Spotting before your period: what's normal and why it happens

What counts as spotting

Spotting is very light bleeding: a few drops or a smear on toilet paper or your underwear, not enough to need a pad or tampon. It's usually pink, red-brown or brown, because the small amount of blood takes longer to leave the body and darkens on the way. Day 1 of your cycle is the first day of real flow, so spotting before that belongs to the end of the previous cycle.

Why you might spot before your period

Your period starting slowly

The most common reason is simply the run-up to your period. In the last days of the luteal phase, progesterone falls and the lining begins to loosen. For some people a little sheds a day or two early, especially if their flow tends to start gently.

Hormonal contraception

Breakthrough spotting is common in the first three to six months on the pill, patch, ring, implant, injection or hormonal IUD, and after missed or late pills.

Perimenopause

In your 40s, ovulation becomes less regular and progesterone can run low. Spotting before periods, shorter cycles and changes in flow are all common. Read more about perimenopause periods.

Early pregnancy

Implantation bleeding can happen around 10 to 14 days after ovulation, close to when your period is due. It's usually light pink or brown, lasts a day or two and doesn't turn into a normal flow. If your "period" stays as spotting, take a test. See implantation bleeding vs period.

Other causes

• A short luteal phase, where progesterone falls early
• Thyroid conditions or PCOS, which affect ovulation
• Cervical or uterine polyps, or fibroids
• Irritation of the cervix after sex or a smear test
• Infections, including some STIs
• Stress, travel or big changes in exercise or weight

Is it spotting or the start of your period?

It matters for tracking, because your cycle length is counted from the first day of real flow. A simple rule: if the bleeding is light enough that a liner copes all day and it doesn't build into a flow, call it spotting. If within a day it becomes a flow that needs a pad, tampon, cup or period underwear, that day is day 1. Logging spotting as your period start can make your cycles look shorter than they are, which throws off predictions for your next period and your fertile window.

What your doctor might check if spotting before periods keeps happening: a pregnancy test, a pelvic exam and cervical screening, swabs for infection, blood tests for thyroid function or hormones, and sometimes an ultrasound to look for polyps or fibroids. Most of these are quick, and most causes are very treatable.

What helps

• Keep a liner handy in the days your period is due.
• Track which cycle day spotting starts and how long it lasts. If it starts many days before each period, tell your doctor.
• If you're on hormonal contraception, take pills at the same time each day and give a new method a few months to settle.
• If pregnancy is possible, test from the day your period was due.

Spotting and how you feel

Spotting often arrives in the same window as PMS, so it can come with irritability, tiredness and a sense of waiting. It can also bring a spike of worry: is it my period, is it something else? A clear record of past cycles answers most of those questions quickly and calms the 2am googling.

When to see a doctor