Bleeding abnormalities or bleeding disorders refer to altered menstrual bleeding (menstruation). A normal menstrual period lasts approximately four days and repeats in a cycle of 28 days each.
Abnormalities are divided into rhythm disorders and type disorders.
Rhythm disorders include:
- Polymenorrhea – the interval between bleeding is less than 25 days, so the bleeding occurs too often
- Oligomenorrhea – the interval between bleeding is greater than 31 days, so bleeding occurs too infrequently
- Amenorrhea – no menstrual bleeding until the age of 15 (primary amenorrhea) or no menstrual bleeding for more than three months (secondary amenorrhea)
Type disorders include:
- Hypermenorrhea – bleeding is too heavy; usually the affected person consumes more than five pads / tampons per day.
- Hypomenorrhea – bleeding is too weak; the affected person consumes less than two pads per day
- Brachymenorrhea – bleeding duration shorter than three days.
- Menorrhagia – bleeding is prolonged (> 6 days and < 14 days) and intensified.
- Spotting – interstitial bleeding such as.
- Premenstrual spotting – spotting before actual menstruation.
- Postmenstrual spotting – spotting after the actual menstruation.
- Middle bleeding – spotting at the time of ovulation (ovulation).
- Metrorrhagia – bleeding outside the actual menstruation; it is usually prolonged and increased, a regular cycle is not recognizable
- Menometrorrhagia – bleeding duration more than fourteen days (often in menopause)Note: The term menometrorrhagia is often used synonymously with metrorrhagia in the clinic.
