PALM MENSTRUATION: A RARE PHENOMENON

Menstruation in the palm is an uncommon medical condition that can occur in any woman who menstruates 

Women who have reached puberty experience menstruation regularly, however, it is shocking to learn that not all women experience the typical form of menstruation. For some women, they end up menstruating through the palm. This unusual condition is known as endometriosis.

A picture representation of endometriosis in the reproductive system of a woman; Source:Youtube.com/Castpharma

Endometriosis is a condition where tissues that resembles the endometrium, which normally lines the lining of the uterus, grows outside of the uterus. 

Endometriosis has no known cause, however, research studies by the National Institute of Health, a division of the US National Library of Medicine, found that retrograde menstruation is a common occurrence in about 90% of women globally.

Rosemary Debrah, a young university student who resides in one of the suburbs of Accra, shares with NAFTI news how she found out about her condition.

Rosemary Debrah is a young woman living in Accra experiences her period in her palms

"Most of my peers were menstruating when I reached adolescence, but that was not the case for me. After three years of waiting, my mother and I started to worry", she said.

Around the age of 16 or 17, she began to have some terrible pain in her palms, but no one in her family could figure out why. However, when her grandmother saw her red and painful palm on one particular day, she spoke about a rare illness she had previously seen. Her grandmother explained to them that, her older sister had experienced a similar condition before and her granddaughter might have probably inherited the illness from her grand aunty.

After hearing about her condition, she became very alarmed and wanted to hide from the world. Thus,she constantly debated within herself. Armed with this information, Rosemary and her mother made several trips to herbalists, who gave her lots of herbal medicines in hopes of finding a cure, but to no avail. 

"Herbalists just kept collecting our money, but in reality, they did not have a cure for my problem, and the last one I went to confirmed my suspicions. He kept repeating one thing after another which did not make any sense" she recalls.

However, during a visit to the hospital, she was diagnosed of endometriosis.

Dr. Joseph Homiah, a Consultation obstetrician-gynecologist/Fertility specialist at Medifem Hospital, is unsurprised about cases such as Rosemary's.

"First of all, the condition has nothing to do with spiritual beliefs, and it has been thoroughly researched by gynecologists. This illness however has no cure but if the person is bleeding into her brain, kidney, heart and other places which are likely to cause danger, we perform surgery to cut the endometrium tissues from these places in order to help correct the condition" 

He further goes on to explain more about the endometriosis in the audio.  

Jennifer Anchor · Dr Joseph Homiah explains more about endometriosis

He clarified that, the illness is not well known or widely popular, likely due to the sensitivity of the subject, and that the general public needs to be educated on it to avoid associating the illness with any spiritual beliefs, to help young girls avoid being duped by any spiritualists, and to overcome any further complications.

A level 300 production by Jennifer Eyram Anchor.