Menorrhagia Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment

What is menorrhagia?

Menorrhagia is a condition wherein females experience menstrual periods with extended or unusual heavy bleeding. Even though, heavy bleeding tends to be a common problem among premenopausal females, however many females do not loss enough blood to be diagnosed as menorrhagia.

In addition to this, with the condition, each menstrual period causes sufficient blood loss accompanied with cramping, leading inference with day to day activities. Menorrhagia can be upsetting and can lead depression. Fortunately, there are a number of treatments that have proved effective for women with menorrhagia.

What are the symptoms of menorrhagia?

Few of its common symptoms include:

• Signs of anemia for example breathing difficulties, fatigue etc.
• Heavy menstrual bleeding.
• Prolonged bleeding for more than a week.
• Interference with day to day activities.
• Blood clots.

When is the high time to consult a doctor?

Seek medical help in case you experience the following:

• Extreme heavy vaginal bleeding.
• Vaginal bleeding post menopause.
• Bleeding or irregular bleeding between menstrual periods.

What causes menorrhagia?

In few instances, the exact cause of menorrhagia tends to remain a mystery; however certain conditions can lead menorragia, such as:

• Hormone imbalance.
• Ovaries dysfunction.
• Uterine fibroids.
• Polyps.
• Adenomyosis.
• Intrauterine device (IUD).
• Trauma to your uterine.
• Cancer.
• Pregnancy complications.
• Inherited bleeding disorders.
• Some medications.
• Pelvic inflammatory disease.
• Miscarriage.
• Few other medical conditions such as kidney or liver disease, endometriosis, thyroid problem etc.

What are the risk factors of menorrhagia?

Certain factors known for increasing the risk of developing menorrhagia include:

• Adult females approaching towards menopause.
• Adolescent females those have begun menstruating recently.

What are the potential complications of menorrhagia?

Few complications associated with menorrhagia include:

• Dysmenorrhea.
• Iron deficiency anemia.

How is menorrhagia diagnosed?

The doctor will need details regarding the medical history of the patient, furthermore, he or she will ask about the menstrual cycle. After performing a thorough physical exam, the doctor will suggest a particular or more of the following procedures and tests:

• Pap test.
• Blood tests.
• Endometrial biopsy.
• Ultrasound scan.

Depending upon the tests results, the doctor can suggest further tests such as:

• Hysteroscopy.
• Sonohysterogram.

How is menorrhagia treated?

Its treatment depends upon certain factors such as:

• Medical history of the patient.
• Age.
• Overall health.
• Tolerance for particular therapies, procedures or medications.
• Severity and cause of menorrhagia.
• Pregnancy plans in future.
• Personal preferences or opinion.

Few of its treatment options include:

• Drug therapy: iron supplements, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), tranexamic acid, oral contraceptives, oral progesterone, hormonal IUD etc.
• Surgical and other procedures: dilation and curettage, uterine artery embolization, focused ultrasound ablation, myomectomy, endometrial ablation, endometrial resection, hysterectomy etc.

In case the condition is an indication towards some other health condition, for example thyroid disease, than effectively treating the particular condition tends to consequent in lighter menstrual periods.

By : Natural Health News