On average, a person with a womb will menstruate once every 28 days, for 40 years of their life. Menstruation isn’t just about blood: period pain is extremely common – 84 per cent have painful periods regularly – and it can be so severe that people miss days of education or work every month. Periods are also expensive, with the average lifetime cost estimated to be £4,800 (about $6,100).
It’s understandable, then, that you might want to stop having periods. There are times when a person’s periods will stop naturally – when pregnant or lactating, or after the menopause. But is it safe to use contraceptives to stop your period?
In the UK nearly half of all sexually active women stop their menstrual cycle through a form of hormonal contraception. The pill, implant and hormonal coil all release hormones that prevent ovulation: the body doesn’t release an egg to be fertilised and the lining of the womb doesn’t thicken for pregnancy. As it’s the shedding of this lining that causes the pain and release of blood during menstruation, stopping its growth also, in most cases, stops periods.