What are irregular periods?

A menstrual cycle is defined as the time from the start of one period to the start of the next. The average cycle is 28 days long; however, in reality this differs from woman to woman, and anything between 21 and 35 days is considered normal.

Irregular periods occur when one or more of the following is true:

• The menstrual cycle is shorter than 21 days or longer than 35 days.
• Bleeding lasts for 8 or more days.
• The length of the menstrual cycle changes month by month and there is a difference of at least 20 days between the shortest cycle and the longest cycle.