Menstrual Health Monitoring – what to expect

Having good menstrual health is essential for your physical and mental wellbeing, yet many women experience issues related to their menstrual cycle, such as irregular periods, severe cramps, or heavy bleeding. It is important to track your menstrual cycle and seek support for any concerns you may have. This could be your GP, a gynaecologist, or another health professional. The sooner the support and treatment with menstrual health issues often means treatment is more straightforward and can improve your overall quality of life.

Why might I need to see a specialist?

Many women can improve their menstrual health by following specific health and lifestyle advice, but others may need to be seen by a specialist healthcare professional. This can be for a variety of reasons including irregular periods, heavy menstrual bleeding, PMS, PMDD, endometriosis, PCOS or amenorrhea.

Who can offer to give me support?

• Your GP
• Gynaecologist, Endocrinologist
• Menstrual Health Practitioner
• Menopause consultant

What to expect

When seeing a specialist for menstrual health, they will ask you questions about your cycle such as length, flow and symptoms. They might need to ask more detailed questions i.e how often you need to change your menstrual products or whether there are clots in your blood etc. They will also ask questions about hormonal contraception use and if you notice any cyclical changes in mood/energy/motivation. This is to get a better understanding of your menstrual experience, however it might be difficult for some to talk openly about these things. It’s a helpful hack for these appointments if you have this information written out beforehand so you don’t have to try to remember in the moment.

Useful Resources

https://www.thewell-hq.com/category/menstrual-cycle/

Your rights

You have the right, always, to be safe from harm in any environment.

You can refuse any assessment or treatment that you are not comfortable with. You can change your mind and withdraw your consent at any point during the assessment or treatment.You have the right to:

• Healthy relationships and appropriate boundaries.
• Have a say in the decisions, assessments and treatments that will impact you.
• Not feel bullied, harassed or intimated.
• Report any behaviour that makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, whether this is online or offline.

Report any concerns

Safeguarding is everyone’s business. No child or adult should be made to feel unsafe.

If you have any concerns, please report them to the police on the non-emergency number 101. In an emergency, always dial 999.