A Guide About Follicular Phase of Your Menstrual Cycle
Every phase of your menstrual cycle causes your hormone levels to rise and fall, which substantially impacts your physical and emotional health.
The knowledge of the phases of your cycle is crucial to knowing your overall well-being; however, most women have received very little education on maintaining their health following their fluctuating patterns.
Medically, we can divide your menstrual cycle into four phases such as menstruation, follicular phase, ovulation, and luteal phase. But in this article, we will mainly talk about the follicular phase. So you will learn what this phase is, what happens during this, the symptoms of this stage, and more.
What is the Follicular Phase?
The start of your follicular phase occurs during menstruation when there is an elevation in follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and finishes with ovulation.
We can understand this process better with the following: females are born with approximately one million eggs in their bodies. Over the time when they arrive at adolescence and start having menstruation, they only have nearly 300,000 eggs vacated and will ovulate 400 to 600 times in reproductive years.
Only 11 to 20 primary oocytes, or immature eggs, out of the initial one million will start to develop in the follicular phase; the follicle-stimulating hormone causes this maturation process.
Therefore, we can say that the follicular phase is the first half of your menstrual cycle. Follicles refer to the sacs in your ovaries that possess eggs. Further, the follicular stage begins on the first day of your menses and completes with ovulation.
The follicular phase is also called the ‘proliferative phase’ since, at this time, estrogen levels rise, causing the endometrial lining of your uterus to increase and consolidate.
What Happens During the Follicular Stage?
Hormonal Shifts in a Body
During this phase, the LH and progesterone hormone levels remain low while the FSH hormone level increases and estrogen grows throughout the complete stage.
FSH is generated in the brain and signals the ovarian follicles to grow. As the follicles mature, they construct more and more estrogen, which leads to climbing estrogen levels.
Bodily Changes
Due to the hormonal changes, shifts also appear in the ovaries and the uterus lining (endometrium). You are unaware of the modifications occurring inside your body, where the ovaries and endometrium are engaged.
Shifts in Ovaries
During the follicular stage, lots of follicles develop in the ovaries. The body reabsorbs the other follicles as it chooses the dominant one. The dominant follicle keeps expanding and producing estrogen until the ovulation signal is received.
Changes in Endometrium
The follicular phase is referred to as the proliferative phase when viewed from the perspective of the endometrium. It is due to the endometrium's ongoing process of self-renewal and proliferation.
The foremost part of the follicular stage is your period. After the period ends, the endometrium begins to expand and thicken again to prepare for a potential pregnancy.
Cervical Mucous
The cervical mucous generated by your cervix also changes over the cycle. It is also called vaginal discharge. During the initial part of the follicular stage, you will bleed. And after the completion of the period, most women might go through a dry phase when they don’t get much discharge at all.
Further, when you start getting closer to ovulation, the later part of the follicular stage. At this time, you will again likely have more discharges. The discharge usually seems stretchy, white, or slightly yellow. So when you get a white discharge, your cervix is getting ready to aid sperm near the ovulation time.
Additional Physical Changes
Your skin may change due to the follicular phase's rising estrogen levels. Some women might discover that their skin is getting clearer during the first half of their cycle, and their acne is less severe.
Psychological Transformations
The hormonal modifications throughout your cycle can dramatically transform your mental state too. Some women might experience that their mood and energy levels are better in the follicular stage and near the time of ovulation. It happens because of the growing estrogen.
Estrogen decreases the effects of hormones in anxiety or stress and helps improve your mood. Moreover, some women even discover their sex drive increases during the follicular phase. Your energy levels are often higher, so you might feel more capable of exercising or socialising than other spans in your cycle.
What is the Typical Duration of the Follicular Phase?
The follicular phase, which starts with menstruation and ends with ovulation, can range in length between 11 and 27 days. Although there is no such thing as a typical menstrual cycle, it appears that most people spend roughly 16 days on average in the follicular phase.
How can you Make the Most of Your Follicular Stage?
The follicular phase of your cycle is a fantastic time to start forming new habits and challenge yourself to do things you might not feel capable of doing.
- You should eat healthy fats, quality proteins, and lots of green and leafy vegetables to nourish your body at the follicular stage. Eating these foods can help you metabolise estrogen effectively.
- You can even have organic food to eliminate exposure to undesirable pesticides.
- You can join a gym class if you've been thinking of joining it for a long time. You might adhere to it if you start going in your follicular phase.
- Increased optimism and enthusiasm for life are other effects of the rise in estrogen levels. Therefore, your follicular phase is a fantastic time for trying new things, hobbies, making friends and staying active.
Conclusion
Hopefully, after reading this guide, you can better understand what is happening during your follicular phase. Moreover, if you want to know more about this menstrual cycle phase, you can contact Antenate and converse with our Gynecologist, Dr Shesha Sinha. Also, share your views regarding this article by leaving a comment.
