When your period coincides with an exam or competition, you can either...

When your period comes, life or death is unpredictable! Where did this "period" come from? When your period comes, you are annoyed, but when it doesn't come, you are worried. Is there anything you can do when your period coincides with an exam or a competition?

01 Where does “period” come from?

As girls grow older, they will welcome a "relative" who comes to visit every month - the menstrual period called "Aunt Flo", which means that mature women usually have menstruation once a month.

First of all, from the perspective of physiological structure, women’s internal reproductive organs mainly include ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes.

Image source: Pixabay

The ovary, as the name implies, is where the egg cells are stored. The ovary contains hundreds of thousands of follicles, each of which contains an egg cell.

During the menstrual period, a batch (3 to 11) of follicles begin to develop each time. Through recruitment and selection, generally only one dominant follicle will reach full maturity, become an egg cell and ovulate.

The egg cell is transported through the fallopian tube to the middle part of the fallopian tube (the junction of the ampulla and isthmus of the fallopian tube) to "wait" - this is the first stage of the menstrual period before the arrival of "menstruation" - the ovulation period.

During the period when the egg cell is "on standby", if the egg cell is fertilized and becomes a fertilized egg, it will move through the fallopian tube to the uterus, implant and develop, and become a new life.

Image source: soogif

However, if the egg is still not fertilized after about 14 days, the body will judge that the "waiting" egg has expired, and the uterus will actively contract the blood vessels in the endometrium, causing the endometrium to necrotize and fall off, causing bleeding, and the "expired" egg is expelled from the body. The bleeding process generally lasts 2 to 7 days, which is the second stage of the physiological period - the menstrual period.

Usually when we say "period is coming", we usually mean the menstrual period with bleeding. But in fact, the entire physiological period has already started from the development of follicles. A complete physiological cycle is generally 28 to 30 days, and it is normal to be early or late within 7 days.

Generally speaking, a woman's first menstruation (also known as "menarche") occurs at around 12 to 13 years old, which often indicates that the woman has matured and is physiologically capable of bearing children.

02 What is “menstrual pain”?

However, menstruation is not always a peaceful thing for us. Some girls will feel pain in the lower abdomen, and in severe cases, the pain is so severe that they cannot study or work normally and can only take leave at home. This kind of pain is called "dysmenorrhea" in medicine.

Dysmenorrhea is divided into primary dysmenorrhea and secondary dysmenorrhea.

Primary dysmenorrhea is pain caused by no organic lesions in the reproductive organs. It can be understood as good health and a normal physiological reaction.

During menstrual bleeding, the body secretes a large amount of prostaglandins, and the main function of prostaglandins is to "beat" the uterus and help discharge menstrual blood. If the body accidentally secretes too much prostaglandin, it will cause strong pain due to the "beating" force, thus causing dysmenorrhea.

Image source: soogif

In addition, poor menstrual blood flow caused by cervical stenosis and other reasons can cause uterine contractions and cause dysmenorrhea.

The mild discomfort of primary dysmenorrhea during menstruation can be adjusted through psychological adjustment, maintaining good living habits (such as adequate sleep and rest, moderate exercise), etc. When it is unbearable, oral medication can be used to relieve the pain.

Secondary dysmenorrhea refers to pain caused by organic diseases of the pelvic cavity, such as pain caused by endometriosis, which is a disease. At this time, you need to go to the hospital for examination and the doctor will give you symptomatic treatment.

03 Come back later, is that reliable?

Since menstruation is accompanied by pain, is there a scientific and safe way to delay it at certain special times (such as exams, competitions, etc.)? This involves the body's regulation of the menstrual cycle!

The regulation of menstrual cycle is a complex project, mainly involving the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and ovaries. The hypothalamus is similar to the "headquarters" of the human body, requiring the "lower" pituitary gland to further convey relevant information through "specific instructions" (i.e. secretion of hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone).

The pituitary gland, as the "subordinate", after careful consideration (i.e. regulating the synthesis and secretion of pituitary gonadotropin), puts forward specific requirements to the "subordinate" ovary (i.e. secreting synthetic estrogen, ovulation, etc.) through "new instructions" (i.e. secreting gonadotropin and prolactin). The sex hormones secreted by the ovary in turn feedback and regulate the hypothalamus-pituitary gland, and influence each other, leading to periodic ovulation and cyclical changes in the secretion of sex hormones.

It can be said that the periodic visits of "menstruation" are actually caused by hormones. So we can start with hormones and use drugs to artificially regulate hormones to achieve the purpose of delaying "menstruation".

Among them, the applicable drugs mainly include two categories: the first category is progestin drugs, and the second category is combined oral short-acting contraceptive drugs.

Image source: Pixabay

However, combined with the regulation of the menstrual cycle by the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary, frequent and repeated use of hormones to adjust the "period" cycle can easily cause menstrual disorders, endocrine disorders and other problems, which will have a serious impact on physical health.

Therefore, it is recommended that you try not to use drugs to delay your menstrual period unless there are special circumstances. If you must delay your period, you must go to the obstetrics and gynecology department of the hospital and use the drugs under the guidance of a professional doctor to minimize the risk.

Image source: pexels

It should be noted that if you have already entered your menstrual period, there is no way to delay it.

Although the physical and psychological distress that accompanies "period" does drive some students "crazy", the visit of "period" is actually a natural physiological phenomenon. Instead of trying to postpone it, the best way to deal with it is to carefully observe and record your menstrual period time and reactions, maintain a calm state of mind, actively seek professional help from a doctor when symptoms such as dysmenorrhea occur, and become friends with this "relative" and live in harmony.

Source: Chongqing Science and Technology Museum

Author: Fortune Cat Medical Professional

Review experts: Huang He, Li Chunli, Xu Xiaoping

Statement: Except for original content and special notes, some pictures are from the Internet. They are not for commercial purposes and are only used as popular science materials. The copyright belongs to the original authors. If there is any infringement, please contact us to delete them.