7 things You May Not Know About Your Period

1. You can get pregnant on your period. Yes, it is highly unlikely but it's not impossible so don't use menstruating as an excuse not to use protection. 

2. You are most fertile during -- and around -- ovulation. Ovulation -- the release of an egg from an ovary -- typically happens midway through a woman's cycle. Ovulation calculators are helpful in tracking your cycle.

3. Irregular periods can mean any number of things. Irregular menstruation -- whether in the form of missing a period, spotting between periods or a period lasting more than seven days -- can be caused by everything from extreme weight loss or stress to pregnancy to the use of certain drugs to serious illnesses like uterine cancer. Consult your doctor if you are concerned about an irregular period.

4. The average period releases less than a cup of blood. Complain about heavy flow all you want, but the fact is that most women lose between a few tablespoons and a cup each month. 

5. Menstruation by any other name is still menstruation. Remember in middle school when you were embarrassed to say you were on your period so you and your friends made up code names? No? Uh, well... Code names through the ages include Crimson Tide, TOM (time of the month), Elmo riding the cotton pony, Aunt Flo, the rag and the red flag.

6. Views on period sex vary. We know sexual preference is individual -- there's a spectrum on everything from preferred gender to preferred position -- so it makes sense that opinion on period sex would be individual too. (This goes for both men and women.)

7. On that note, your period might make you frisker than usual. Progesterone -- the hormone believed to potentially lower your libido -- is at its lowest during your period so if you're craving more than a Snickers, chances are you're not alone.

Culled from Hoffinton Post