Regular exercise can benefit anyone at any age by contributing to cardiovascular, immune and nervous system health. But can engaging in regular workout sessions reduce the amount of blood lost during a menstrual period? While there is no clear-cut evidence that exercise may lessen menstrual blood, exercise directly affects how a woman's body reacts to hormonal changes during her reproductive years. By combining a healthy diet with exercise, a woman enhances her immune system, strengthens muscles and reduces the risk of developing disorders that may cause excessive menstrual bleeding.
Heavy Menstrual Bleeding
The medical term for heavy menstrual periods is menorrhagia. Many women have a tendency to think their flow is heavy when it really isn't. A heavier-than-normal period occurs when a woman must change a soaked tampon or pad every hour or two, a period continues for 10 days or longer or abnormal bleeding occurs between periods. Doctors use several terms to describe heavy bleeding. Menorrhagia means that a period lasts longer than seven days and consists of more than 80 milliliters of blood. Metrorrhagia indicates irregular but frequent bleeding of varying amounts. Menometrorrhagia refers to excessively long periods of bleeding happening irregularly.
Cervical Polyps
If the cause of heavy menstrual bleeding is found to be cervical polyps, exercising will not reduce bleeding. Cervical polyps are small, protruding growths extending along the cervical canal that may cause abnormal bleeding. It is not clear why women develop polyps, but researcher suspect they may emerge following infections or rising levels of estrogen. Congested blood vessels within the cervix may be another cause of cervical polyps. Usually, outpatient surgery is all that is required to remove polyps and eliminate heavy periods.
Uterine Fibroid Tumors
The majority of uterine fibroid tumors are benign, usually occurring in women in their 30s and 40s. As a frequent cause of heavy menstruation, these tumors do not benefit from regular exercising and continue to cause heavy bleeding until they are nonsurgically treated with oral contraceptives, GnRH agonists -- a substance capable of regulating estrogen levels, uterine balloon therapy or endometrial ablation. When a women begins menopause, tumors typically reduce in size and eventually disappear altogether.
Exercising Too Much
While regular exercise may or may not reduce menstrual bleeding, exercising too much may cause skipped periods or absence of periods due to hormonal imbalance and weight loss. However, participating in workouts several times a week without overdoing it definitely can reduce those stressful symptoms of premenstrual syndrome most women experience such as cramping, headache and water retention. A reduction in menstrual flow may need to be addressed by undergoing tests to determine whether an underlying cause exists and corrective action is readily available.
References
- Seton Healthcare Family; What is a Menstrual Cycle?
- "The New York Times": Menstrual Disorders: In-Depth Report
- Clinical Sports Medicine: The Menstrual Cycle and Sport Performance
- Oxygen Magazine: Stay Strong All Month Long
- Shape.com; Exercise and Your Menstrual Cycle: What Your Period Means for Your Workout Schedule; Dana Hudepohl; Sept. 17, 2010
