Ok ladies, I’m sure we’ve all done sex education at school and learnt a little about our menstrual cycle. We should then at least know we have some lady anatomy that is involved with our period. Your lady bits consist of your ovaries, your fallopian tubes, your uterus, the endometrium, your cervix, your vagina and your vulva. Here’s a diagram to refresh your memory.
Is it all coming back to you now?
THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOUR BRAIN AND YOUR OVARIES
What you may have not been told (or you don’t remember) is that the hormones that regulate your menstrual cycle are all controlled by the master hormone control centre in the brain, called the hypothalamus. This sends messages to another part of the brain, the anterior pituitary. The anterior pituitary sends a hormone (FSH) to your ovaries, which produces a hormone (oestrogen) and when this hormone reaches high enough levels, triggers the anterior pituitary again to release another hormone (LH) to cause ovulation and after ovulation the ovaries produce another hormone (progesterone), if pregnancy doesn’t occur hormone levels drop which triggers the brain and the cycle starts all over again.
Stay with me here. We’ll get a little more specific in a sec but first I wanted to make you aware of how the communication works between your brain and some of your lady bits.
FSH STIMULATES THE PRODUCTION OF OESTROGEN
The pituitary gland secretes a hormone called follicle stimulating hormone (which from now on we’ll refer to as FSH). FSH tells the follicles (which encase the egg with your genetic material) in your ovaries to grow and mature. 5-20 follicles will grow over approximately 14 days until one takes over as the dominant follicle.
As the follicles in your ovaries grow and mature they make oestrogen, which thickens the lining of your uterus and is responsible for the production of cervical fluid. When oestrogen reaches a threshold it triggers the release of luteinizing hormone (also known as LH) from the anterior pituitary, which causes the egg to ovulate out of the dominant follicle into your fallopian tube.
The fallopian tube connects the ovary to the uterus, however it is not connected to the ovary. It has finger-like projections that pulse and sweep and pull the ovulated egg from the ovary into the fallopian tube.
THE CORPUS LUTEUM PRODUCES PROGESTERONE
The follicle (that housed the ovulated egg) now turns into the corpus luteum, this structure secretes progesterone, which thickens the endometrium further preparing it for a fertilised egg.
If the egg is fertilised, this will take place 1/3 of the way along the fallopian tube, which has an amazing role to play in assisting fertilisation. The smooth muscle fibres of the fallopian tube contract and slosh, which helps with the meeting of the egg and the sperm. The journey of the fertilised egg from the fallopian tube to the uterus takes 7 days and here the egg will implant (if all goes well) which results in pregnancy.
If the egg is not fertilised it will disintegrate after 12-24 hours. In this circumstance the corpus luteum lives for 12-14 days, after which hormone levels decline (both oestrogen and progesterone) which causes the endometrium to shed and then get your period.
THE ANSWER LIES IN YOUR MENSTRUAL CYCLE
The textbook menstrual cycle length is 28 days. But what if your cycle length is 21 or 46 days or you haven’t had a period for sometime now? Well, the answer lies in your menstrual cycle. When we assess menstrual cycles here at As Nature Intended, we teach you to track your cycle, which will give us information as to what your hormones are doing or not doing, which then determines your treatment. If you’d like to chat about an appointment click here to contact us or for a deeper explanation you can purchase Amanda Howe’s book ‘Know Your Flow” here.
How clever is that body of yours?
Love Your Flow,
Amanda xx