Commonly, women begin experiencing signs of menopause during their late forties. For some women, estimated to be about one percent, the signs come early. Just how early varies widely. For some it can be as young as 35. For a very small minority, menopause can even begin in their teenage years.

Any menopause symptoms before the age of 40 though, would define an early menopause. There are a wide variety of reasons why a woman might experience menopause early. Just one of them would be surgical menopause, where a complete hysterectomy has been performed. Removal of the ovaries results in menopause.

Reasons for Early Menopause

Sometimes the ovaries fail for no apparent reason, bringing on early menopause. Another cause of early menopause could be chemical. In particular, chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer can cause sterility and also bring on the signs of menopause. Early menopause, for whatever reason can bring with it additional emotional stress over and above that normally caused by menopause.

Some young women may have been deprived of the chance of motherhood by early menopause and this can be devastating. Also, women of all ages perceive that menopause brings with it a certain loss of sexuality and attractiveness, however erroneous that view may be. In some cases, women experiencing menopause early will need expert counseling to overcome the difficulties, in addition to natural hormone replacement, which is the best possible way of treating the physical symptoms.