The first menstruation are an important moment in the life of every woman. It is useful to talk about it in time so that they are lived with serenity
Although no longer a taboo as it once was, the theme of first menstruationor Menarca, is anyway a delicate topic and not to be underestimatedwhich can cause worries and embarrassment in girls, as it marks the striking point in the gradual transition that leads the girl to become a woman.
The first menstruation They appear during puberty, between the last years of elementary school and the first years of high schools: normally therefore between 10 and 15 years, with a large variability from person to persondue to genetic, socio -economic, climatic and food factors.
Advance and delay of the first menstruation
Some studies have noted a lowering of the age of the menarca in recent decadeseven if the definition of early puberty must be reserved for cases where secondary sexual characteristics appear before eight years. This phenomenon can be determined by numerous factors, including, more and more frequently in recent years, the overweight. The adipose tissue in fact produces a hormone, the leptinwhich is one of the factors that contribute to the start of sexual maturation. The problem of obesity, which afflicts many children, therefore has a further implication in females. It’s good report any symptoms of early puberty to the pediatrician: Growth slows down a lot after the establishment of the cycle, and an early start can therefore lead to a lower stature lower than it would have been genetically programmed. In some cases a pharmacological treatment is indicated to block public development.
Vice versa, in underweight girls or who carry out intense physical activity, The first menstruation can delay. Generally the delay is not considered to be the delay with respect to the girl’s age, as compared to public development: the advice is to make a visit, and any exams, if menstruation has not appeared four years after the appearance of the first secondary sexual characteristics.
The argument of menstruation must be faced with the girl in advancein order to have time to prepare it before: in fact, they are not knowledge, the fantasies, the prejudices, to create problems and fears about this topic. The simple talking about it is reassuring: knowing What is menstruationbecause it happens, rediscovering the sense of cyclicality of nature, allows you to frame it in a logic of reassuring and normal proper functioning of the body. It is also important to emphasize that “in those days” can also be conducted the life of all time: Being menstruate does not mean being sick.
Become women
Even if with the first menstrual cycle the moment is identified when a girl becomes a woman, The growth process is much longer and more complex: sexual maturation begins with the increase in breast volume and the appearance of hair in the armpits and on the pubis and is completed only for the menarca.
For some girls the cycle immediately immediately had a regular periodicity, but In many cases it remains irregular for one year and morewith variable intervals, sometimes inframed by spotting (i.e. by slight red-marsh losses). I am normal phenomenadue to a hormonal system still in the running -in phase. The unbalanced diets, frequent in this phase of life, further increase hormonal fluctuations, so much so that today menstrual irregularities are considered as one of the first alarm bells of an eating disorder. Stress and difficult family/emotional situations can also have repercussions on the menstrual cycle. If after two years the menstruation continue to be still very irregularit is good to talk about it with the gynecologist.
The signals of the body
Some girls complain of the stomach pain or breast tension, in the days preceding the first (and not only) menstruation. Others report headaches, a sense of exhaustion and malaise. It is generally sufficient to indulge in a little restonly in some cases it is a pain that is difficult to bear, so the assumption of painkillers is required.
It is also normal to experience conflicting emotions: feel more fragile, lost, irritable, a little depressed, and at the same time excited for the feeling of being “different”, of becoming great.
The wealth there is in every woman
In many cultures the first menstruation of a girl is celebrated: It is his entry into the world of women, it is confirmed that the power of his femininity makes the whole community richer. The girl receives a new and rewarding sense of self, of her body, of her social centrality: a value that allows her to compensate for the difficulty of abandonment of childhood and access to the adult dimension.
In our culture these passage rituals have been lost, and the menarca, like many functions of the body, is relegated to an atmosphere of illegal immigration, secret, shame: Menstruation is often experienced as a useless dryingsomething dirty, of which you would gladly do without. Thus an opportunity is lost to establish a peaceful relationship with one’s body, and therefore to start to a healthy sexuality and therefore to the ability to face more intense evidence such as pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood.
So, a advice to the mothers of the prepuberi girls: When the time comes, don’t take your daughter to the doctoris not sick, on the contrary, menstruation is precisely the proof that it is not! Instead, bring it to celebrate, give her a nice memory of this event!
Glossary
The menstrual cycle It lasts on average 28 days and it is the appearance of the flow that mark the beginning of each menstrual cycle. In some women, it can be shorter (21 days) or longer (35 days). Normally, menstruation last between 2 and 7 days, on average 3-5 days.
Amenorrhea: complete absence of menstruation for at least 3 months. In women’s life is physiological the absence of menstruation in the following periods: childhood, pregnancy and breastfeeding, menopause.
Primitive or primary amenorrhea: when there has not yet been the first menstruation to achieve 17 years of age.
Secondary amenorrhea: disappearance of menstruation for a period of more than three months, after a period of more or less regular menstruation.
Dust: When excessively close sleep menstruation occur, that is, they occur with a time interval of less than 25 days (short cycles, with close flows).
Oligomenorrhea: When menstruation occur at time intervals over 36 days (long cycles, with spaced flows).
Metroke: loss of variable blood (abundant or scarce) which occurs independently from the menstrual period.
Menometrorrhagia: blood loss that began with menstruation and persistent for several days even after the menstrual period, usually abundant.
Dysmenorrhea: particularly painful menstruation.
