When you visit your ob-gyn, there are a few things you can always count on: You’ll talk about your vagina and she’s going ask what the first date of your last period was. The period question makes sense if you’re going to the doctor because you’re pregnant or you’ve been having irregular periods, but it seems kind of irrelevant otherwise. Turns out, it’s actually not as random of a question as you might think.
“Almost everything we talk about revolves around the menstrual cycle,” says Maureen Whelihan, M.D., an ob/gyn at the Center for Sexual Health & Education. And knowing when your last menstrual cycle started helps with diagnostics, says Lauren Streicher, M.D., an associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and author of Sex Rx: Hormones, Health, and Your Best Sex Ever. “The No.1 reason why someone comes in is that something is wrong with them,” she says. “So many potential diagnoses are dependent on where someone is in their cycle.” And, of course, doctors do still want to rule out that you aren’t pregnant and figure out if you have a regular cycle, says board-certified ob-gyn Pari Ghodsi, M.D.
Here are just a few issues where your the date of your last period helps more than you might have realized:
You found a lump in your breast
Naturally, that can make you freak out and assume that you have breast cancer, but where you are in your cycle will help your doctor figure out how they should respond. If you’re young, found a bump, and it’s three days before your period, Streicher says she’s less worried than if you just finished your period. “Many women will develop cysts and bumps right before their period,” she says, adding that she often tells women to come back after their period for another check (it’s usually gone by that point).
Your discharge looks different
You might not realize it, but your discharge actually changes with your cycle, says Whelihan. In the first half of your cycle, there’s a lot of mucousy, clear discharge; in the second half, it’s more white, milky, and thick, she says. If you suddenly experience thicker discharge in the beginning of your cycle, it could be a sign that something is off—but if it’s in the later half, it’s probably nothing to worry about.
You have spotting
If you’re spotting in the midway point of your cycle, it could simply mean that you’re ovulating. Some women spot a little when they ovulate because a little bit of their uterine lining breaks down before their period, Streicher explains. But spotting during a different time in your cycle could mean that you have uterine fibroids, a polyp, or some other condition that needs to get checked out. Either way, the period question helps your doctor know what they should start looking for.
You’re having vaginal pain
There can be dozens of reasons for this, which is why Streicher says the period q is so important to help docs ID the source. If it happens after you missed a period, your doctor may try to find out if you’re pregnant and what could be causing you pain. But if you’re not pregnant or you didn’t miss a period, it could be a sign of an ovarian cyst or even something that isn’t related to your vagina at all. “So many women think the minute they have pelvic pain that it’s ovarian cancer, but it could be IBS,” Streicher points out. “There’s a lot going on in the pelvis that doesn’t apply to your gynecologist.“
You’ve been trying to get pregnant with no luck
Understanding where you are in your cycle can let your doctor help you plan for pregnancy attempts, Whelihan says. Heads up: Your doctor will probably want to know the first date of your last six periods, Streicher says, so they can figure out how regular you are and the length of your cycle to help time when you should try to have sex.
So, next time you head to your ob-gyn, come prepared to answer the period question—it’s actually really important.
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