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• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests

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For You

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• Patient Handouts

Summary

Menstruation, or period, is a woman's monthly bleeding. Abnormal vaginal bleeding is different from normal menstrual periods. It could be bleeding that is between periods, is very heavy, or lasts much longer than usual. It also includes bleeding that happens before puberty or after menopause. Causes can include:

• Uterine fibroids or polyps
• Hormone problems
• Hormone pills, such as birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy (menopausal hormone therapy)
• Cancer of the cervix, ovaries, uterus or vagina
• Thyroid problems

Bleeding during pregnancy can have several different causes. It is not always serious, but to be safe you should contact your health care provider right away.

Pelvic exams, blood tests, imaging tests, and other procedures can help your health care provider diagnose the problem. Treatment depends on the cause. Treatments may include medicines, hormones, and surgery.

Start Here

• Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Vaginal Bleeding (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Dilation and curettage (D&C) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Pelvis Ultrasound (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Sonohysterography (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• When You Visit Your Doctor: Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding (Harvard Medical School)

Specifics

• Bleeding and Spotting from the Vagina during Pregnancy (March of Dimes Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Bleeding during Pregnancy (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Uterine Hemorrhage (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Biologically-Based Notions About Uterine Bleeding During Myomectomy: Reasoning on Tradition and...
• Article: Physician Uncertainty, Beliefs, and Practices on Peri- and Postmenopausal Bleeding Evaluation...
• Article: Pharmacists' Knowledge of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding in Women on Anticoagulant Therapy:...
• Vaginal Bleeding -- see more articles

Teenagers

• Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Abnormal uterine bleeding (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• D and C (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Vaginal bleeding between periods (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Vaginal bleeding in late pregnancy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Vaginal bleeding in pregnancy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Vaginal or uterine bleeding (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish