Heavy Periods (Menorrhagia) Treatment

It is useful when understanding medical terms to dissect the word.  Meno literally means monthly, rhagia derives from a greek verb meaning to burst out. Menorrhagia therefore means heavier than normal bleeding during a period.  Normal menstrual blood loss is defined as between 20-80ml- though of course acute measurement is very difficult!

It is essential that the cause is ascertained before treatment for menorrhagia (heavy periods) commences. Sometimes diagnosis can be made from taking a detailed case history, sometimes procedures such as dilatation and curettage, laparoscopy and hysteroscopy are necessary.

The most common causes are:

1. Functional menorrhagia
2. Uterine fibroids
3. Uterine polyps
4. Endometriosis
5. Adenomyosis
6. Pelvic Inflammatory disease
7. Contraceptive
8. Non-gynaecological causes.

This is the most common cause of heavier than normal bleeding at menstruation.  It means that there is nothing essential wrong, but there is an abnormality of function. Natural therapists believe that this is caused by disruption of the hypothalamic –pituitary-ovarian axis.

This is other main cause of excessive menstruation affecting approximately 20% of  women. These are non-cancerous (fibrous) tumours of the uterus, usually in the myometrium (muscle wall) and are most commonly diagnosed with an ultrasound.