Blood, it’s Important, Periodt.
Jacey Chen (ISB 11)
In her highly informative article, Jacey aims to discuss the intricacies of an important female phenomena: periods.
She delves into their irregularity and strives to explain to you, dear reader, why a regular period is a wonderful, merry thing!
There’s a lot of ew’s, ugh’s, and draining parts of being female the most infamous one being the oh-so-popular menstrual cycle. Since one of the most important factors that determines a biological female is, you guessed it, the uterus, the menstrual cycle is a completely normal occurrence that happens to every biological woman, that is unless they have a physical condition affecting their cycle. Even if your cycle is one crazy bench and is on and off every other week (an exaggerated example but not impossible), it’s normal for every one to be worried about if their period is planning to ruin a day at the pool (though, you can actually go into the pool on your period without a tampon due to water pressure, but that’s another topic for another time). A lot of people might wonder why periods exist as they are an annoyance to everyday life, expensive, and painful. When looking for a single “positive” thing about periods, the first thing that would pop into my, and many others who’ve taken P.E’s health unit in middle school’s, heads would be how it prepares your body to pop out a child, but what about all those young teenagers and adults who could care less about or are not ready for a baby? By looking at all this, what could possibly make periods a positive and extremely crucial part of a woman’s body and health? Well, let me tell you.
For a lot of people, the idea of not having their period is something to celebrate about. No bloating, no mess, no keeping track of pads or tampons, and none of all the other dumb junk that has to do with having a uterus. An amazing month (or more) of freedom from the period gods. Unfortunately, instead of a blessing, not getting your period is more of a curse from the period gods. Your period can be very dramatic. If something’s not going right, either in your body or in your life, it’ll just stop, cross its arms and huff away. (Not literally.)
Missing your period may be very normal for teens transitioning into adulthood, but you should still watch out for signs. Heredity, and genetic mutations can be factors for missing periods. Though, it can also be due to what and how you eat, how active you are, and the energy levels you gain or loose from those activities. How much energy you have can determine how aggravating your period will be. Energy is used for other bodily functions, movements and exercise. Low energy availability means that your body doesn’t have enough energy for extra exercise or body functions. Low energy can be a result of not eating enough and or exercising too much. However, the total opposite, eating too much or not exercising enough, could be a factor as well. In most cases, hormonal imbalances play a huge role in missing periods.
Hormones can also tragically affect your period. Too much testosterone or not enough estrogen can cause major affects on your period and your body, making it more stressful for your body and mind. Another reason may be stress; when stress peaks the brain tells the endocrine system to flood your body with hormones that trigger flight or fight mode. When your body is in this mode it cuts off bodily functions that are not important in survival, like the reproductive system. Drastic changes in weight can also affect your period. When your body gains or loses massive numbers it can cause chaos to your body’s hormonal balances that can cause your period to pause for long periods of time or stop altogether. Another more serious reason for inconsistent cycles could be Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a condition of periods coming rarely, lightly or heavily in unpredictable patterns. This syndrome is caused by extreme imbalances in male hormones and affects the body very negatively. WARNING!!! Don’t be quick to diagnose yourself! Always talk to doctors or parents about these things, heck, even friends can help you out. I mean that’s what they’re for right?
Your period, she’s sensitive. If there’s something she doesn’t like she just won’t do her job. So watch out for her. If there’s something wrong with her then there might be something wrong with you, mentally or physically. I know nonstop bleeding for a week every month sucks, but getting to keep your blood is not all fun and games when your health is on the line.