Menstrual Irregularities Details

A menstrual disorder is a physical or emotional problem that interferes with the normal menstrual cycle, causing pain, unusually heavy or light bleeding, delayed menarche, or missed periods. Typically, a woman of childbearing age should have menstruation cycles every 28 days or so unless she’s pregnant or moving into menopause. But numerous things can cause irregularities with the normal period cycle, including short menstrual cycles (short periods), long menstrual cycles, some the result of physical causes, others emotional.

These include:

• Amenorrhea (the cessation of menstruation),
• Menorrhagia (heavy bleeding), and
• Dysmenorrhea (severe menstrual cramps).

Nearly every woman will experience one or more of these menstrual irregularities at some time in her life.