Does long menstrual bleeding mean a menstrual cycle disorder?

Long menstrual bleeding is classified as a menstrual cycle disorder.

It is difficult to describe it as a separate chapter. It is usually associated with heavy bleeding, with other symptoms (pain, weakness, anaemia).

Long menstruation is manifested by a prolongation of the menstrual cycle (bleeding). Often its intensity also increases.

In practice, this means that the duration of menstruation is prolonged by at least one or more days longer than is normal for a particular patient or than the standard norm.

What does normal menstruation look like?

A regular menstrual cycle normally ranges from 28 to 30 days.
A cycle of 21 to 35 days is considered to be a reasonable value when added to physiological values.

Interesting:
In adolescent females, variability in cycle length is observed, ranging from 19 to 45 days.
The length of bleeding usually does not change.
Such cycle length is considered normal in this age period; larger deviations are considered pathological.

Menstruation itself (bleeding - the beginning of the menstrual cycle) lasts individually, from 2 to 7 days.
On average, it is therefore 3 to 5 days, including spotting.

During menstruation, approximately 60 to 80 ml of blood is expelled from the uterus together with the lining of the uterus (endometrium).
Blood loss is only an estimate. It is assessed on the basis of the sanitary equipment used (1 pad/tampon every 3 hours).

Interesting:
Most blood loss occurs in the first two days of menstruation.
Up to 80% of blood loss occurs on the first day of the menstrual cycle (first day of bleeding).

Are you bleeding longer than normal?

There is some variation in different girls and women in terms of their days.
This variation is mainly in the length of the menstrual cycle and the length of menstrual bleeding.

For one woman, menstrual bleeding may last for 3 days, and by the third day there is no blood on the pad, but only brownish discharge and spotting. Another woman is troubled for a whole week.
For women who normally bleed for 3 days, a week's bleeding is considered an abnormality. It may indicate a problem or illness.
Therefore, it is extremely important to know your body, the length of your cycle, and the length of your bleeding.

Read also the articles in the magazine:
Heavy menstruation: many women's nightmare?
Why is my period late?

Prolonged and abnormal heavy bleeding - menorrhagia

Menorrhagia is the name given to a disorder of bleeding duration. It is manifested by prolonged and at the same time abnormally heavy menstrual bleeding.

Women just before menopause are at risk.
This is due to the abnormally thick uterine lining during this period.

Read also the articles in the magazine:
Woman in transition? What are the symptoms of the approaching menopause?
Menopause in men, a joke or reality? What is andropause (+ symptoms)

Heavy menstrual bleeding for more than 7 days - hypermenorrhea

Hypermenorrhea is the collective name for heavy menstrual bleeding that can last for a normal length of time. It can also be prolonged, where it lasts for more than 7 days. However, the prolongation is not extreme, usually a few days.

Coagulae appear in the menstrual blood and the woman bleeds so heavily that she needs as many as 20 pads a day.

The patient is weak, helpless, increased blood loss is also associated with a decrease in the number of red blood cells and with subsequent anaemia.

Dysfunctional bleeding - prolonged metrorrhagia

The term dysfunctional bleeding refers to abnormal bleeding from structures without demonstrable pathology.

Juvenile metrorrhagia is dysfunctional bleeding in adolescent girls. It usually appears 2 years after the onset of menstruation.
The onset of this disorder is very subtle and therefore much underestimated.

As a rule, it affects girls with lower weight, asthenic stature and smaller uterus with more frequent uterine reactivity. It also occurs in anovulation.

It is characterised by prolonged bleeding, resulting in blood loss and anaemia.
The endometrium detaches irregularly and grows back in other places. This prolongs the bleeding.

What causes long menstrual bleeding?

Causes of prolonged menstruation should first be sought in abnormalities of the genital organs, in other systemic diseases and also caused by some medications.

Table with causes of long menstrual bleeding

The most common cause of long bleeding is abnormalities of the genital organs.
These cause up to 90% of the problems.
Long and heavy bleeding is caused by uterine inflammation, endometriosis, polyps, fibroids and even tumours.
Pathological changes in the genital organs also cause pain or discharge.
Bleeding is a cause of weakness, fatigue, pallor and anaemia.

Blood disorders, which are often diagnosed afterwards, are also a cause of long and often heavy menstruation.
Congenital blood disorders such as haemophilia or Willebrand's disease can cause heavy periods.

It occurs least often as a consequence of systemic diseases.