Spotting Before a Period – What Can It Mean

Many women are like clockwork when it comes to their periods; you can practically set your watch to them; but for other women, some spotting before a period; at some time other than during her monthly period is normal as well.

Many women do experience spotting before period, which is a small amount of blood loss a few days prior to the onset of a period and in many cases this is simply the sort of cycle that the woman has, rather than an indication that something is wrong.

Here are some of the most common reasons for spotting before a period

1. In a lot of cases the spotting comes a day or so before the period, in a sense in anticipation of the period proper

2. Sometimes the spotting is seen to occur roughly about mid cycle because many women tend to have some small amount of spotting when they ovulate.

Some experts consider this to be the sign of fertility because it occurs when the egg is released causing the slight bleeding.

3. At times the spotting before period could in fact indicate that a pregnancy has occurred and it could be the implantation of an embryo about 7 to 10 days after conception that could be causing a small amount of bleeding.

4. Some women who are on oral contraceptives tend to have some small amount of spotting before their period; and this could also happen if a woman forgets to take her pill as prescribed.

Sometimes spotting before a period could have other reasons, some of which could be cause for concern –

• Hormonal imbalances could cause some of the lining of the uterus to be shed before it is time for the regular monthly period. This should be checked.
• Some kinds of bleeding could be due to an internal infection. Any underlying infection will usually have another indication as well, such as pain, or fever or a change in regular vaginal discharge and so on. This should be looked into and treated.
• Sometimes the bleeding is due to the presence of polyps or due to uterine fibroids – both are usually harmless in themselves but should be monitored.
• Irregular periods or spotting in between periods in women above the age of 40 could indicate the early signs of menopause. In younger women, they could be a sign of lowered fertility or premature ovarian failure or both.
• Conditions such as endometriosis, where the uterine lining grows at sites other than the uterus, can also cause spotting before or at any time other than the period. Endometriosis is not a condition to ignore and it may also cause several other bothersome symptoms.
• In very rare cases, spotting before a woman’s period could be the sign of the presence of a cancer or a pre-cancerous stage of a disease.

The bottom line with spotting before a period or even after it (as the bleeding tapers off) is that for many women, this could be part of a perfectly normal cycle, but for others it could have a more sinister cause. The thing to look for is if there is any change in the cycle or if there are other symptoms to indicate a problem.