Menstruation Facts and Myths

1. Menstruation is quite normal for most women - of a certain age. Yet there are also many misunderstandings about this monthly recurring phenomenon. How do you distinguish the fables from the facts?

During menstruation you lose a lot of blood.

1. In a tampon, on toilet paper or in a sanitary napkin, it soon seems as if you are bleeding heavily. Fortunately, this is not so bad. With an average period, you lose about four tablespoons to half a cup of blood. About one in five women suffer from excessive blood loss during menstruation. Violent is different for every woman, but sometimes 120 milliliters of blood is used as the yardstick.

A menstrual cycle lasts 28 days.

1. The duration of the menstrual cycle can vary from 21 to 35 days; 28 days is an average. The duration of the cycle varies not only from person to person, but also from cycle to cycle. Sometimes menstruation is very irregular, for example due to stress, strenuous exercise or illness. Body weight can also influence the cycle. Hormones in the adipose tissue extend these. In addition, the egg cell stock plays a role. With more eggs the cycle takes longer: younger women therefore have a longer cycle than older women.

If you don't get your period, you are pregnant.

1. Pregnancy is indeed one of the natural reasons for not having periods, but it is by no means the only one. All kinds of hormonal fluctuations can cause menstruation to disappear for months. The transition is also a good example of this. Medicines and stresses - physical or mental - can also keep you from having your period.

Intermediate blood loss is usually harmless.

1. Sometimes you have bleeding between your normal period. Most of the time it is not completely clear what causes this, but it is completely harmless. Hormone fluctuations can be the culprit, as can drugs. Sometimes, however, the blood loss has a completely different cause: for example, an inflammation of the cervix as a result of a sexually transmitted disease. You will then have more blood loss after intercourse. Other abnormalities of the cervix or uterine cavity can also lead to blood loss. A smear test or ultrasound can then be conclusive.

You cannot get pregnant during your period.

1. This is a dangerous misunderstanding. Getting pregnant during your period is unlikely, but not impossible. Especially with an irregular or short cycle you can be fertile very early in your cycle. Even if you are still menstruating. In addition, sperm cells can survive for several days in the uterus.

Women who have a lot of contact get their periods at the same time.

1. Mothers and daughters, students who live together, nuns: it is said that in women who have close contact with each other, menstruation starts to run synchronously. Indeed, there are scientific studies pointing in this direction, but most researchers agree that there is no connection. In fact, it would be theoretically impossible, because a woman's cycle varies in length.

Menstruating women are more likely to be attacked by sharks.

1. The wildest stories circulate about menstruation. For example, menstruating women are more likely to be attacked by a bear or shark, but there is no scientific evidence for this. Blood can attract sharks, but so can other body fluids such as sweat and urine.

Foods go bad when a woman with her period touches them.

1. Another superstition surrounding menstruating women is that they make wine sour, collapse dough, and fail mayonnaise. In addition, they would also cause flowers to die, make seeds sterile and blurring knives. Many of these fables are related to the fact that menstruating women are considered unclean in many religions. Obviously, no scientific evidence has ever been found for any of these relationships.

2. Another superstition surrounding menstruating women is that they make wine sour, sag dough, and fail mayonnaise. In addition, they would also cause flowers to die, make seeds sterile and blur knives. Many of these fables are related to the fact that menstruating women are considered unclean in many religions. Obviously, no scientific evidence has ever been found for any of these relationships.