As a homeopath, one of the things I ask women to tell me about is their period. The most common answer I get is ‘it’s normal’. So I thought I would explore the idea of ‘what is a normal period?’.
Why do I ask about your period?
The menstrual cycle can tell me so much about your underlying health. For example, if there is a lot of pain, you might be experiencing inflammation. If your period has stopped altogether, it might be due to exhausted adrenals or poor liver health.
Sleep, stress and nutrition all play a vital role in a normal menstrual cycle.
Naturopathic Doctor and period expert Lara Briden refers to your menstrual cycle as your health report card.
Common, but not normal
It is amazing what women will put up with, thinking it is normal.
- Heavy or flooding periods
- Light or spotting periods
- No period
- Large clots
- Pain
- Reliance on pain medication
- Mood swings
- Acne
- Irritability
- Headaches
- Sleep issues
These are all common, but not normal in a healthy menstrual cycle.
There may be some variation for different age groups. During teenage years, when the cycle starts, cramping and heavy or irregular periods may be more common as the cycle settles into its natural routine. During peri-menopause, the cycle will change again and finally stop altogether in menopause.
What is normal?
When you are in good health, your period will arrive regularly and be symptom-free. In fact, it will be a total non-event.
According to Dr Briden, a normal healthy period will be:
- 2-7 days in length
- Cycle length on average is 28 days, but it can be from 21 to 35 days
- Small clots are normal; large clots are not
- Colour should be red to reddish-brown
- You should lose a total of 3 tablespoons during your period. What does this look like in practice? Not changing your pad or tampon any more frequently than once every two hours during the day and not changing at all during the night.
Normal, healthy periods are totally possible
The three things to focus on are:
- Prioritising stress management
Healthy periods require healthy progesterone production. Progesterone and your stress hormone cortisol are made from the same upstream building block, pregnenolone. And when stress is high, cortisol is given priority, at the expense of progesterone. This makes stress management a must. Here are 6 ideas for managing stress. - Eating a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet
This starts with balancing blood sugar. Unstable blood sugar is one of the primary sources of inflammation in the body, and it will wreck your hormones. You can read about hormones and blood sugar here. - Working with your body’s natural cycles
A woman’s body works in natural cycles, as do our hormones. The more we can do to slow down and live and work in harmony with these natural cycles, the easier and more stress-free life can feel. Read about slowing down and respecting your body’s natural cycle.
So, if I asked you about your period, would your answer be ‘normal’?
If not, why not book a free discovery call to discuss how together we can get you a ‘normal’ period.
Chelsea x
P.S Changes to hormones in perimenopause can have an impact on your period. Low progesterone can result in lighter or more scanty periods or changes to ovulation. Low progesterone will cause a state of relative oestrogen dominance, where periods can become heavy, painful and clotted with worsening PMS. If this resonates with you, read this next: Natural Perimeopause Support.
