Menstruation is a lot more than bleeding every month. It has four major phases and their length changes from woman to woman. Dr Shalini Vijay, Senior Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Motherhood Hospitals, Pune elaborates on the different phases of a menstrual cycle for a better understanding. Read on.
What’s a ‘period’?
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The menstrual phase is the first phase of the menses and tends to last for about seven days. It’s this which is known as the ‘period’.
During this phase, levels of reproductive hormones oestrogen, progesterone and progesterone drop, and the body releases prostaglandins, which is another type of hormone. The lining of the uterus is shed owing to oestrogen and progesterone, and the fluid is what one bleeds out while on a period.
Some women may bleed for four days, while some for three or seven or even longer. When a woman is on her period, she will exhibit symptoms such as cramping, bloating, abdominal pain, tenderness of breasts, mood swings, acne, and even back pain.
Follicular phase happens alongside periods
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Here, the body releases Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH). This triggers your ovaries to create follicles (sacs with immature eggs). Approximately 15 to 20 eggs are seen in the ovaries, among which only one matures and produces oestrogen.
During ovulation, testosterone gets released and increases a woman’s libido. The follicular phase occurs along with menstruation. The symptoms you notice—cramps and bloating—are associated with the period and not the follicles.
Then comes ovulation or fertility days
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It will happen around day 14 of the cycle or about a week after the last day of your menstruation. Ovulation means the release of a mature egg from your ovary’s surface.
The follicle from the follicular phase will grow into a mature egg that gets released during the process of ovulation. The egg will travel via the ovary to the fallopian tube, where it is fertilised by sperm. This ovulation process will last till the egg is live, which is around 24 hours.
You need to know that there is around a five-day window when it comes to ovulation and you are likely to get pregnant. This is so because the sperm is able to live in the body for around five days and wait for a mature egg to pass through it. During this stage, there will be discharge and increased libido.
Luteal phase or PMS time
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This phase begins from the 15th to the 28th day of the cycle. It is the final phase. Here, if your egg gets fertilised, progesterone will be produced to thicken the uterine lining for implantation to occur. Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) hormone will be produced after 14 days.
But, if fertilisation doesn’t happen, progesterone slowly reduces and the body will prep-up for menstruation. You will notice the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) which are cramps, mood swings, bloating, headaches, tiredness, changes in bowel movements, and difficulty in sleeping.
Lead Image Credit: Aditi Rao Hydari and Dia Mirza, Instagram
