What causes a heavy flow?

Menstrual flow varies throughout the menstrual cycle, but also over the course of a woman’s life. Contraception, fatigue, pregnancy or pregnancies, illness, emotional shocks, or simply age all affect the menstrual cycle and menstrual flow.

Menstrual flow is generally divided into three distinct categories:

• light flow,
• This kind of review is a real acknowledgment for us. It recognizes the work we’ve been doing for years to offer a healthy, organic, comfortable and widely accessible alternative for your period!
• heavy flow or very heavy flow.

What explains a heavy flow or very heavy flow? What can cause heavy periods? How is the period panty such a great alternative for living your period more peacefully? To ease any worries, Louloucup takes a closer look today at the reasons behind a heavy or very heavy menstrual flow.

It can sometimes be hard to know whether your period is naturally heavy or if it’s a case of menorrhagia. Menorrhagia refers to abnormally heavy and prolonged periods.

Menorrhagia is abnormally heavy menstrual bleeding. Metrorrhagia, on the other hand, is bleeding that occurs outside of your period (outside your cycle, before puberty or after menopause). However, these two conditions can also occur together: this is called menometrorrhagia.

Are you dealing with irregular periods? Are your periods all over the place, your cycle out of sync? On the other hand, spotting refers to small blood losses (just a few drops) outside of your usual period. Little surprises that suddenly show up in your underwear.

In both cases, washable, organic, long-lasting and soft menstrual products can make everyday life easier: period panties.

There are several ways to find out whether you, too, have a heavy menstrual flow or not. Options include the Higham score, observation, or measuring with a menstrual cup. Knowing your menstrual flow is essential so you don’t suffer through your period.

The Higham score is a tool used to assess the amount of blood lost during your period. Presented as a chart, it works with a points system that you fill in according to the blood loss observed during a cycle.

If you’re interested in this tool, you can download it here.

Another effective way to assess your flow is to use a menstrual cup. Because the blood is collected rather than absorbed, it’s easier to measure how much you’re losing.

A great way to learn more about your body, your menstrual cycle and how your flow changes from cycle to cycle.

Many different causes can explain heavy periods. Here are a few leads to give you some initial information. It’s always essential to then get the opinion of your doctor or gynaecologist.

A hormonal fluctuation can be the cause of a heavy flow—especially excessive estrogen production, which increases the thickness of the endometrium and therefore the amount of bleeding. If your heavy periods are too limiting or too disabling, don’t hesitate to talk to a healthcare professional (doctor, gynecologist, or midwife). There are solutions to help rebalance your hormones. 

• A fibroid is a mass that forms in the muscular tissue of the uterus. Between 50 and 80% of women will have a fibroid at least once in their lives. But only 1 in 4 women will have symptoms that require treatment. Fibroids usually go unnoticed, except in cases of heavy periods.
• Polyps form in the uterus and are generally only discovered around the age of forty or during an infertility workup. They are mostly benign and disappear on their own in 1 out of 3 cases. 

It’s the main cause of abnormal bleeding in women over 40.

However, in women over 45, a biopsy will be performed to make sure the polyp is benign.

Adenomyosis is an abnormality at the junction between the endometrium (the uterine lining) and the myometrium (the muscle of the uterine wall). This abnormality causes endometrial cells to infiltrate the myometrium.

To simplify, we talk about internal endometriosis in the uterus.

50% of adenomyosis cases involve heavy menstrual bleeding.

Coagulation disorders are caused by low levels of proteins needed for normal blood clotting.

Very often, this is due to von Willebrand disease or haemophilia.

Because these blood-clotting disorders are hereditary, women in the same family don’t always realize that heavy periods are not normal. That’s why you shouldn’t hesitate to break the period taboo and talk to your gynecologist, because solutions do exist.

Wearing an IUD or copper coil can cause heavier periods. It’s actually not recommended for women who already have heavy, intense flows or painful periods. If, in the first cycles after insertion, your periods are strong or even hemorrhagic, they usually tend to calm down later on. They do, however, remain heavy.

If your Higham score is over 100, you should consult your gynecologist, who will be able to advise you on the most suitable treatment.

Unusual fatigue and hair loss should alert you to a possible **iron deficiency** caused by heavy blood loss.

Generally speaking, if your daily life is impacted and dictated by your period, it’s time to discuss the situation with a healthcare professional.

With a menstrual cup or period panties, managing a naturally heavy or very heavy flow is easy! These two types of reusable period products are perfectly suited to absorb even the most intense flows.

Choose period panties or high-waisted menstrual panties with full coverage and an absorbent membrane that comes up high at the front and back. With no dampness or bad odors, made in Europe and in organic cotton, try Louloucup menstrual panties.

The menstrual cup is also excellent in this situation. This internal protection in the shape of an inverted bell collects blood optimally. Made from medical-grade silicone, ultra-soft and easy to insert, the Loulou cup is perfect!

Discover the different Loulou menstrual cups as well as the Louloucup heavy and very heavy flow menstrual underwear range right now! Free delivery in France and Europe, shipped within 48 hours!