Has your period flow ever briefly paused for a day before starting back up again? It’s like it makes you believe that, for a moment, it might be over for this menstrual cycle.
If you’ve gone through this, you might be wondering what causes your period to temporarily halt its flow. To answer this question, POPSUGAR reached out to Amy Roskin, MD, JD, a board-certified ob-gyn and The Pill Club‘s chief medical officer.
According to Dr. Roskin, experiencing a brief pause in your period flow is a very common experience and not typically a cause for concern. “Many people have a significant variance in menstrual flow over the course of their period,” Dr. Roskin said.
So what’s behind the pause that may have led you to almost store away your menstrual cup?
Dr. Roskin said that, in her experience, sometimes a small piece of tissue or a blood clot can block the flow of period blood. However, she mentioned that both scenarios resolve without problems.
When this happens, being mindful of how long your cycle usually is and keeping period care products on hand will help you avoid any annoying leaks.
It’s worth noting that this temporary pause in your flow isn’t the same thing as having an irregular period.
“When your healthcare provider uses the term ‘irregular period,’ we’re usually referring to the interval between periods not being regular. For instance, if you get a period three weeks later, and your next one arrives 9 weeks after that, that would be an ‘irregular period,'” Dr. Roskin explained.
While a pause in your flow isn’t something to worry about, never hesitate to bring up your questions or concerns with your ob-gyn.