When should women see a doctor?
Seeing a doctor about your period is just a preventive measure. Do not let it be, we recommend seeing a doctor if any of these situations matches with your case:
- You turn 15 and you have not started menstruating yet.
- Your period didn’t come within 3 years after your breast growth began, or you are 13 and your breast hasn’t started to grow at all.
- You got your period, but it suddenly stops for more than 90 days, apparently for no reason.
- Your period starts being very irregular.
- You get your period more often than every 21 days, or less often than every 35 days.
- Your period lasts more than 7 days.
- Your bleeding is much heavier than usual.
- In between periods, you start bleeding.
- The cramps or the pain becomes severe during your period.
- You get a fever after using tampons.
Amenorrhea
There are a few reasons why a woman or girl would never get her period. This is called Amenorrhea and has a few possible causes. These include, failure of the ovaries, problems in the central nervous system, or poorly formed reproductive organs. However, there are sometimes no known causes. In this case, it is best to consult a doctor to make sure there are no serious causes.
Endometriosis
Endometriosis is an often painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus — the endometrium — grows outside the uterus. It is said to affect 1 out of 10 women and impacts all aspects of their lives – school, careers, finances, relationships, and overall wellbeing.
Each month, the endometrial cells act as they should, by swelling and thickening, then bleeding. However, since they are outside of the uterus, this leads to endometrial lesions, which worsen over time and can cause severe pain.
Symptoms of endometriosis vary greatly from woman to woman. They include chronic and intermittent pelvic pain which manifest into severe cramps that impact a woman’s ability to participate in daily activities. She may have to stay home from school, work, or other activities and endure long and heavy periods, nausea and/or vomiting, diarrhea and/or constipation, chronic lower back pain, headaches, pain associated with sexual activities and Infertility or pregnancy loss.
To raise awareness for Endometriosis, international fashion model Millen Magese launched #ManyFacesOfEndo. Magese has been suffering from the disease through most of her career and has undergone a total of 13 surgeries with no indication when the illness will stop as it is an incurable but manageable disease. “The stigma and ignorance surrounding the condition still holds so many women hostage within their own bodies for fear of ridicule. Being one of those women, I decided to make a change and speak out using the platforms I have been given through the fashion industry. I believe, my work within the fashion industry to create awareness could use a lot of support in shedding light on an issue so many women, even in the industry, suffer with in silence.”
There is no clear answer as to what causes endometriosis and there is also no known cure for the condition. Women who suffer from the disease will have to go for multiple expensive laparoscopic excision surgeries in her lifetime in order to remove the endometrial lesions formed over time. Unfortunately, despite surgical advances, many women experience recurrence of the disease. Laparoscopic excision surgery may produce lower rates of recurrence than other surgical procedures.
Check out this link for more information about this disease and the global endometriosis organizations
