Every girl at a certain time in their life will start her journey into womanhood through a natural and necessary physical development known as menstruation. Sadly, despite this being a normal and natural phenomenon that every female experiences monthly until often in their 50s – menstruation and periods have a pretty negative stigma attached to them. This stigma often results in periods not being spoken about openly and a further unfortunate reality of many women being misinformed or simply clueless about what constitutes a ‘normal’ period. And herein lies the source of many common women’s reproductive health problems.
3Sixty Biomedicine’s CEO, Boitumelo Sebambo, shares these basic warning signs that every woman should look out for when having their menstrual cycle that could be an indication that their period is not ‘normal’ and they should seek advice from a medical practitioner.
- A normal period lasts four to seven days, you can start getting worried if you have periods that occur less than 21 days or more than 35 days apart
- If you miss three or more periods in row
- If your menstrual flow is much heavier or lighter than usual
- Severe pain during your period or between periods that interferes with normal day to day activities
- Unusually heavy bleeding (soaking through a sanitary pad or tampon every hour for two to three hours) or passing large clots.
These abnormal period indicators can be caused by stress and underlying medical conditions such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) that affects approximately 8 – 13% of women, and that can cause infertility in addition to hirsutism, acne, irregular periods and even hair loss. These conditions can be managed but diagnosis by a gynaecologist is important. Parents are encouraged to take their teenage girls to visit the gynaecologist and be on the lookout for irregular symptoms in their cycles to avoid long-term effects on their health.
According to Sebambo, part of their mission this youth month is to help educate and empower women throughout their journey of womanhood so they can manage and overcome common women’s reproductive health conditions. “We believe that every woman’s journey matters. No matter what stage of life they are at, we want to help other South African women live quality lives uninhibited by common health issues that could be limiting to their success”.
For more information about the Salome range and to be part of the conversation, visit www.salome-range.co.za. The full Salome range of products that helps to manage menstrual pain, heavy menstrual bleeding, premenstrual syndrome, infertility in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), and menopause are available to the public from pharmacies nationwide or online at Takealot.com and Salome’s website and can be reimbursed from medical aid savings.
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