The name of the first menstruation is menarquia and occurs around the age of 12, but since there is no fixed date to come, some girls may start menstruating at age 8 or 9, due to hormonal factors, lifestyle and diet.After the first period, the girl is considered a teenager.
Signs and symptoms that may indicate the onset of menstruation for the first time include:
- During menstruation.
- It is normal for the girl to feel pain in the abdominal area and become sadder.
- Irritated.
- Watery or tenderer.
- Due to hormonal changes that occur at this stage and medications usually do not need to be taken at this stage.
- But when menstruation causes severe cramps.
- Placing a hot water bag in the lower abdomen can relieve this discomfort.
The color of the first period is dark or brown, but ideally it should be pink or red almost every day.Darker-than-normal menstruation occurs due to hormonal changes and is generally not a health problem.Menstruation has a characteristic smell, but if it is very intense and looks like a rotten fish smell, it is necessary to go to the gynecologist because the girl may have a vaginal infection that needs to be treated with medication.
Menstruation lasts between 3 and 8 days, depending on the body of each girl. In general, after 30 days of its end, there will be a new menstruation. But it is normal that after the first menstruation, the second and third take longer to come down. It is also normal for menstruation to become irregular in the early years of the menstrual cycle, becoming more regular over time.
As a general rule, a woman should have her period every month (excluding the pregnancy period) until she is around 50 years old, when she enters menopause.
Throughout menstruation, a woman should be careful to use an absorbent to retain lost blood.There are 2 absorbent options: internal or external. Whatever the choice, it should be changed on average every 3 hours or when it is very dirty.
During menstruation you can continue with all the activities of daily life, without having to stop doing any of them and, if the girl is still a virgin, she does not need to go to the gynecologist, however, from the moment she ceases to be a virgin, she must go to the gynecologist to have the necessary tests, at least once a year.
To be properly prepared for the first period, the girl must
To avoid embarrassment, if someone else touches your bag, place these items in a bag (necessary).
Menstruation is a symbol of a woman’s fertility.After the first menstruation, the girl should know that she should not have intimate contact with children without using a condom, as she may become pregnant and/or contract sexually transmitted diseases.
Girls under the age of 9, who have pubic hair and armpits, may delay the onset of their first period to allow for greater bone growth, this treatment is indicated by the pediatric endocrinologist and involves taking 1 injection of hormones each month, until the girl reaches an age when there is no longer any benefit in preventing the onset of menstruation.