Menstruation at puberty.

Most girls start their periods around the age of 12 or 13, although some will start as early as nine years old if they gone into their puberty early and others may not start until the age of 14 or 15. Delayed menstruation can be caused by stress, anaemia, low body weight often associated with eating disorders.

Nowadays parents and society are more open about menstruation, but some girls are still unprepared and consider the whole process embarrassing and distressing, feeling negative and even disgusted at having periods. The whole process should be discussed between parents and daughters. They need to know that they can come to their mum with any issues over their period or with any other aspects of maturing.

It may take a while for periods to become regular. Generally periods settle to a pattern of 26-28 days until the age of 15-16. Many teenage girls will have heavy and/or painful periods from the onset and these can be vastly helped by homeopathic treatment. Frequently these girls will be following a family pattern of menstrual difficulties. With the increase in women in taking contraceptive pills, teenagers now experiencing more hormonal problems than ever before.

Many girls, who have problems with their periods, as well as acne, will be offered the contraceptive Pill, even if they are below age of 16 or not sexually active. Although, this may seem to address the problems in the short term, they usually return when the girls come off the Pill. Moreover, many girls suffer side effects from the Pill, such as weight gain, mood swings and depression.

Homeopathic constitutional treatment to balance the hormones at puberty is advisable and this can prevent many years of menstrual difficulties.