Menorrhagia is a medical condition that refers to heavy menstrual bleeding.
It is a common condition that women will undergo at some point throughout their lives. This condition is also known as hypermenorrhea.
Heavy menstrual bleeding in this condition refers to excessive flow and duration of the bleeding at regular intervals of your menstrual cycle.
In other words, it is the menstrual bleeding more than 80ml for every period.
According to World Health Organization recent researches, it is found that eighteen million women between the ages of 30 to 55 are with menorrhagia.
The menstrual cycle and menstrual bleeding of a woman varies from another woman.
Menstrual cycle refers to the period of time from the first day of your menstrual bleeding to the last day before your next menstrual bleeding. The average length of a normal menstrual cycle will be 28 days. However, it can last between 22-35 days.
Periods that come every 21 days or fewer are called polymenorrhea and the menses that takes place more than every 35 days are called oligomenorrhea.
On the other hand, menstrual flow refers to the number of days bleeding occurs in a menstrual period. A normal menstrual flow can last three to seven days, with an average of three days.
Hormonal imbalance is most common cause for menorrhagia. The other conditions that cause menorrhagia are pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), some sexually transmitted diseases, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriages, intrauterine device, bleeding disorders, ovarian dysfunction, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids, pelvic infections, tumors, or polyps and liver, kidney, or thyroid disease.
Menorrhagia can be identified easily if you have menstrual bleeding more than seven days, bleeding that soaks more than one pad every hour continuously for several hours, bleeding with large blood clots, or loss of blood that leads to anemia, shortness of breath, fatigue and tiredness.
If you find any of these conditions, inform your health care professional immediately about your symptoms and health condition. Your doctor may perform a physical examination, pelvic exam as well as other tests to diagnose your condition.
The tests include: pap smears, blood test, urine test, ultrasound test, endometrial biopsy, Dilation and Curettage (D & C) and hysterectomy.
By observing all these test results, your doctor will decide the type of treatment that is essential for your condition.
However, the menorrhagia treatment depends on factor such as your age, general health condition, medical history, severity and cause of menorrhagia, your capability in receiving certain medications, surgeries, or therapies and your personal preference.
The treatment for menorrhagia can be possible through drug therapy as well as surgical procedures.
Drug therapy includes iron supplements for anemia, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and mefenamic acid to lessen menstrual bleeding and to ease the painful menstrual cramps, oral contraceptives to regulate ovulation, hormone therapy for hormone imbalance.
Surgical treatment will be given if your condition is severe or if the drug therapy is unsuccessful in treating menorrhagia. The surgical treatment options include: Dilation and curettage (D&C), hysteroscopy, hysterectomy, endometrial ablation and endometrial resection.