Myth 1. Your period MUST come every 28 days.
Your period is broken down into 3 phases. The Follicular Phase which includes your period, Ovulation which accounts for only one day, and Luteal Phase which is ALWAYS 100% of the time 14 days. The Follicular phase however can range anywhere between 7-21 days. Younger women who have less follicle stimulating hormone have a longer Follicular phase because it takes their eggs longer to mature, and older women who have more FSH have a shorter phase. The average cycle is really 28 days but that doesn’t mean it’s abnormal if your cycle is anywhere between 21-36 days. It is more difficult to get pregnant with a shorter Follicular phase but it’s not uncommon. To determine your cycle length day 1 begins on the first day of heavy bleeding. Not the first day of spotting! The first day of heavy bleeding. There’s plenty of awesome apps out there that help track this for you for free!
Myth 2. It’s okay if you don’t have a period every month.
Not exactly. While you may miss a cycle or get off your usual schedule due to stress or other outlying factors, regular missed periods are far from normal. You should seek advice from a chiropractic specialist, acupuncturist, or naturopath right away. Medical doctors can also help if birth control is something you’re okay with. The normal flow of a period should be a reddish brown color with even consistency without the presence of clots or strings. It should not be painful or involve any sort of spotting before or after your cycle. Should this be present you may not be ovulating due to the lack of certain hormones.
Myth 3. You still have a period if you’re on birth control and you bleed every month.
Nope. You’re having a bleed but no period. In order to truly have a period you have to ovulate. If that’s not happening, which on birth control it’s not, then you’re simply sluffing off the uterine lining (which is good) but this is not considered a real period. There’s also a lot of side effects that come along with birth control use. As if cancer, blood clots, and depressions wasn’t enough, birth control can also cause hair loss, decreased libido, weight gain and digestive issues. If there was a birth control out there for men that did the same thing, do you think they would take it? Well, surprise! There is! Guess what! It doesn’t sell! This doesn’t shock me at all. Why are we so willing to take this on ladies! If men won’t take this stuff why should we? Stay tuned for more tips on how to get off the pill if this is something you’re interested in.
Myth 4. A heavy period is a sign of obesity and poor health.
While this may not be ideal, it could mean that good ol’ estrogen is going to work for you! While estrogen gets a bad reputation there’s a lot of great things estrogen does for the body, and not just preventing osteoporosis. It could also mean your thyroid isn’t functioning properly or you’re having some insulin resistance.
Myth 5. Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have.
New research has shown that yes, while women are born with 400,000 eggs if they still have ovarian stem cells they can make new eggs indefinitely! How cool is that?
