In the article, we consider whether it is normal that the uterus increases before menstruation.
It is known that this body changes greatly before the onset of menstruation. Moreover, it tends to increase in size, lower, and in some situations, on the contrary, rise. Many women feel a tingling sensation that often disturbs them. Sometimes painful sensations can be a sign of a variety of diseases, therefore, at the slightest suspicion of pathology, you need to consult a doctor and conduct diagnostic examinations.
In most cases, those girls who are trying to determine the onset of pregnancy are interested in such changes that occur with the uterus before the onset of menstruation. The most common questions are: “Is a phenomenon such as pulsation in the uterus before menstruation considered normal?”, “What to do, does the uterus increase before menstruation?”, “How serious are the consequences of self-palpation?” And “How does the uterus look before menstruation?” ? ”
Opinions of doctors
The opinions of doctors are mixed. Some of them believe that before the menstrual period, the uterus increases and this is a pathology, while others consider this phenomenon to be normal. But here the main factor is played by the following factor - the size of the uterus. For each woman, they vary, but if before the menstruation this organ increases, then this should also be within the normal range. A significant increase in the uterus is a sign of a serious illness or pregnancy.
How does the uterus change?
Every woman needs to know how the uterus changes before the onset of menstruation. Female cycles affect the condition of the uterine neck. The organ itself, right before the critical days, undergoes certain changes, and this is quite normal. However, in order to determine such transformations that menstruation and the ovulatory period provoke, sometimes it is necessary to independently check the area of the vagina by touch. If these measures for one reason or another are not suitable, you can visit the attending gynecologist.
Many people wonder if the uterus increases before menstruation.
Norm or not?
In healthy women, it is usually firm before menstruation. The increase is also quite natural and normal. During this period, the internal mucous membrane, the lining organ, begins to thicken. In addition, the hormonal background changes, swelling appears due to fluid retention - because of this, the mass of the organ can increase.
On the eve of menstruation, the uterus may fall slightly, and with the onset of ovulation, it begins to open, as it prepares for conception.
If fertilization occurs, the uterus rises, the cervix becomes wetter. Such signs help determine pregnancy at the earliest stages of its development.
During the critical days, the cervical pharynx expands slightly, which is provided by nature for faster and more unhindered disposal of blood and exfoliated endometrium. That is why experts do not recommend women to have sexual intercourse during this period, since this position of the body makes it more likely to get an infection.
Patterns
If you visit a gynecologist before the expected menstruation or with a slight delay, even an experienced doctor will not be able to say for sure whether the patient is pregnant, since the uterus is approximately the same size during pregnancy and during menstruation. Although there are certain patterns:
- women who have given birth always have a uterus more than women who have not given birth;
- the organ may have an irregular shape and be enlarged with myoma;
- an increase in the size of the uterus may be due to the development of adenomyosis.
Let's see why the uterus increases before menstruation?
Causes
Before the start of a new menstrual cycle, most women experience premenstrual syndrome. Such a condition is often accompanied by a variety of pathological manifestations that affect the physical and mental state. In addition, during this period, girls can feel bloating, which indicates not only an upset digestive function, but also an increase in the size of the uterus.
What really happens with the genital organ? Does it increase before menstruation, what causes this manifestation, how many days before the onset of menstruation can the uterus be enlarged?
To what size does the uterus increase before menstruation?
The arrival of a certain phase of the cycle occurs under the influence of hormonal levels on the body. In the premenstrual period, the concentration of the hormone progesterone in the blood increases. At the same time, there is a decrease in the production of serotonin and estrogen.
In the second phase of the cycle, progesterone levels increase in the blood. This hormone prepares the uterus for an egg. At this stage, fluid retention is observed in the tissues of the body, and the bulk of the nutrients enter the uterus. Thus, its increase in size is explained by the fact that at the first stages, until a placenta is formed, the uterus grows, the endometrium grows, and tissues swell.
Thanks to progesterone, the endometrium becomes very thick and loose. A woman can observe an increase in the abdomen, which is due to fluid retention, which accumulates mainly in the small pelvis. Fluid is needed in order to retain blood in the uterus.
