Why your periods may be light

Many young girls and women of childbearing age are often worried when their periods change patterns. It is a fundamental part of a woman’s sense of well-being to be able to acknowledge that she has menstruated in any particular month, how the flow was and whether there were any inconsistencies observed as a result of the flow.

Besides, it is usual to be curious about why the period may fail to appear and what the implication of that could be. For each woman and young girl who has settled into such a pattern, the menstrual period is unique to each of them and forms a certain predictable pattern.

Many women are not unduly concerned, however, when their menstrual flow is unusually light. Even when a pattern of periods that is lighter than normal is observed, it should not usually be a cause for concern even though women will complain about it.

For many, this will not be a habitual occurrence but something they would just observe incidentally from one month to the next. In some of these cases, a light period can simply be down to stress or weight loss.
Sometimes, such an event is due to spotting or some kind of pink-coloured discharge that can be due to pregnancy or a hormone-related condition. The bottom line here is that each person’s menstrual flow is unique to them. In the following paragraphs, we shall be looking at some of the common reasons why the period may become unusually light.

One common reason why the period may turn out to be a light one is when there is no ovulation. This status is known as anovulation and it can lead to lighter periods that may also be irregular.

When this develops into a pattern occurring for up to three months at a time or more, it is important to see a doctor for a proper examination. In addition, some women could have primary ovarian insufficiency such that their ovaries stop functioning properly before they are old enough to reach menopause.
If this happens in a young woman, she is diagnosed as having suffered from a primary ovarian failure which can then bring about a condition of premature menopause. This is a challenging reality to treat and the women are often left frustrated.

Another common reason for this condition is attributable to changes in body weight. People who quickly lose a considerable amount of weight may observe that their periods become lighter than usual as a result. The same thing is true about those people who are underweight.

Sometimes, the periods stop altogether among this set of people and could cause them untold anxiety. This happens because their body fat level becomes too low and compromises the normal synthesis of the relevant hormones that can make normal menstruation occur. This is a problem among women or young girls who have undergone some major illness that would include the recovery period.

Eating disorders, as we saw when we discussed that topic several months ago on this page, would also become a factor in the equation to cause this to happen. This range of problems can make the periods cease altogether as considerable reductions in body weight ensue.

The same is true of situations involving excessive levels of exercise as may be evident in the life of a high-performance athlete. Among all the common causes of light periods, however, is the question of age. The character of a person’s period can vary throughout the individual woman’s lifetime.

At the commencement of menstruation in young girls, known as the menarche, periods may be light and irregular. The flow is typically lighter during the early months and may involve only spotting. During the 20s and 30s, the periods enjoy a period of such regularity that it will almost be like clockwork.
However, during their late 30s and 40s, women may develop shorter and heavier periods. In some months, there may be no menstruation at all but this situation would typically end in another episode of a heavier flow than usual.
After this stage, the periods could become lighter. However, if a person who used to have regular periods suddenly observes that they are experiencing light or irregular periods, they should see a doctor. For a woman of childbearing age, pregnancy would most often terminate regular or normal menstruation because, at this time, there is no ovulation.

However, some women can mistake an implantation bleed which occurs in the early stage of pregnancy as a light period. This refers to a light amount of blood loss which occurs when a fertilised egg becomes attached to the lining of the womb.

Therefore, if a woman who missed her period begins to experience some degree of spotting, she should get a pregnancy test done. Certain other medical conditions can affect a person’s hormonal composition in a way that can also affect the menstrual cycle.

Some of these conditions, like polycystic ovary syndrome, are found in young women. It is a serious barrier to achieving pregnancy in a lot of women and is more common than those women who suffer from disorders of the thyroid gland, another common contributor to the prevalence of this problem.

One uncommon medical condition that can also cause this problem is Cushing’s syndrome, which is a collection of certain signs and symptoms associated with prolonged exposure to the effect of glucocorticoids in the body.

One prominent member of this family of steroids is cortisol, the stress hormone, which causes people to gain huge amounts of weight that is made peculiar by its distribution around the body. Such people typically gain huge amounts of weight around their trunk and upper back, the face, which leads to their description of having a moon face, leaving their arms and legs to become unusually thin by comparison.

In most cases, a light period will not be a cause for concern. What is most important is that women should learn to listen to their bodies for certain changes in the accustomed pattern of these activities. If any woman is concerned about the duration of their menstrual flow or the volume, they should see a doctor for examination and reassurance.
Factors such as the use of birth control pills, also called oral pill, can lead to having light periods as can others such as exercise, diet, health conditions like the ones detailed above and incidental occurrences like implantation bleeding.

To be certain, the suddenness with which a light period can become manifest is dependent on the cause. However, attention to its existence may not occur until it establishes a certain pattern that makes the woman notice or for their mothers to observe if they are still young girls in their teens.

In the majority of cases, as has been emphasised several times above, no treatment is required and there is no need for any undue anxiety. It is noteworthy, that some of the reasons why this condition develops also have a secondary role in that they invariably become recognised as the risk factors that lead to the development of scanty periods.

For this reason, it is not always wise to dismiss their occurrence out of hand, but rather a good reason to find out why it is happening once there is evidence that it has occurred serially over several months.

There is a certain mantra that disease does not always play its expected kind of game. As a result of that adage, do not ignore any sign of a change in the flow of menstrual blood as an unimportant event. Prevention is always better than cure and getting a doctor’s opinion is always guaranteed to improve both knowledge and understanding of the condition.