What Causes Heavy or Irregular Periods?

Heavy bleeding is referred to as menorrhagia. There are many causes for heavy bleeding, however, the most common is fibroid tumors. Fibroids are noncancerous tumors that are composed of muscle tissues. When located on the inner wall of the uterus, fibroid tumors can cause both irregular and heavy bleeding cycles.

Other common causes of irregular bleeding include but are not limited to:

• Obesity

• Hormone Imbalance

• Thyroid Disorders (Hashimoto’s Disease, Grave’s Disease)

• Polyps

• Ovarian Cysts

• Adenomyosis

• Congenital Bleeding Disorders

• Medications

• Ovarian dysfunction

• Ovarian Cancer

While the causes of heavy periods or irregular periods may vary, we focus on diagnosing and treatment of your symptoms. Our team of physicians have extensive medical training and offer each of our patients' expert insight into identifying and treating medical conditions so you can feel confident in your care.

What Are the Treatments of Irregular or Heavy Periods?

Treatments for heavy periods or irregular menstrual cycles are as varied as its causes. Treatment can range from something as simple as taking oral birth control pills, or a minimally invasive robotic surgery can be performed to repair or remove the cause of heavy periods. Dr. Murray is our robotic surgery specialist. An example of a surgery that she’s performed to remove the source of bleeding is a myomectomy, which is an arthroscopic surgery to remove fibroids.

In other cases, an ablation, which is a minimally invasive procedure that destroys the lining of the uterus to control irregular bleeding, may be necessary. This treatment can sometimes end periods, but what normally happens is that periods become lighter. Either case can be beneficial to women who experience heavy menstruation.

Heavy periods can also be a sign or symptom of another condition, like hormonal imbalance or ovarian cancer. It is important for you to talk to your doctor about your menstruation concerns. That conversation is one of the advantages that Southern Connecticut Women's Health Care Associates offers, as the health practitioners here are women that care about your health. In fact, women helping women is their focus, and women understand that having a conversation is the very first step in diagnosing and treating illness and disease.