According to studies, nearly one third of women who experience debilitating periods do not seek medical help, because more than half of the women who do say their symptoms aren't taken seriously.
Dr. Mary McCaffrey, consultant gynaecologist at Scotia Women's Health Clinic in Tralee, joined the Jennifer Zamparelli show to discuss the millions of women and girls who experience debilitating periods.
McCaffrey said that the way to know if you have problem periods is if they start "impacting the person's life, their quality of life", as the person sees it.
She added that at least one in 10 people will present with problem periods, and conditions like endometriosis, fibroids and more are much more common for those with debilitating periods.
Certain period symptoms have become normalised, such as heavy bleeding, when in reality they "aren't normal", McCaffrey said. Generally speaking, periods should last for about five days - though that can vary slightly depending on the person.
"But when you hear people saying that they wake up in the morning and the bed is destroyed, their clothes are destroyed, that they can't go to work or they are changing pads and tampons every hour, that's not normal. And that's the situation where people should be coming and saying, what can we do anout this?"
Fibroids are another lesser known condition, which can cause painful periods, McCaffrey said. "Fibroids are essentially an enlargement of the muscle layer of the womb and they can be quite big. They can be within the muscle layer of the womb, and they can grow into the cavity of the womb, which bleeds every month and where babies stay before they're born, or they can grow out on little pedicles into your tummy cavity."
She explained that the womb is the size of a small, pear-shaped balloon, so if that is stretched larger by fibroids then the surface of the womb will bleed more, because it's bigger. Periods will be heavier, and possibly more painful, because of this.
Fibroids, she added, need to be "managed", or removed if they are causing a person pain. However, if a person is planning on becoming pregnant, surgery would be avoided as much as possible.
Surgery used to be the traditional option for removing fibroids, but there are now other treatments that are less invasive, such as uterine artery embolization, which includes zapping "little pellets into the blood supply of the fibroid and it'll shrink over time".
There are new medications available in Ireland, too, McCaffrey says, which can help shrink fibroids. "It's about tailoring it for the individual person."
Endometriosis is another condition that can be diagnosed "too late in life", McCaffrey said, adding that some women who finally received a diagnosis can be on their seventh doctor by that point.
It's caused when tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows somewhere else and it bleeds every month, but the blood has nowhere to escape from. Instead, it builds in the abdomen or pelvis, which will eventually cause scarring or cysts, and can affect fertility at the later stages.
"It can be very debilitating if it's not caught in time", she said.
To listen to the full interview, click above.
For more information on menstrual health, visit HSE.ie.
