The words of the cycle
Glossary
Words you'll see on this site, explained simply.
- Amenorrhoea. Having no period for several months outside of pregnancy, breastfeeding or menopause. It's worth getting it checked.
- Cloth pad. A reusable cotton pad that you wash after using it.
- Discharge. The vagina's natural fluid, which changes over the cycle: around ovulation it is clearer and stretchier.
- Dysmenorrhoea. A painful period. Some discomfort is common; if the pain stops you from getting on with your life, it's worth seeing someone about it.
- Endometrium. The lining on the inside of the uterus. It grows each cycle and, if there is no pregnancy, it sheds: that is your period.
- Follicle. A small sac in the ovary where an egg matures.
- Follicular phase. From the first day of your period until ovulation. It includes the menstrual and pre-ovulatory phases.
- Luteal phase. From ovulation until your next period. On this site, the premenstrual phase.
- Menarche. Your first period.
- Menopause. The last period. It is confirmed after 12 months in a row without menstruation.
- Menstrual cup. A flexible silicone cup that collects the blood inside the vagina. You wash it and reuse it for years.
- Menstrual cycle. From the first day of one period to the day before the next. It usually lasts between 21 and 35 days.
- Menstruation or period. The bleeding that marks the start of each cycle. It usually lasts 3 to 7 days.
- Oestrogens. Hormones that rise in the first half of the cycle. They are linked with more energy and drive.
- Ovaries. Two organs, one on each side of the uterus, that hold the eggs and produce hormones.
- Ovulation. The moment an ovary releases an egg, around the middle of the cycle.
- Perimenopause. The years of transition before menopause, when cycles begin to change.
- Premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Physical and emotional changes in the days before your period, such as bloating or feeling more sensitive.
- Progesterone. A hormone that rises after ovulation. It invites calm and a slower pace.
- Uterus. A muscular organ shaped like an upside-down pear, where the endometrium grows each cycle.
- White moon and red moon. Popular names for a cycle whose period coincides with the new moon (white moon) or the full moon (red moon).