Discover the Menopause Changes

What are menopause changes? Read this article to discover more about the 7 stages of menopause. Here’s everything you need to know about menopause, from how it happens, to what you can expect when going through this period in life.

Menopause Stages Defined

Menopause is defined as a point in your reproductive life when a woman has not had a period for 12 months and she is not pregnant. This occurs when the ovaries begin to shrink and stop releasing eggs. As a result of this, a woman’s body begins to change in several other ways.  Menopause is different for each woman and is typically brought about by either the aging of the ovaries or the stopping of ovulation. However, for some, it can also be brought about by fluctuating hormone levels. Each woman’s experience of menopause will vary, but it is not the same as the start of perimenopause.  Not all women experience menopause during their reproductive years. For example, a woman who is 46 years of age and never had her period may go through menopause in her early 40s.

Menopause Changes

What’s your usual life like when you reach menopause? What’s the average life for your friends, your sister, your mother, your daughter? If they say they never or rarely experience hot flashes, are you surprised? This is why: it is normal to feel hot, your breasts may be tender, you may get mood swings, you may experience heavy periods, your periods may come with blood clots, and so on.  What is the life span of a typical woman going through menopause? It is estimated that over one million women experience perimenopause each year, which is defined as the transition from being sexually active to your menstrual period being irregular.  Menopause begins when you have gone four years without menstruating.

The Physical Menopause Changes

Menopause is a natural part of the body’s ageing process, but it can be a difficult time for some. The body is in the process of going through a physical and physiological change, and as menopause takes place, a host of physical changes take place. These include:  Hot flushes. During menopause, women experience some hot flushes, which can occur several times a day, and get worse if you do not cool down.  Weight gain. Although during the menopause period your weight will not necessarily increase, many women struggle with weight gain during the menopause period.  Excess skin and stretch marks. Although excess skin is not a common side effect, many women experience stretch marks as part of the menopause period.  Mood swings.

The Psychological Menopause Changes

The average woman going through the menopause stage; who has had at least one child, loses on average a third of her energy. This means that by the time the menopause comes to an end; she has lost on average half of her strength and a quarter of her mental agility. So when it comes to juggling all of the demands of a busy life; women need to be realistic about the stress this can have on their physical and mental health.  Alongside menopause’s emotional and psychological effects, it can also result in medical problems. For example, one in ten women experience hot flushes. This is due to the surge of hormones that menopause naturally causes. The sudden decrease in blood flow to the skin causes the skin to become very hot and can make it feel as though you have sunburn.

The Emotional Changes

As the ovaries dwindle down in number, you also lose the hormone oestrogen. This will reduce your sexual. In extreme cases this can cause women to suffer from sexual dysfunction in the bedroom.  During menopause, you can expect to see the average frequency of your period fall drastically; with many women experiencing a drastic decrease in their periods from every 2 to 8 weeks, to once every 2 months. It’s also normal for many women to experience vaginal dryness.  Getty Images  The Change in Your Skin  Your skin undergoes the largest changes during menopause. The pigment in your skin, sebum, changes as you lose oestrogen.

The 7 menopause stages can be a little hard to understand. We hope our blog post has made them a little less confusing and a little more manageable. If you have any questions about your menopause stages, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thank you for reading, we are always excited when one of our blogs is able to provide useful information on a topic like this!