Understanding Your Period

Did you know, female fetuses are born with 2 million follicles? Follicles are ‘pre-egg’ cells in their ovaries.

Where it all begins: You were born to menstruate….

This is even more impressive if you think about just how tiny an infant’s ovaries are! A female typically starts menstruating between the age of 11 – 14 (menarche), at which point you have 400,000 eggs left in your ovaries.

Mother Nature seems to be obsessed with back-up plans; however, you would be relieved to know only about 500 of these follicles mature into eggs during our fertile lives, give or take, depending on our lifestyle choices.

 

Your period in 4 main phases...

An average menstrual cycle is 28-29 days, but cycles can vary from one to the next, just as women vary from one to another. We go through 4 main phases of our menstrual cycle:

Menstruation – First day of bleeding; hormones are at an all-time low. It’s okay to feel tired, irritable, and moody. Give yourself love and permission to take things easy.

Follicular Phase – After your period ends, hormones start to pick-up again, and your body is ready to release another egg. Your hormone cocktail has got you feeling super productive, more socially receptive, and driven to interact socially.

Ovulation – Could almost be considered a part of the follicular phase, except now your body has released an egg and you are super fertile, still riding that hormonal high, and feeling …horny.

Luteal phase – This is the wind-down phase when your body realizes pregnancy is not happening this cycle, and the party abruptly comes to a screeching halt. The ‘bar’ is no longer serving cocktails, and hormones start to drop. Irritability and a general glum return!

Watch this hilariously informative video: This is your period in 2 Minutes

Did you know…the control panel for your period is in your brain? Yes, your hypothalamus at the base of the brain is the one responsible for the ‘hormone bar’ and for dispensing all the cocktails.

The Ebb and Flow...(Changes to flow)

Your hypothalamus issues directives to your reproductive hormones, so you ovulate and menstruate every month. Sometimes, things can happen that interrupt this smooth flow, causing your period to go MIA or even rain down in a full fury of an extra heavy period.

Here are some factors that can affect your period, regularity, and flow:

Stress – Significant stress definitely disrupts hormonal balance and can cause delayed, irregular, or heavy periods. Cortisol (the stress hormone) can be brought about by stressful life events, such as the death of a loved one, a divorce or even a pandemic…(what day of the week is it again?)

Sudden major weight loss –  Being underweight can throw hormones off balance, the sudden dip in body fat causes hormones to drop, causing an irregular period.

Excessive exercise – Frequent vigorous exercise can cause physical stress, and you guessed it, can cause imbalances wreaking havoc on your cycle.

Birth Control – A light or non-existent period could be experienced by some and perhaps is a welcomed side effect?

Certain medications – Even everyday medications like Aspirin can influence your period.

Thyroid dysfunction – Your thyroid glands are responsible for your metabolism interacting with other body systems and a malfunction could suppress hormones and create period irregularity. Watch out for symptoms like fatigue or sudden weight loss or gain... your thyroid could be the culprit.

Pelvic inflammatory disease – Infection of your uterus, ovaries, and/or fallopian tubes can disrupt your cycle and cause irregular periods. Untreated chlamydia or gonorrhoea is the leading cause of this complication.

Uterine fibroids – Non-cancerous growths of the uterus can cause super long, super heavy and painful periods.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) – A medical condition owing to an imbalance in reproductive hormones, and could affect 5 to 10 percent of women. A pelvic ultrasound will reveal multiple cysts on the ovaries. Hallmarks of this condition are excessive hair growth in places you would rather not, infertility, and periods that occur every 2 weeks, every 3 to 6 months, or even just once a year.

Premature menopause – Caused by hormones misfiring in a significant way.

Miscarriage – If your test came out positive, but now, your period has arrived late and heavy.

Here is a video from Women’s Health where women discuss some period questions.

 

Your Feminine cycle is quite a marvel, and some self-love and self-care and help get us through some of the not-so-glamorous points. Make REJUCREAM a part of your daily self-care routine. Rejucream is absolutely safe to use at any phase of your Feminine cycle. Just take a pea-sized amount of cream and warm it by rubbing it between your fingertips for a few seconds. Then, gently rub the non-greasy formula over the vulva until the cream is thoroughly absorbed, taking care to apply the cream evenly. We recommend REJUVENATE Intimate Revitalizing Cream in both the morning and evening as part of your normal skincare routine.