In addition to routine preventive health visits, there are certain signs related to menstruation that should prompt you to contact a doctor about your daughter’s health. Specifically, you should schedule an appointment if your daughter’s menstrual period:
• has not started within 3 years of her breast development;
• has not started by age 13 and there are no other signs of the onset of puberty;
• has not started by age 14 and she is experiencing excessive hair growth on her body;
• has not started by age 14 and you suspect that she is engaging in excessive exercise or may have an eating disorder:
• has not started by age 15;
• became regular, but then became noticeably irregular;
• occurs more frequently than every 21 days or less frequently than every 45 days;
• occurs more than 90 days apart, even for just 1 cycle;
• lasts more than 7 days;
• requires frequent pad or tampon changes (such as soaking more than one pad or tampon every 1 to 2 hours).
In many cases, even with these signs and symptoms, a doctor will conclude that an adolescent girl is just fine. But in other cases, medical treatment will be required. That’s why medical evaluations are so helpful. They’re indispensable to us as we fulfill our sacred responsibility as mothers.
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