Heavy menstrual bleeding is also called menorrhagia. This is a medical term for prolonged menstrual bleeding and for the menstrual periods that are both heavy and prolonged. This condition is also called hypermenorrhea. This also refers to losing 80 milliliters or more of blood during your menstrual cycle. This condition is a common concern for those pre-menopausal women, but there are also few women who experience severe blood loss.

The Symptoms of Menorhaggia

Almost all women have experienced heavy bleeding in many of their periods. If you have experienced heavy and excessive bleeding for a lot of months in a year, it is recommended that you visit a gynecologist. Here are some of the other signs and symptoms of this condition:

* The menstrual period lasts for 10 days or more.

* The menstrual flow involves heavy blood clotting.

* The heavy periods interfere with your regular lifestyle.

* There is a constant pain in the lower abdomen whenever there are heavy menstrual flows.

* Symptoms of anemia like tiredness, fatigue, or short breathing patterns are observed.

The Common Causes of Heavy Menstrual Bleeding

The menstrual cycle differs in every woman. On average, menstrual flow happens every 28 days and lasts for about 4 days. There are some women who have cycles between 24 and 34 days, and it could last a little longer or shorter. However, if there is a wide variation in the timing and in the duration that you may find abnormal, you may want to check for the symptoms because you might be suffering already from heavy menstrual bleeding and you may not know it yet.

Here are some of the top causes of menorrhagia or excessive and heavy menstrual bleeding. You may want to consider checking each because you may be suffering from this disease, especially if you have an irregular period:

* Hormonal imbalance during adolescence and in menopausal stage

* Uterine fibroid tumors

* Cervical polyps

* Endometrial polyps

* Chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disease called lupus

* Pelvic inflammatory disease

* Cervical cancer

* Endometrial cancer

* Bleeding disorder of a person

* Anovulation or the failure of the ovaries to produce, mature, and release eggs

* Endometrial hyperplasia, which is the thickening and buildup of the uterine walls

* Abnormal functioning of the thyroid or the pituitary gland

* Pregnancy complications like miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy

* Changes in the use of birth control pills or estrogens

* Use of an intrauterine device

* Recent trauma or surgery that involves the uterus

* Pelvic inflammatory disease

* Stress, change in diet and exercise routine, recent weight loss or weight gain, travel or recent illness

The Treatment of Heavy Menstrual Bleeding

Here are some of the many treatments used for heavy menstrual bleeding:

* The use birth control pills for a few months.

* Performing hysterectomy or removing the uterus, where risks have been reduced by following measures to lessen the occurrence of deep vein thrombosis after surgery.

* A surgical procedure called endometrial ablation. This helps relieve heavy menstrual bleeding, but it can cause sterility and it no longer triggers menopause. Its long-term effects are also unknown.

But if the degree of bleeding is just mild, it may be a good reassurance to know that no serious underlying cause can be blamed for the condition and that it will most likely go away in time.