One off month is rarely a problem — a pattern is the real signal

You do not need to medicalise every period. Most of this is gentle self-knowledge — and a clear line for when to pick up the phone. Follow the same simple routine.

Please see a doctor without delay if you have: very heavy bleeding (soaking a pad every hour, or large clots), pain so severe it stops school, work or sleep, periods that stop for three months or more when you are not pregnant, bleeding between periods or after intimacy, or a cycle that has clearly changed and stayed changed. These deserve a calm check — not silence.

Myth 1 — Irregular periods mean you can never have children.

Not true as a rule. Many causes of irregularity, like PCOS or thyroid trouble, are manageable, and plenty of women with irregular cycles conceive — sometimes with simple help. Irregularity is a reason to get checked, not a verdict on your future.

Myth 2 — Bad period pain is just part of being a woman; bear it.

Mild cramps are common, yes. But pain that regularly stops your day, or keeps getting worse, is not something to simply endure — it can point to conditions like endometriosis that are very treatable once named.

Myth 3 — Nothing can be done about PCOS, so why bother.

PCOS cannot be 'cured' overnight, but it responds well to care — weight, food, movement, sleep and, where needed, medicine can ease cycles, skin and fertility. Doing nothing is the only real mistake.

Myth 4 — Exercise and washing hair during periods are harmful.

Neither is true. Gentle movement often reduces cramps, and ordinary hygiene during a period is completely safe. These are old beliefs, not medical facts.

Myth 5 — A skipped period always means pregnancy.

Pregnancy is one cause, but stress, illness, weight change and thyroid issues skip periods too. If pregnancy is possible, a simple test settles it; otherwise, look at the pattern.

If a doctor wants to look closer, the tests are usually few and simple. You will not need all of them — the choice depends on your story. Costs below are rough India ranges and vary by city and lab.

Common tests for irregular or painful periods

• Pelvic ultrasoundroughly ₹800–2,500. It looks at the womb and ovaries — checking for PCOS-pattern ovaries, fibroids or cysts. The single most useful first test for many.
• Thyroid panel (TSH, sometimes T3/T4)roughly ₹300–800. A quiet thyroid problem is a common, easily missed cause.
• Hormone tests (such as prolactin, and others a doctor selects)roughly ₹400–1,500 depending on which are ordered.

Other simple checks a doctor may add

• A basic blood count (haemoglobin)roughly ₹150–400, to catch the low iron that heavy periods can cause.
• A urine pregnancy testroughly ₹50–150, when a missed period needs ruling pregnancy in or out.

The most valuable thing you can bring costs nothing: two or three months of your own tracked cycle — dates, flow and pain. That simple log often tells a doctor more, and faster, than any single test. Carry it to your appointment.

Step back, and the real story here is less about hormones and more about silence. For generations, period trouble in India has been something to whisper about, hide, or simply endure — and that silence has a cost. It turns ordinary, answerable questions into private worry, and lets treatable conditions like PCOS, thyroid problems and endometriosis go unnamed for years.

That is why a small act — tracking your cycle, asking a plain question, walking into a clinic — matters more than it looks. It turns a vague fear into a specific question a doctor can actually answer. The lesson is that paying calm attention to your own body is not vanity or fuss; it is basic, sensible self-care, the same as checking any other part of your health.

The deeper point is agency. You cannot always control whether a cycle runs smooth, but you can know your own normal, notice when it shifts, and choose to ask. Each of those is small; together they decide whether a problem is caught early and gently, or carried silently for years.

The future here is not written by one painful month or one late period. It is shaped by the quiet confidence to know your body, talk about it without shame, and let a doctor — not rumour, not fear, not an old saying — decide what, if anything, needs doing.