A normal period comes after every 24-29 days but for some the cycle ranges between 23-35 days. Irregular periods mean that you are not observing regularity in your periods like in one month you have them and in another there is twice or no periods. This situation is very uncomfortable for you as you cannot plan anything before as there is uncertainty in your periods.
Normally most of the women have 11-13 periods in a year but may be you have more or less than it. The irregularity is associated with that when it occurs beyond what is considered normal for you. One main reason behind missed periods is pregnancy. But for irregular periods there can be many possible reasons. Here they are:
Possible Reasons of Irregular Menstruation
Imbalance in Female Hormones
The imbalance leads to irregular periods and the causes for the imbalance in hormones are:
Excessive Weight Gain or Loss
When a female put on extra weight or lose lots of weight then the hormonal changes take place that may lead to irregular periods.
Overexertion or Exercise
Overexertion and excessive exercise lead to early arrival of periods as it lays stress on the hormones and the bleeding starts early. Endurance athletes have missed or irregular periods.
Smoking and Use of Drugs
Smoking and use of drugs make the periods irregular. In some cases the effect is the postponement of the periods while in some the periods come early.
Eating disorders
The eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia makes imbalances in the hormones which lead to irregular periods. Anorexia and bulimia, both are psychological disorders. In anorexia the patient suffers from the phobia of becoming fat so he/she attempts to lose weight. Bulimia is a type of disorder in which the patient observes bouts of overeating which leads to crash dieting, exercise and then vomiting. These two disorders sometimes are responsible for irregularity in the periods
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
In this syndrome, some cysts develop in the ovaries that leads to irregular or no periods.Other characteristics of the ovarian cysts are obesity, acne on the face and increases in the hair growth on other parts of the body except the head. The women do not produce an egg every month in PCOS and it leads to increase in the amount of androgen which is a male sex hormone.
Also Read
Top 7 Menstruation Problems
Reasons For Irregular Periods
Causes Of Irregular Menstruation
Irregular Menstrual Period Prolonged Periods
Age Factor
Irregularity is periods is observed when the female enters her puberty as it takes some time for the hormones to control the process of menstruation. The hormones estrogen and progesterone can be balanced at a later stage.Secondly,when the female is near her menopause then also she observes irregular periods. The amount of bleeding also varies. It can be said that the female has entered into menopause after the completion of 12 months of missed periods.
Breastfeeding
During the breastfeeding stage, most of the females do not have periods. However it does not mean that they cannot conceive during that phase.
Thyroid Disorder
The hormones that are produced by the thyroid gland affect the metabolism of the body. When this metabolism is affected then sometime it leads to irregular periods.
Use of Contraceptives
The use of contraceptives leads to irregular periods as when the female start using contraceptive then she observes small amount of bleeding which is known as breakthrough bleeding. This type of bleeding goes away after five to six months.
Uterine Cancer
Uterine or cervical cancer leads to bleeding between the normal periods. Sometimes bleeding is observed while sex in these types of problems.
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
If there is an infection in the female reproductive system then it can be due to sexually transmitted diseases. It should be treated with antibiotics timely as it leads to irregular periods and it can damage the fallopian tubes and uterus.
