Menstruation
Synonym for 'menses'. The periodical uterine flow of approximately twenty-eight years.
Menstruation aids: Various sanitary pads and tampons made of disposable material that absorbs the menstrual flow.
Menstrual calendar: A record kept by a woman documenting the beginning and end of her menstrual flows.
Menstrual cramps: Spasms in the pelvic muscles resulting from uterine contractions associated with shedding of the uterine lining in the menstrual flow and the subsequent release of prostaglandins.
Menstrual cycle: In women after puberty and before menopause, the monthly cycle during which the inner lining of the uterus proliferates in preparation for implantation and is sloughed off in the menses when implantation does not occur.
Menstrual disorders: Psychological, emotional, and/or physical effects associated with menstruation, including irritability, inhibitions, emotional changes, menstrual cramps, menstrual migraines, guilt feelings and internal conflicts arising from negative messages about sex and menstruation received from parents or religious authorities.
Menstrual extraction: A preemptive form of abortion typically used within two or three weeks after fertilization.
Menstrual migranes: Migraine headaches that occur during the premenstrual days or just after the menses begins.
Menstrual phase: The final, or first, of four phases in the mensrual cycle during which mucosa of the uterine endometrium is shed, leaving the spiral arteries of the basal layer bleeding untul they repair; the menses.
Menstrual sponge: A small natural or synthetic sponge inserted into the vagina to absorb the menstrual flow; not commonly used by women in industrial nations because of the availability of inexpensive sanitary pads and tampons.
Menstrual taboo: Customs, rituals, and taboos associated with menstruation that make the menstruating woman, her menses, and relationsips with her subject to complex social regulation.
Sex during menstruation: Intercourse during menstrual flow. Although the practice is discouraged by some cultures and individuals, a Masters and Johnson study found that only 10% of women object to sexual activity during menstruation, mainly for religious or aesthetic reasons.
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