecologist. Perhaps the cause of the delay was not banal hypothermia, but a serious infection in the genitourinary tract or polycystic ovaries caused by problems in the endocrine system. system. It is best to identify the pathology in a timely manner and undergo the necessary treatment, so that later in adulthood the girl does not have problems conceiving and bearing healthy offspring.
Opinion of gynecologists
Doctors recommend not to neglect your health and always listen to its signals. Even if a girl’s irregular periods are a fairly natural phenomenon, this is not a reason to ignore the delay and leave everything to chance. In any case, at the moment when a girl begins to notice signs of puberty, regular consultation with doctors, including a gynecologist, is necessary. This will help not only monitor the teenager’s health, but also prevent possible diseases. Constant monitoring, regulating hormone levels, monitoring blood sugar and hemoglobin levels will ensure good health for the girl and significantly improve her future life.
If diseases of the reproductive system are not detected in the early stages, then with age the situation will only worsen, and some problems lead to infertility.
Psychological state of a teenager
The normal level of hormones in the body directly depends on the girl’s mental health.
Increased workload, stress, conflict situations, a lot of homework, etc. can easily lead to interruptions in the cycle.
This problem should be approached more delicately. Perhaps you should not irritate your child with personal questions, because the result will be a backlash. In order for a girl to develop stress resistance, she should adhere to a certain regime throughout the day. Sleep should be at least 10 hours a day.
Results
It is also important to take into account that in a situation where a girl has already had a fairly long delay in puberty, there could be other reasons for this. A teenager may take longer to “mature” due to a number of the following factors:
- Smoking. As you know, many teenagers consider cigarettes to be something pretentious and fashionable, so they start trying them at an early age. It’s good if the child realized that he didn’t like it and stopped smoking, but according to statistics, even if the teenager didn’t enjoy smoking, he continues to do it for reasons of fashion, and doesn’t want to fall on his face in front of his peers, who, in his opinion, They will consider him a weakling.
- Frequent colds. Viral diseases weaken the teenager’s body and such general weakness also leads to delays.
In general, it is recommended to monitor the general condition of the teenager’s body and try to establish a trusting relationship with the child so that he does not hesitate to talk about his problems. Although the instability of menstruation is due to age, and menstruation is “adjusted” at least during the first year and a half, it would still be a good idea to consult a doctor.
