The 4 phases of Menstrual Cycle

The average period of the menstrual cycle ranges from 28 to 29 days but this differs from person to person. The amount of time of the cycle is estimated from the day your period starts to one day before the next period begins.

Usually, girls have their menstruation from the age of eleven to fourteen years, and with this age, other sexual features of their body get developed like breasts and pubic hair, etc.

The menstrual cycle is managed by several glands and hormones produced by these glands and the process is very complex. There occurs the development of an egg which gets discharged from the ovaries during the cycle. Then the uterus lining is formed. If there is no chance of pregnancy then in that case during the cycle the lining sheds down.

The stages of the menstrual cycle:

There exist four stages of a women's menstrual cycle. They are mentioned below:

• Menstrual phase

• Follicular phase

• Ovulation phase

• Luteal phase

The duration of the cycle varies from women to women and it transforms with time.

Menstrual Phase:

It is the first stage i.e. when a girl has menstruation. In this stage, the uterus lining gets eliminated through the vagina. During this phase, the body discharges blood, mucus, and tissue from the uterus in a combined way. It stays for around three to seven days of a woman's menstrual cycle. However, some may have longer ones.

The common signs of this phase are:

Cramps

Tender breasts

Bloating

Mood swings

Irritability

Headaches

Tiredness

Low back pain

Follicular phase:

This phase begins on the 1st days to the day you start ovulating. It occurs when signals are transmitted by the hypothalamus to the pituitary glands for the discharge of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), a hormone that helps in the stimulation of ovaries in the formation of five to twenty follicles that are small sort of sacs.

Immature eggs are contained in those follicles but the one which is healthy is get matured and the other will stay absorbed in the body.

The matured follicles raise the estrogen level that helps in thickening the uterus lining that helps to form necessary nutrients that aids in the growth of the embryo.

The follicles could survive for around sixteen days on average but it could also be from eleven to twenty-seven days as per the cycle.

Ovulation phase:

During the follicular stage, the rise of estrogen level causes the pituitary gland in releasing luteinizing hormone (LH). By this begins the ovulation process.

In this stage, a matured egg gets released and is transmitted to the fallopian tube to get into the fertilization process through sperm. There are higher chances of getting pregnant during this stage. You could anticipate ovulation through these signs:

• Rise in basal body temperature

• Discharge with the texture of egg whites.

In a 28-day cycle, you'll ovulate at day 14 during the middle of the cycle. It only survives for a day i.e. 24 hours and after that, the eggs get dissolve if it's unfertilized.

Luteal phase:

After the eggs get released from the follicles, it gets transformed into corpus luteum that releases progesterone and few quantity of estrogen. This surge helps in thickening the uterus lining and gets the fertilized eggs ready for implantation. The body will form human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) if you're pregnant that helps in maintain the corpus luteum and thicken the lining. While in case you're not pregnant then the corpus luteum will get reabsorbed and the lining gets shed during menstruation. This phase lasts for fourteen days on average.

In case you're not pregnant the premenstrual syndrome might occur with signs include:

Bloating

Breast swelling, pain, or tenderness

Mood swings

headache

Weight gain

Changes in sexual desire

Food cravings

Trouble sleeping

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