Right from the day of attaining puberty to the days when you enter the menopause phase of your life you undergo a lot of changes in your menstrual cycle, a light period is one of them. This is one of the irregularities that occur even to a woman who has regular menstrual cycles. When you have a light menstrual period you may experience less or very scanty menstrual discharge that too for a very short time sometimes making you wonder if you have the periods at all. Though the duration of the menstruation cycle is not the same for all women it may occur in between 21 and 45 days of the previous menses and it normally remains for 3 to 5 days.
Reasons for having a very light period
When you have a light period the menstrual flow remains for one or two days and it may be very less than normal flow you have been experiencing. This may make you feel worried as if you have become pregnant, or has some sort of an illness that has caused this very light flow. You don’t need to worry, as it is normal in young girls who have attained puberty recently. This may occur even in adult women due to changes in hormone levels in their body. You may consider it normal to have lighter periods for two or three cycles and if this becomes routine after this you have to consult your physician and find what is happening in your body.
Reasons for having a light period
Imbalance in the hormonal levels is the most common cause for the lighter periods. You are well aware that the normal menses occurs when you have a perfect balance of hormones in your body and when this gets disturbed some changes do occur in your menses cycles also. Estrogen is the main hormone that is responsible for creating the inner lining of the uterus expecting the fertilization to occur during that month. When the level of this hormone is low it leads to a very thin womb lining that leads to less discharge during monthly cycles. This can be set right by correcting the estrogen level.
Strong emotions can cause a light period
Your emotional state is also a reason for your light period as stressed mind leads to changes in your menstrual cycles and quantity of discharge during the cycles. When you are under considerable stress, the blood flow occurs more to your brain, heart, and lungs leaving very less of it to flow to the genital areas. Due to this, your periods may be scanty and short and once you come out of stress and your emotional state improves you must get back your normal menses flow. Likewise engaging in strenuous workouts and exercises on a regular basis can also be a reason for your light period and it may be delayed much with irregular cycles. When you stop doing the hard exercises your periods should be back to normal.
I’m having a light period. Am I pregnant?
Other conditions like thyroid imbalance leading to excess TSH, or taking birth control pills that alter the levels of estrogen and progesterone levels in your body also lead to lighter periods. The earliest signal of a pregnancy is a light discharge and other associated symptom. Yet another reason for light period is malnutrition that deprives essential nutrients required for proper functioning of the body.
