Causes of Menstrual Spotting

 Menstrual spotting is something that happens to most women at some point in their lives although it can be more frequent for some women than it is for others. Because menstrual spotting is common, it is not something that should cause you great levels of concern if you experience it. However, you should know that menstrual spotting could possibly be caused by something serious and also shouldn’t just be ignored. The important thing is to make sure that you understand the possible causes of menstrual spotting so that you can figure out what is causing this change in your body and deal with it. It may not be a big thing but it’s something that deserves a little bit of attention and care.

There are two major causes of menstrual spotting that you will want to rule out first when you are trying to figure out what is causing you to have this problem:

1. You could be pregnant. If you are sexually active and it is time for you to have your period but instead you only experience some very light menstrual spotting then you may be pregnant. Although most women simply don’t get their period when they become pregnant, some women do experience menstrual spotting particularly in the first month of pregnancy. If your period is late and you’re experiencing menstrual spotting then you should assume that this could be a cause and get tested immediately to see if you are pregnant.

2. You are taking birth control pills. A situation that is somewhat related to the first cause of menstrual spotting but is also quite different is that you may experience menstrual spotting because you are taking birth control pills. The hormones in birth control pills considerably change your body and can have many effects including causing menstrual spotting. Some women experience light menstrual spotting when in the first few months after starting birth control pills whereas other women may experience spotting throughout the time that they are on the pill. Menstrual spotting is most common when women who use birth control pills miss some of their pills or take them irregularly, throwing off the rhythms of the body. If you are having problems with menstrual spotting and you are on birth control pills then the pills are most likely the reason for the spotting. It’s worth mentioning when you see your gynecologist to rule out any other possible causes of the spotting but it’s not something to be excessively alarmed about. You can talk to your doctor about changing your pills if you don’t want to experience this problem.

Most women who experience menstrual spotting will find that the cause is either pregnancy or the use of birth control pills. However, these are not the only things that can cause menstrual spotting. Here is a look at some of the other common causes of menstrual spotting that you may want to look into if you are experiencing this problem but aren’t pregnant or taking birth control pills:

• Hormone imbalance. The reason that birth control pills cause menstrual spotting is because they change the hormone balance in your body. However, birth control pills aren’t the only things that can do this. There may be other causes of hormone imbalance in your body that cause menstrual spotting. If it’s an ongoing problem then you may want to ask your doctor about getting checked out for a hormone imbalance. This is a problem that can be remedied with changes in diet or even by starting to take a low dose birth control pill.

• Infection. Whenever you experience infection in an area of the body related to menstruation (including the vagina, the cervix and even the bladder) there is the possibility that it may cause menstrual spotting. If you know that you have an infection and are experience spotting then the infection is most likely the cause. If you are experiencing spotting but don’t know why, you may want to tune into your body and consider whether you may have an infection that is going untreated.

• Medications. There are some medications that can have an adverse effect on menstruation and may cause menstrual spotting. Blood thinning medications may have this effect. This isn’t a common cause of menstrual spotting but should be ruled out as a possible cause.

• Polyps. These are little growths on the cervical canal. These aren’t cancerous and are basically benign but they have the negative side effect of sometimes impacting your menstrual cycle and causing menstrual spotting. These can be easily removed in a standard procedure which should clear up the problem if this is what is causing your menstrual spotting.

• Dysplasia. This is a slightly more serious condition in which tissue cells mature abnormally. It is relatively common for women to experience some dysplasia in the cervix and a common side effect of the problem is the experience of menstrual spotting. In most cases, the dysplasia isn’t really a problem and can be dealt with easily. However, dysplasia can sometimes be a warning sign for cervical cancer so this is definitely something that should be ruled out and dealt with medically if it turns out to be a cause of menstrual spotting.

• Cervical cancer. In rare cases, menstrual spotting is a symptom of cervical cancer. Don’t panic. This isn’t the case for almost all people who experience menstrual spotting. However, you should know that menstrual spotting can be serious and should be checked out in case it turns out to be related to a major underlying condition such as cancer.

So, basically, there are a lot of different things that can cause menstrual spotting. In fact, some women just naturally experience light spotting in the middle of their menstrual cycle as a part of how their bodies handle ovulation. But there can also be some serious causes of menstrual spotting so it’s a condition that should be discussed with your doctor. A basic exam should reveal the true cause of the problem and then you can proceed with treating it accordingly if it needs to be treated.