Many women dread their periods, especially if it's irregular or they usually have heavy bleeding. Extreme bleeding during your period isn't just a nuisance, though – it may also be a sign of a more significant issue.
Heavy periods aren't always a reason for worry unless your usual flow changes suddenly or you begin having concerning symptoms. If you're concerned about how much you're bleeding, it's essential to seek help as soon as possible.
Dr. Inga Zilberstein and her team efficiently care for women experiencing abnormal vaginal bleeding in the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Dr. Zilberstein evaluates your symptoms to determine how to treat your condition properly.
Heavy menstrual bleeding, or menorrhagia, is a condition that occurs when your period is abnormally long or heavy. Although every woman is different, it's not normal for heavy bleeding to interfere with your everyday activities or how you live your life.
You may consider your period abnormally heavy if you bleed for longer than a week or you're changing tampons or pads back to back throughout the day and night. If you’re passing large blood clots, that also may be a sign of extremely heavy periods.
Knowing what causes heavy bleeding is the key to getting your life back. There are various reasons you may bleed a lot during your periods, such as:
Extremely heavy periods aren’t uncommon among women, but if they start to occur when your periods are normally light or the bleeding affects your life – there's help available.
You may be wondering how much bleeding is too much during your period. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you may have extremely heavy bleeding if you:
Bleeding that affects day-to-day living and keeps you from enjoying the things you love is also a reason to seek help.
A complication of heavy bleeding is iron-deficiency anemia, which happens when there's not enough iron in your blood to make hemoglobin. The purpose of hemoglobin is to allow red blood cells to carry oxygen to the tissues in the body.
Bleeding heavily depletes iron levels, which makes it nearly impossible for the red blood cells to carry enough oxygen throughout the body. The result is extreme fatigue and shortness of breath.
Dr. Zilberstein can work with you to manage heavy bleeding once she knows the cause. Conservative measures she may recommend include iron supplementation, birth control pills, or hormone replacement therapy. However, these treatments don't work for everyone.
If you're finished having children and your periods are negatively affecting your life, Dr. Zilberstein offers the NovaSure® procedure as an option. During the procedure, she uses radiofrequency ablation to remove the uterine lining, which is responsible for heavy bleeding.
NovaSure is an in-office procedure that takes less than five minutes. It's a highly effective option that has unrivaled results for women with heavy periods.
Don’t hesitate to seek help if you’re concerned that your periods are extremely heavy. To make an appointment, call or text Dr. Zilberstein at 830-254-5941, or you may request a consultation online.
