Abnormal uterine bleeding

Abnormal uterine bleeding is a broad term that describes irregularities in the menstrual cycle involving frequency, regularity, duration, and volume of flow outside of pregnancy. Up to one-third of women will experience abnormal uterine bleeding in their life, with irregularities most commonly occurring at menarche and perimenopause. A normal menstrual cycle has a frequency of 24 to 38 days, lasts 7 to 9 days, with 5 to 80 milliliters of blood loss. Variations in any of these 4 parameters constitute abnormal uterine bleeding.
Abnormal uterine bleeding can also be divided into acute versus chronic. Acute AUB is excessive bleeding that requires immediate intervention to prevent further blood loss. Acute AUB can occur on its own or superimposed on chronic AUB, which refers to irregularities in menstrual bleeding for most of the previous 6 months.

Fibroid

Fibroids are abnormal growths that develop in or on a woman's uterus. Sometimes these tumors become quite large and cause severe abdominal pain and heavy periods. In other cases, they cause no signs or symptoms at all. The growths are typically benign, or noncancerous

• Fibroids typically grow slowly or not at all. In many cases, they shrink on their own, especially after menopause. You may not need treatment unless you're bothered by symptoms
• Uterine fibroids and treatment for fibroids can cause changes to regular vaginal discharge. It's possible to pass fibroid tissue, but this is rare. A change in vaginal discharge — especially a strong foul smell — is a sign of infection
• As the most common tumor of the female reproductive tract, fibroids affect more people than you might expect. In fact, approximately 33 percent of women develop them during their childbearing years and 70-80% of women will have developed them by the age of 50.