Hormones cheat sheet: your menstrual cycle

Many girls starting their periods may feel worried and uncertain. At H&B, we feel it’s important for everyone to be equipped with the necessary information to best support those who might need it, whether that be your loved ones, friends, or yourself.

We want to support girls, women and non-binary people everywhere to own every day of the month!

As we're all different, the length of a menstrual cycle will vary between everyone, though the average is having a period around every 28 days.¹

Bleeding will usually last for about five days on average, but it can also last between two to seven days.²

During each period you'll lose around 20 to 90ml (about one to five tablespoons) of blood, although some women bleed more heavily than this.³ The bleeding is usually at its heaviest in the first two days.

If you're worried about the amount of blood you're losing, you should arrange an appointment with your GP as soon as you can.

Your periods will start when your body is ready. Though, usually girls will get their first period around 12 years old, but it varies from person to person.⁶

The menopause generally happens between the ages of 45 and 55, with the average age that periods stop in the UK being 51.⁷ On average, combined, a woman menstruates for about seven years during their lifetime.⁸

A study including 1,500 women found that 58% of women have felt a sense of embarrassment simply because they were on their period. And 42% of women have experienced period-shaming.⁹

In another survey, 1,000 girls aged 14-21 in the UK were asked about their experiences of menstruation, nearly half (48%) were embarrassed by their periods. One in seven (14%) girls admitted that they didn’t know what was happening when they started their period, and more than a quarter (26%) reported that they didn’t know what to do when they started their period.¹⁰

Of those surveyed:¹¹

Based on 408 young women, a study reported that 84.1% of women experienced menstrual pain. 43.1% reported the pain occurred during every period, while 41% reported that the pain occurred only during some periods.¹²

Severe pain during menstruation could be linked to other medical conditions, head over to our Period pain guide: Reasons & relief, for more information on this!

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is generally described as a collection of emotional, physical, and behavioural symptoms that occur around the menstrual cycle..^13,14

A study showed that 90% of women of reproductive age experience several premenstrual symptoms varying from mild to severe; with 2–8% suffering from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD),¹⁵ a very severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).¹⁶

Take a look at 9 best PMS supplements: Fighting period pain!