Patient's question:
Could you explain the menstrual cycle of women in detail for me?It would be best to add whether it's possible to have ML. For example, if the period starts on the 11th, the menstrual period is roughly around 35 days.
Doctor's answer:
Hello: A mature woman experiences one bleeding each month, which is just the surface phenomenon we observe. Inside a woman's body, more miraculous changes are taking place, their precision and perfection surpassing the most skillful machines created by craftsmen in the world.This change follows a 28-day (one-month) cycle, known as the menstrual cycle. In the simplest terms: the menstrual phase lasts for 7 days, followed by the proliferative phase for 7 days, and then the secretory phase for 14 days, making the total menstrual cycle 28 days. Ovulation occurs at the end of the proliferative phase and the beginning of the secretory phase, which is around 7 days after menstruation—these days are the most fertile.
What drives your body to change in a cyclic manner, like the rise and fall of tides? It is hormones. The ovaries and uterus change in response to the levels of estrogen and progesterone in the blood. The amount of estrogen and progesterone is determined by the gonadotropin hormone secreted by the pituitary gland; the pituitary gland, in turn, produces gonadotropin under the control of the hypothalamus. Therefore, the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary axis regulates the menstrual cycle, and this hormonal connection is further controlled by the central nervous system. It is no exaggeration to say that menstruation is a in a woman's body.
Based on the changes in the endometrium, the menstrual cycle is divided into three phases.
(1) Menstrual Phase (Bleeding Phase) — Lasting about 4 to 7 days. During this phase, progesterone and estrogen levels in the blood drop to their lowest point, and the growth of the endometrium is no longer supported. The blood vessels in the endometrium spasm and rupture, causing bleeding, which flushes the necrotic endometrium into the uterine cavity. Additionally, the uterus secretes