Prolonged Menstrual Bleeding

Prolonged menstrual bleeding, known as menorrhagia in medical terms, is an abnormal uterine bleeding which presents itself as heavy bleeding that lasts beyond seven days in a woman. A woman with such a condition has to change sanitary napkins or tampons almost every hour. Such a severe menstruation bleeding is a huge discomfort for the woman and hampers her day-to-day activities.

Causes

Hormonal Imbalance: During a normal menstruation cycle, hormones such as estrogen and progesterone, influence the buildup of the endometrial lining, which is then shed during menstruation. If a woman suffers from hormonal imbalance, then this lining of the uterus develops in excess. So when it actually sheds during menstruation, heavy and longer menstrual bleeding occurs.

Fibroids: Uterine fibroids are noncancerous tumors which develop in the uterus of a woman during her childbearing years. Uterine fibroids often produce symptoms such as heavy and prolonged menstrual bleeding.

Uterine Polyps: Uterine polyps occur in a woman during her childbearing age, mainly due to high hormonal levels in the body. Polyps develop on the endometrial lining of the uterus and are accompanied by longer periods of menstrual bleeding.

Adenomyosis: This condition develops in women who already have had children. It normally occurs in the late reproductive years, In this condition, tissues that line the uterus, start growing inside the uterus.

Anovulation: The bleeding could be due to anovulation. In this condition, the ovulation does not take place normally, i.e., the ovaries are unable to release a normal egg every month. This causes an imbalance of hormones in the body, resulting in heavy and prolonged implantation bleeding.

Miscarriage: If pregnancy is confirmed in a woman, and she still experiences heavy and prolonged bleeding accompanied by severe menstrual cramps, then it could be a sign of miscarriage.

Ectopic Pregnancy: If the egg, instead of getting implanted in the uterus, gets implanted in the fallopian tube, ovaries, abdomen or the cervix, then the heavy bleeding could be due to ectopic pregnancy.

Side-effects of Medicines: Certain medications and drugs such as anti-inflammatory drugs, hormone medicines, may cause prolonged implantation bleeding symptoms.

Underlying Diseases: Diseases such as liver disease, kidney disease, pelvic inflammatory disease, certain cancers such as ovarian cancer, uterine cancer and cervical cancer, can cause this condition in some rare cases too.

Treatment

The treatment for menorrhagia will depend upon a number of conditions such as, the severity of the problem, the cause of the problem and the health condition of the woman.

Oral contraceptives are often prescribed by doctors as they help in regulating the menstrual cycles, thereby, preventing heavy and prolonged bleeding. For overcoming hormonal imbalances, oral progesterone drugs are prescribed to the women. These drugs ensure adequate level of progesterone in the uterus lining, so when it is shed, normal bleeding occurs.

To relieve menstrual cramps, doctors prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These drugs help in reducing the amount of blood loss and also ensure normal bleeding. If the heavy bleeding is due to some medication, the doctors replace that medicine with some other more suitable medicine.

If the drugs fail to cure the condition, and the prolonged menstrual bleeding is causing a deterioration in the health of the woman, then surgical treatments such as endometrial resection, dilation and curettage, endometrial ablation, operative hysteroscopy and hysterectomy are often suggested by doctors to the patient. However, some of these treatments involve removing the uterus itself, so if the woman is of childbearing age, treatment in most cases is restricted to drug therapy.

Prolonged bleeding can result in excessive loss of blood in a woman and might make her anemic. So along with the treatments mentioned above, it is very necessary that the woman undertakes a well-balanced, healthy diet, which is rich in iron.