5 Benefits of Knowing Your Menstrual Cycle
Women’s menstrual cycle time is often underestimated. However, if you know your cycle carefully, there are several benefits that can be obtained.
The menstrual cycle or menstrual cycle is a series of changes that a woman’s body experiences to prepare for pregnancy. Every woman should know her own body well, including the character of her menstrual cycle.
A normal cycle lasts 21-35 days, with an average duration of 28 days. The cycle is counted from the first day of bleeding to the first day of bleeding in the following month.
Tracking your period can give you clues about a lot of things that are going on in your body. So, by keeping track of it, you can find out whether your cycle is normal or not.
There are several benefits to recording menstrual periods or menstrual cycles, namely:
- Plan your monthly shopping
No woman likes the experience of ‘penetrating’ due to not wearing a pad on the first day of her period, right? Don’t worry, this unpleasant condition can be easily prevented if you know your cycle.
By knowing your menstrual cycle, you can predict when you should start wearing pads just in case your period comes at any time. You can also do your activities calmly without fear of suddenly ‘penetrating’ at the wrong time.
Other Articles: How to Determine Fertile Period If Menstruation is Irregular
- Planning a Pregnancy
When planning a pregnancy, one of the recommendations that doctors always give is to have sex during the fertile period. Yes, having sex during the fertile period can increase the chances of pregnancy drastically compared to having sex at other times.
You can find out whether your cycle is regular or not by recording your menstrual cycle. From there, you can calculate independently when your estimated fertile period will arrive.
- Calculating Gestational Age
If pregnancy has occurred, another advantage if you know the cycle is that it can help determine the gestational age more accurately.
The gestational age, especially in the first trimester, is calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period or what is often called HPHT. By knowing this HPHT, doctors can also more easily predict when your estimated delivery will be.
- Planning Natural Family Planning
Not only is it useful for trying to get pregnant, recording your menstrual period is also useful if you want to use natural contraception with your partner.
Other articles: The importance of the fertility calendar when planning a pregnancy
If to try for pregnancy, you are encouraged to have sex during your fertile period, then the recommendation for natural contraception is the opposite. To reduce the possibility of pregnancy as a form of natural contraception, you can have sex outside of your fertile period.
But of course, this method is not one hundred percent safe and promising. To be more certain, you can use another birth control method as a companion.
- Detect disease early
Menstrual cycle abnormalities can be a sign of other diseases in the body. Well, one of the advantages of knowing the menstrual cycle is that it can detect diseases early.
Your hormones control your menstrual cycle. Irregular periods can be a symptom of a hormonal imbalance.
Furthermore, abnormalities in hormonal conditions can be a marker of other underlying diseases, for example metabolic disorders, such as diabetes or disorders of the nervous system which is responsible for regulating hormonal balance.
Those are some of the benefits that can be obtained if you diligently record your menstrual cycle and recognize the cycle well. You can also consult a doctor more quickly if there is something worrying about your menstrual cycle.
