Heavy Periods Stopping the Holiday of Love?
Valentine’s Day – love it or loath it, we can all appreciate that it’s a great excuse to spend some romantic time with a special someone. Valentine’s day is also associated with being intimate with a partner – NHS figures even show that 9 months after Valentine’s Day there is a 5% increase in births.[1] However, heavy periods can really get in the way of enjoying both the social and intimate parts of the day for the 3.5 million women in the UK living with them.[2],[3],[4]
In fact, 34% of women have missed out on spending time with their partner and 67% missed out on a romantic or sexual experience due to heavy periods.[5] This may be due to the physical side effects of heavy periods including stomach cramps, fatigue or lack of energy, anaemia, joint pain and headaches.[6] There are also emotional challenges associated with heavy periods – these include depression or moodiness, high levels of anxiety or feeling a lack of confidence.[5]
And these physical and emotional impacts are not limited to Valentine’s Day – our research revealed that heavy periods can have a significant impact on wellbeing and quality of life year round,3with as many as 43% of women with heavy periods missing out on social events such as meals with friends, family gatherings, weekends away and holidays.[5]
If you find that you are telling white lies to your friends and family about why you didn’t get lucky on Valentine’s Day, because you are too embarrassed to say that it’s down to your heavy period, you may find our ‘Talking Heavy Periods’ guide helpful. The guide aims to encourage conversations about periods and heavy periods by explaining the words and phrases people feel most comfortable using.
Make this the last Valentine’s Day that heavy periods ruin your fun – visit our ‘GP page’ which offers helpful tips and advice on what questions to ask your doctor.
References
[1]The Sun. Valentine’s Day sparks a ‘mini baby boom’ according to NHS figures. Last accessed January 2018
[2]NHS Choices: Periods (2016) Last accessed December 2018
[3]Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. National Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Audit, 2014. Last accessed May 2022
[4]Based on women aged 14-60, Office for National Statistics: Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Mid 2016, datasets Last accessed December 2018
[5]Gupta JK, Daniels JP, Middleton LJ, et al.; on behalf of the ECLIPSE Collaborative Group. Southampton (UK), 2015. Health Technology Assessment, No. 19.88. NIHR Journals Library. Last accessed January 2018
[6]Data on file: MISC-05659-GBR-EN Rev 001
SOM-00639-GBR-EN Rev 001
