Understanding Medical Terms for Menstrual Cycle Problems*
Term | Description |
|---|---|
No periods | |
Primary amenorrhea | Periods that started and have stopped |
Secondary amenorrhea | Periods that started and have stopped |
Oligomenorrhea | Oligomenorrhea |
Polymenorrhea | Unusually frequent periods |
Dysmenorrhea | Menstrual cramps or painful periods |
Hypomenorrhea | Unusually light periods |
Menorrhagia (heavy menstrual bleeding, also called hypermenorrhea) | Unusually long and/or heavy periods |
Metrorrhagia (intermenstrual bleeding) | Bleeding that occurs frequently and irregularly between periods |
Menometrorrhagia | Heavy bleeding during menstrual periods and bleeding that occurs frequently and irregularly between periods |
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) | Physical and psychologic symptoms that occur before the start of a period |
Severe psychologic symptoms that occur before the start of a period, end when or shortly after the period starts, and interfere with daily activities and/or relationships | |
Postmenopausal bleeding | Bleeding that occurs after menopause |
* Breaking the words into their components helps decipher them: a = no; dys = painful (or abnormal); hypo = deficient (or below normal); men = month; metro = uterus; oligo = few or scanty; poly = many or much; post = after; pre = before; rhagia = to burst forth; rhea = flow. | |