Common menstrual problems
PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME (PMS)
Also known as PMT (although PMT generally refers to the emotional and psychological aspects of PMS), PMS encompasses a wide range of symptoms that occur before menstruation, in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, after ovulation. The symptoms fall into these general groups:
- PMS-A (for anxiety) characterised by nervous tension, mood swings, irritability, anxiety
- PMS-H (for hypertension) characterised by weight gain, swelling of the extremities, breast tenderness, and abdominal bloating
- PMS-C (for carbohydrate craving) headache, craving for sweets, increasing appetite, heart pounding, fatigue, and dizziness or fainting
• PMS-D (for depression) depression, forgetfulness, crying, confusion and insomnia.
As a parent the main symptom you may notice is the moods. Adolescence can be a volatile and exhausting time with surging hormones, mounting school, peer and life pressures as well as expanding expectations. You may also notice PMS 'symptoms' well outside the normal premenstrual time frame, such as depression and anxiety — these may simply be worse pre-menstrually. Be careful not to dismiss some of these symptoms as 'just PMS' when there are deeper issues and problems that may need to be dealt with. Adolescents are certainly more prone to depression and anxiety than their juniors as their life is expanding exponentially in all directions — they want to be grown up in one moment and curl up with a teddy the next. While a certain volatility and moodiness is considered normal for many adolescents, if you're concerned, or your alarm bells go off, seek professional help.
Because adolescents can suffer from PMS like the rest of us, good treatment (such as naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayur-Veda, or other natural therapies), as well as diet and lifestyle adjustments, can make all the difference. You can support your daughter and minimise the negative impact of stresses with the healthy diet, exercise and environment routine, by making time to talk things through, having some fun together and making sure she gets plenty of rest.
PAINFUL PERIODS (DYSMENORRHOEA)
Dysmenorrhoea can be spasmotic or primary. Spasmodic dysmenorrhoea refers to the sharp, gripping or cramping pains in the lower abdomen that occur just before bleeding, or just as it starts. An imbalance in prostaglandin levels increases muscle spasm and leads to period cramps. This form of dysmenorrhoea is most common in adolescents and young, childless women.
Primary dysmenorrhoea is usually the result of nutrient deficiencies (and not the result of an underlying condition) leading to the familiar imbalances in essential fatty acids and saturated fats, prostaglandins and hormones.
Naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayur-veda can all be effective treatments. Other natural therapies can also be helpful, according to personal preference.
HEAVY PERIODS (MENORRAHAGIA)
Abnormal bleeding patterns are usually related to prostaglandin and hormonal imbalance. Periods are considered heavy (occurring too often with profuse bleeding) if bleeding is:
- More than seven days
- More often than every 21 days
- Over 80 millilitres or about half a cup per period
- Or, relative to your own normal pattern, if:
- A period lasts three days longer than usual
- Requires two or more pads or tampons a day more than usual
- Arrives five or more days earlier than usual.
Naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayur-veda can all be effective treatments. Other natural therapies can also be helpful, according to personal preference.
IRREGULAR PERIODS
The 'normal' menstrual cycle is about twenty-nine and a half days and, once regularity is established, individual variation a few days either side is quite normal. Irregularity most often occurs because of stress, travel across time zones, ill health, poor diet, and dramatic weight changes, fasting or taking drugs (medical or otherwise) and dramatic changes in levels of exercise, usually extending the length of the cycle. If a cycle varies more than a few days each month, or is sometimes very short or very long and is not apparently caused by the above circumstances, it may well be due to hormonal imbalance. The problem may lie with the corpus luteum, the ovaries, the pituitary, the thyroid, or the hypothalamus.
Naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayur-veda can be effective in improving the natural functioning of the glands and overall hormonal balance as well as the diet, supplements and exercise routine. Other natural therapies can also be helpful, according to personal preference.
ABSENCE OF PERIOD (AMENORRHOEA)
Amenorrhoea is considered primary if a young woman reaches seventeen and has never had a period, or two years past when the other signs of puberty manifested (breasts and pubic hair). Secondary amenorrhoea refers to menstruation which has stopped for more than six months when it was previously fairly regular. Amenorrhoea in adolescents may be a result of: in teenagers). For diagnosis see your doctor and for treatment naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayur-veda can all be effective. Other natural therapies can also be helpful, according to personal preference.
POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN DISEASE
Caused by a hormonal imbalance, polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) can result in irregular menstruation, hair loss, facial hair growth, acne, weight gain, infertility, and cysts on the ovaries. Up to 20% of women have been found, with the use of ultrasound, to have multiple ovarian cysts, but it's only those women who also have additional hormonal irregularities who have polycystic ovarian disease (Trickey 1998).
While the age of menarche may be the same as other girls, those who go on to develop PCOD generally have:
- irregular cycles continuing for several years after menarche
- increased 'masculine' hair growth (hirsutism) before and at menarche
- excess body weight evident before and at menarche.
Comprehensive naturopathic treatment can be effective in treating PCOD.
ENDOMETRIOSIS
Women and girls with endometriosis often experience painful periods and ovulation, painful intercourse, infertility, heavy and irregular bleeding, pain on urination and defecation, fatigue and body aches. These symptoms are a result of endometrial tissue (from the endometrium lining of the uterus shed during menstruation) found in other areas of the body.
Generally endometriosis takes some time to develop and is rarely found in girls during their early menstrual years. Older teenagers with these problems may have endometriosis. Seeking a proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment is important — some doctors still consider endometriosis a disease which mainly affects childless women in their 30s so endometriosis may be under-diagnosed in adolescent girls.
An accurate diagnosis of endometriosis can only be made by looking inside the pelvic cavity via laparoscopy (binoculars that look through a 'keyhole' cut in the abdomen) under general anaesthetic. If endometriosis is found the surgeon removes the tissue by burning (with a laser) or cutting it away.
Often painful periods respond well to treatment with naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayur-veda. Other natural therapies can also be helpful, according to personal preference. With effective treatment many women decide against the invasiveness of laparoscopy.
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