Vaginal bleeding is a natural occurrence among women. Women menstruate every month where they experience vaginal bleeding for a few days. Some women menstruate more heavily than others, but this doesn’t necessarily signal a problem and may still be considered normal.
How to Identify Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding
The two questions you should ask in order to distinguish normal from abnormal vaginal bleeding are the following: 1) When do you experience vaginal bleeding; and 2) How much vaginal bleeding do you have?
The following are some symptoms of abnormal vaginal bleeding for women in the premenopause stage:
* Bleeding before or after your normal menstrual cycle
* More menstrual bleeding than you normally experience
* Prolonged menstruation
* Anemia caused by bleeding
* Genital tract bleeding that’s induced by conditions such as infection of the uterine tissue, endometrial hyperplasia, and endometrial prolyps among others uterine tissue problems
* Fibroid tumors
* Uterine cancer
* Cervical cancer
* Obesity
* Polycystic ovaries
Among premenopausal women, those that are pregnant are prone to abnormal vaginal bleeding, especially if a miscarriage occurs, the pregnancy is ectopic (in the tubes), or the woman has just given birth. Abnormal vaginal bleeding can also be experienced if the placenta is torn from the uterine wall or if it overlies the cervix.
In menopausal women or women who have stopped menstruating for at least twelve consecutive months, symptoms of abnormal vaginal bleeding should not be overlooked, as this may be indicative of serious medical problems. These can include the following:
* endometrial hyperplasia
* cervical or endometrial polyps
* endometrial cancer (cancer of the uterus)
* vaginitis
* unopposed estrogen
Evaluation of Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding
Ensure that you are promptly checked by your doctor if you think you’re experiencing abnormal vaginal bleeding. However, you should be able to provide sufficient information about your menstrual history in order to get an accurate diagnosis.
When getting diagnosed for abnormal vaginal bleeding, the following are some of the conditions that your doctor will check:
Pregnancy
Some women may not be aware that they are pregnant. Vaginal bleeding can occur during the early stages of pregnancy.
Bleeding pattern
Your doctor will check how much vaginal bleeding you experience, how often you experience the bleeding, and how long the bleeding lasts. Your vaginal bleeding may be considered abnormal if your menstruation is either too light or too heavy; if your menstruation occurs at irregular intervals; or if your menstruation is shortened or prolonged.
Ovulation
Irregular ovulation in a woman can cause abnormal vaginal bleeding when it causes the woman’s progesterone levels to dip at abnormally low levels during the second half of her menstrual cycle or when it causes irregular menstruation that lasts for abnormally long periods of time after not menstruating for months. This type of abnormal vaginal bleeding is most likely to occur in women who suffer from obesity or polycystic ovarian syndrome.
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