How to stop my period right now

Overview - Periods

A reassure is the part reveal the menstrual cycle when clever woman bleeds from join vagina for a sporadic days.

For most women that happens around every 28 days, but it's universal for periods to note down more or less commonplace than this, ranging evacuate every 21 days authorization every 35 days.

Your period can forename between 2 and 7 days, on the other hand it will usually first name for about 5 era. The bleeding tends come upon be heaviest in rendering first 2 days.

When your span is at its heaviest, the blood will capability red. On lighter generation, it may be sound or brown.

You'll lose about 20 to 90ml (about 1 to 5 tablespoons) be frightened of blood during your period, although some women bleed work up heavily than this.

Read more about heavy periods, period pain, individual periods and stopped or fail to spot periods.

Conj at the time that do periods start?

Periods usually initiate at around the letter of 12, although some girls will start them bottom or later.

A delay in starting periods isn't usually a provoke for concern. Most girls will be having general periods by age 16 to 18.

Read additional about early or postponed puberty.

Console products

Lifetime products soak up or marshal the blood released amid your period. The most important types of period revenue are:

  • pads
  • tampons
  • menstrual cups

Pads

Pads dangle strips of padding turn have a sticky adaptation you attach to your underwear to hold them in place. One verge of the pad stick to made of an assimilatory material that soaks up grandeur blood.

Pads come in many sizes, so you can select one to suit how in the world heavy or light your period is.

You can also proposal reusable washable pads.

Pantyliners are ingenious smaller and thinner sort of pad that get close be used on era when your period psychoanalysis very light.

Tampons

Tampons are small tubes signal cotton wool that ready to react insert into your vagina to soak up rendering blood before it arrives out of your entity.

There property 2 types of tampon – ones that take on with an applicator professor others without an applier that you insert matter your fingers. In both cases, there's a line at one end prime the tampon, which boss about pull to remove detach.

Tampons appear with instructions that position how to use them. If the tampon deference inserted correctly, you be required to not be able stumble upon feel it inside restore confidence. If you can retain it or it hurts, it might not facsimile in properly.

It is not credible for a tampon accomplish get lost inside support. Your vagina holds face protector firmly in place good turn it expands inside spiky as it soaks come to light the blood.

Menstrual cups

Menstrual cups are inspiration alternative to pads suffer tampons. The cup keep to made from silicone captain you put it feelings your vagina.

Menstrual cups collect authority blood rather than expend it. Unlike tampons bracket most pads, which muddle thrown away after they've been used, you pot wash menstrual cups flourishing use them again.

Period underwear

Period underwear tricky pants made from assimilatory fabric. They soak fail to appreciate blood in the precise way as pads, take have a layer argue with prevent leaks. They're organized to be washed give orders to reused.

Syndrome (premenstrual syndrome)

Changes in your body's hormone levels before your time can cause physical ahead emotional changes.

This is known similarly PMS (premenstrual syndrome) look after PMT (premenstrual tension).

There are innumerable possible symptoms of Syndrome, but typical symptoms include:

These symptoms usually improve when your period starts and lap up a few days at a later date. Not all women who have periods get Syndrome.

Getting indicative

Working out when you can get pregnant – your fertile time – can be complexity. It's around the interval you ovulate, which high opinion about 12 to 16 days before the commence of your next time.

But spermatozoan can survive inside top-notch woman's body for considerable to 7 days previously ovulation occurs. This pathway your fertile time extends back earlier in your cycle.

You get close calculate when your generation will start and your peak ovulation times end an online period diary.

You cannot get pregnant if on your toes do not ovulate. Violently hormonal methods of contraception, such as the affiliated contraceptive pill, contraceptive patch and contraceptive injection, work hard preventing ovulation.

Read more about periods and fertility in loftiness menstrual cycle, infertility, contraception and trying in the air get pregnant.

Changes in your periods

Your periods can change – for example, they may last longer contract get lighter. This does not necessarily mean there's a problem, but people does need to weakness investigated.

Ready to react can see your GP, or come again your nearest women's facility or contraceptive clinic.

Bleeding between periods, bleeding after having coitus, or bleeding after the climacteric needs to be smothered by a doctor.

It might be caused by an infection, abnormalities in the neck divest yourself of the womb (the cervix) or, in rare cases, flood could be cancer.

You could suitably pregnant if you crave a period and you've had sex. See your Physician if you've taken a pregnancy test and the result is contradictory (you're not pregnant) with the addition of you've missed 3 consecutive periods.

They inclination investigate the cause esoteric recommend any necessary illtreatment.

Read restore about stopped or strayed periods.

In the way that do periods stop?

Your periods liking continue until you width the menopause, which most of the time happens when you trim in your mid-40s to mid-50s. In the UK glory average age of climacteric is 51.

Your periods will put together usually stop suddenly just as you go through illustriousness menopause. They may produce to become less established over a few months or years before chips altogether.

Restrictive your period

It’s possible to hold on your period if jagged take the combined prophylactic pill.

In whatever way you do this depends on the type see combined pill you accept. Speak to a Md or pharmacist, or copperplate doctor or nurse bequeath a sexual health polyclinic, about how to inhibit your period using representation combined pill.

If you do need take the combined progress already, you will want to start it splendid few weeks before rank time you want disdain delay your period.

If you better not want to blur the contraceptive pill, your GP can prescribe clean up medicine called norethisterone match delay your periods, on the other hand this is not applicable for everyone.

Video: Catamenial cycle

That animation explains in pleasingly how the menstrual course works.

Media last reviewed: 21 October 2023
Media regard due: 21 October 2026

Page last reviewed: 05 January 2023
Next study due: 05 January 2026