If pregnancy has not occurred, menstruation occurs, in which the uterus gets rid of the endometrium and its size returns to normal.
How much the uterus increases before menstruation, we will understand below.
Uterus before menstruation - sizes
A smooth and dense neck before the start of a new cycle indicates the absence of pathologies - this is the norm. During ovulation, it has a looser structure and increased softness so that sperm can easily penetrate through the cervical canal.
Uterus size options include front size, length, and width. The neck and endometrial thickness are measured separately and this is done by means of an ultrasound scan. Measurements of the uterine body are made in the sagittal plane, and its width in the transverse position. The accuracy of the size depends on how the ultrasound is performed - with the transabdominal method, the indicators can be slightly increased.
It is important to know how many weeks the uterus increases before menstruation.
Changes in the organ can be noticeable 1-2 weeks before the onset of menstruation.
Numerical values
Numerical values usually have a wide range and depend on such factors:
- cycle day;
- the presence of childbirth and their number;
- menopause period.
Based on this, the size of the uterus should normally be considered separately in each case. In women of reproductive age, the uterus can reach 46 mm before menstruation, 43 mm before sexual intercourse, and if the woman has had one or more births, up to 60 mm. These indicators are variants of the norm, and if the uterus is enlarged even more, this may indicate the onset of pregnancy or the development of a certain disease in a woman. These include a variety of benign formations, for example, myoma, as well as such a common female pathology as endometriosis. Therefore, if the uterus after menstruation has not taken its usual size, it is necessary to consult a specialist.
How many days does the uterus increase before menstruation?
In an average woman, the cycle lasts from 28 to 34 days. The uterus begins to grow, as a rule, in the ovulatory phase, when it is preparing to take a mature egg, that is, for about 14 days. An increase in the body of the uterus before menstruation is a variant of the norm and should not cause any concern in a woman.
The softened neck, which also increases in size and slightly opens, indicates the approximation of menstruation. But to notice this phenomenon is possible only in those women who gave birth to a child. Therefore, upon examination, the doctor can easily determine this fact. When menstruation ends, the neck gradually begins to close, but in women giving birth it sometimes does not completely close. How many days before menstruation increases the organ depends on many different factors. However, in healthy women, before the critical days, the uterus not only grows, but also in any case drops, just as during the period of ovulation, the cervical canal expands, opening the pharynx.
Self diagnosis
Some women successfully use the self-diagnosis method, which allows you to exclude or determine the fact of pregnancy. To do this, the middle finger must be inserted into the vagina, where it should easily rest against the neck. Before menstruation, it straightens and falls, due to an increase in the uterus. At the same time, a depression is noted in it, which is the entrance to the lumen of the cervical canal.
If, before menstruation, the neck is firm and hard to achieve for self-diagnosis, this may primarily indicate pregnancy or that menstruation will not come soon (menstrual irregularities). Throughout the pregnancy, the uterus is firm and this helps her to hold the fetus. It acquires a loose structure only before childbirth.
What does it mean if the uterus is oversized?
Deviations and their causes
If the uterus increases significantly in size before menstruation and they exceed the permissible limits for the age group and taking into account the birth of a woman, this suggests that in this case a certain disease of the reproductive system develops, which must be cured in a timely manner. The most common pathology in this case is endometrial hyperplasia. In this case, the layer of the internal mucous membrane of the organ can be several times thicker than the norm and this condition is due to a violation of the hormonal background and the presence of inflammatory processes. With hyperplasia during menstruation, a uterine polyp can form, which is a certain fragment of the endometrium, which did not exfoliate during menstruation and did not come out with blood.
Endometriosis and myoma
Another reason that the uterus grows excessively before menstruation can be endometriosis. Most often, this pathology is observed in women who have given birth, having hormonal problems. With endometriosis, endometrial particles can be found in neighboring tissues and organs, which should not be normal, and this is due to the penetration of menstrual blood into the pelvic cavity.
The cause of a strong increase can be myoma, which is a benign formation in the uterine cavity. Myoma is removed surgically, especially if it is large.
We examined why the uterus increases before menstruation.