My Teen’s Periods Are Extremely Heavy: Can You Help?

Around age 12, your teenage daughter will begin going through puberty, meaning her breasts develop, her hormone production ramps up, and her menstrual cycle commences. Reproductive health is a huge part of female health, and it’s important that your daughter understands all the changes her body will go through once she hits that puberty milestone. 

While it can be difficult (and even awkward) to have conversations about your daughter’s periods, it’s important that you communicate to her what’s normal and what’s not, especially if her periods seem pretty heavy. 

Many women deal with heavy periods, and it can be normal for them, and that might be the reality for your daughter. However, heavy periods can also be a sign of an undiagnosed health condition. 

Because your daughter’s first few years of periods might be tricky to navigate (for both of you), our gynecology team at the Center for Women’s Health Richmond in Sugar Land and Richmond, Texas, wants to highlight why your daughter’s periods might be heavy and when to seek treatment for them. 

What to expect from your teen’s first periods

The first few years of teenage periods aren’t controlled by regular ovulation or regular hormonal patterns. So, it’s very normal for your daughter’s periods to come more than once a month or every few months. If one is occasionally heavy, it shouldn’t be a cause for concern. 

Reasons for your teen’s heavy periods

If you do notice any of the following signs or symptoms from your daughter during her period, something could be amiss:

• Goes through an alarming amount of pads or tampons each month
• Needs to change her pad or tampon frequently
• Bleeds through her clothes
• Has to change her pad or tampon during the night
• Bleeds for longer than 10 days

It could be that your daughter’s hormones just need to level out, and her periods will decrease in intensity over time. However, it could also be a bleeding disorder, such as Von Willebrand’s disease, that keeps her blood from clotting properly. 

Other signs of bleeding disorders include bruising easily and frequent nosebleeds. Although it sounds scary for your daughter to have a bleeding disorder, lots of effective treatment options are available to manage it. 

Heavy periods can also indicate other reproductive issues such as fibroids or endometriosis, so speaking to our team can help determine the underlying cause. 

Helping your teen with heavy periods

No matter what’s causing your daughter’s heavy periods, treatment is available. Finding the right option can slow down the bleeding and help her live life to the fullest, even when on her period. 

Thankfully, hormonal birth control is often the best solution to manage heavy periods, whether it’s due to fluctuating hormones or a bleeding disorder. If our team does determine that your daughter might have a bleeding disorder, she may also need to see a hematologist to get additional specialized treatment. 

Hormonal birth control can come in many different forms and can also help with other period-related issues such as premenstrual syndrome (PMS), acne, and cramping. While it may feel scary to put your pre-teen on some type of birth control, it’s important to understand that patches, rings, or pills are completely reversible and have so many more uses than contraception. 

To learn more about how to help your daughter manage heavy periods, schedule an appointment with our team by calling your nearest office location or using our online booking feature today.