Heavy periods are common, but they can have a big effect on a woman's everyday life.
They do not always have an underlying cause, but they can result from problems such as fibroids or endometriosis, so it's important to get your symptoms checked out.
See a GP if:
you're worried about your bleeding
your periods have got heavier
you're also having other symptoms, such as period pain or bleeding between your periods
Various treatments are available for heavy periods, including:
some types of contraception, like an intrauterine system (IUS) or the combined pill
medicines, like tranexamic acid
surgery
It's difficult to define exactly what a heavy period is because it varies from woman to woman. Heavy for 1 woman may be normal for another.
Most women will lose less than 16 teaspoons of blood (80ml) during their period, with the average being around 6 to 8 teaspoons.
Heavy menstrual bleeding is defined as losing 80ml or more in each period, having periods that last longer than 7 days, or both.
But it's not usually necessary to measure blood loss. Most women have a good idea of how much bleeding is normal for them during their period and can tell when this changes.
A good indication that your periods are heavy is if you:
are having to change your sanitary products every hour or 2
are passing blood clots larger than 2.5cm (about the size of a 10p coin)
are bleeding through to your clothes or bedding
need to use 2 types of the sanitary product together (for example, tampons and pads)
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