Spotting After Menopause - A Cause For Concern?
Many women experience various unpleasant symptoms during the time leading up to the menopause and even after it. While menopause seems to be primarily characterized by irregular menstrual cycles, bleeding and spotting, if all goes well, you should not have any bleeding or spotting after your menopause. Although postmenopausal spotting does not necessarily signify a major problem, you should definitely see a doctor about it.
What Is Postmenopausal Spotting?
After menopause, your ovaries do not produce eggs any more, and thus your menstrual cycles stop as well. Menopause officially starts if you have not had any bleeding for a year. However, you may experience light spotting, bleeding or vaginal discharge, even several years after your last bleeding, so, already in your postmenopausal phase. Spotting could have been natural due to the irregularities in the perimenopause, however, spotting after the menopause could probably be a cause for concern, and especially if you experience pain, you should definitely contact your doctor immediately.
Possible Causes Of Spotting After Menopause
During menopause, your body goes through numerous changes, most of them connected to the change in your hormone levels. Estrogen levels decline, which can cause additional symptoms, for example irregularities in your menstrual cycle. Your hormone levels in the postmenopausal phase are still naturally not what they had been before the menopause, and thus, this, or the hormone treatment you are getting might be the cause of spotting after menopause, in which case, obviously, there is no great problem. Your doctor could suggest some other kind of treatment or medication. Postmenopausal spotting may also be the result of an increased level of stress you are experiencing during the menopause and even after it. Women who lead more stressful lives or are often depressed have more irregular menstrual cycles at other times anyway, and so spotting after menopause could just be a sign for them to slow down. Spotting might also be the result of minor vaginal infections, which can easily be medicated by your doctor.
Cause For Concern
Spotting after menopause can be caused by all the reasons listed above, but it could be the sign of more serious illnesses, for example uterine cancer. If you are experiencing postmenopausal spotting in conjunction with great pains, you should see your doctor at once. He or she can make the proper diagnosis, and give suitable medication, and even if you have uterine cancer, it can be effectively treated if it is recognized early enough.
On the whole, just to be on the safe side, see your doctor if you have any spotting after menopause; chances are quite high that you only have some minor problem, but that should also be treated as early as possible.
