Overview

 Menorrhagia or heavy menstrual bleeding is a common disorder among people who menstruate. It refers to bleeding lasting longer than seven days and involves bleeding more than is typical during menstruation, often interfering with daily life. With prolonged bleeding, a person becomes anaemic.

Causes

• Hormonal Imbalance: An imbalance in hormones, particularly with conditions like estrogen dominance, can disrupt the normal functioning of the reproductive system and lead to a variety of symptoms.

• Uterine Fibroids or Polyps:  These non-cancerous growths in the uterus can cause heavy menstrual bleeding, pain, and pressure, impacting overall reproductive health.

• Endometriosis: This condition occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, leading to inflammation, scarring, and severe pain, especially during menstrual cycles.

• Adenomyosis:  A condition where the inner lining of the uterus grows into the muscular wall of the uterus, which can result in severe menstrual cramps, bloating, and heavy periods.

• Intrauterine Devices (IUDs). Some types of IUDs can cause changes in menstrual patterns, including heavier bleeding and increased cramping.

• Blood Clotting Disorders:  Conditions that affect blood clotting can lead to increased bleeding or abnormal clotting within the menstrual cycle, resulting in complications.

• Thyroid Problems:  Both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can disrupt normal menstrual cycles, causing irregular periods, heavy bleeding, or even missed periods.

Understanding these causes can help in diagnosing and managing symptoms effectively.

Symptoms

• Experiencing saturation of sanitary products within one hour.

• Menstrual bleeding that persists for more than seven days.

• Passage of large blood clots.

• Presence of Fatigue or shortness of breath resulting from anaemia.

Ayurvedic View

Rakta pitta, Asrugdara, Pradara - Intake of food having properties like ati ushna(hot potency food), alkaline food, consuming excess of spicy, salty, oily food,vidahi anna( food that causes burning sensation in GI tract), etc, along with other pitta-increasing food and activities, does dushti (vitiation) of blood and causes abnormal quantitative increase of blood, where pressure builds inside sira(blood vessel), causing adhika(excess) rakta srava(bleeding discharge) during menstruation. Symptoms can be seen according to the doshas involved; this is menorrhagia. Ayurveda's way of approach is to bring dosha back to prakruta awastha (balance state)-guna(quality),sthana(place)and karma(function), bring back normal flow and reduce further complications caused by this disease by ayurvedic panchakarma treatment.