Adolescent · 5 min read

When to bring your daughter to a gynaecologist

Parents often wait far longer than they need to, usually because they assume the visit will be an ordeal for their daughter. It is a conversation. An internal examination is almost never required at this age and would never be done without explanation and consent.

Worth an appointment

Periods that have not started by around sixteen, or no signs of puberty at all by thirteen.

Bleeding heavy enough to interrupt school — soaking through protection in under two hours, or needing to change during the night.

Pain that ordinary painkillers do not touch, or that means missing school every month.

Cycles that remain very irregular more than two years after they started.

Unusual hair growth, severe acne, or rapid weight change alongside irregular periods.

"That is just how periods are"

This is advice a great many women were given, accepted, and lived with for years. It is often wrong. Heavy bleeding and disabling pain are treatable, and treating them at fifteen rather than at thirty is a materially different life.

Pain that regularly stops a girl from going to school is not something to be endured as character-building. It is a symptom.

How the visit runs

Mostly talking: her cycle, how she is feeling, school, and anything worrying her. Height, weight and general examination. Sometimes blood tests, and sometimes an external ultrasound of the abdomen — never internal.

She will be asked whether she wants a parent in the room, and her answer is respected. Many prefer a parent there; some prefer to talk alone for part of it. Both are normal, and neither means anything is being hidden.

A female attendant is present throughout.

What to say to her beforehand

That it is a talk, not an examination. That she can say she does not want to answer something. That nobody is in trouble and nothing is assumed. Girls often arrive braced for an interrogation, and hearing otherwise in advance helps.

Written and reviewed by Dr. Jigna Jasoliya, M.S. (Obstetrics & Gynaecology), Gujarat Medical Council Reg. G/25348. Published 2026-10-10. Last checked 2026-10-10.

This article is general information, not medical advice about your own situation. If something here applies to you, come and talk to us.