Despite what some people think, it is possible and actually safe for a woman to delay her period. Actually, most doctors think that it is safe for most women to delay her period for a few days or weeks, although a woman should consult her doctor before attempting to do so because for a few women delaying a period could be dangerous. If your doctor says it is okay to delay your period, then how to delay your period becomes the problem. In fact, there are a number of safe, natural methods available for achieving that goal.

1. Take Birth Control Pills

As for how to delay your period, birth control pills are always recommended. There are evidences that the synthetic hormones in standard birth control pills can delay your period. Old fashioned birth control pills come in a 28-pill package that contains seven placebos or sugar pills and 21 pills. Simply skipping the placebos can help you delay your period.

You should consult your doctor before doing this. A better method would be to ask your doctor to change your birth control prescription to a continuous birth control pill such as Yaz or Seasonale. Women that take those products normally have four periods a year. Taking birth control pills to delay periods is proven to work.

2. Ask Your Doctor for Norethisterone

Norethisterone is also a good answer to how to delay your period. It is a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone that acts much like birth control pills. It is often prescribed to women with irregular or painful menstruation. You will need to get a prescription from your doctor because Norethisterone is a prescription only medicine. As with birth control pills, there is scientific evidence that Norethisterone can delay a period. You will probably need to get a checkup before starting the prescription. One advantage to Norethisterone is that your period should return within two to three days of ending the prescription.

3. Prolong Your Breastfeeding

Like the active ingredients in birth control pills, the hormones producing breast milk regulate your menstrual cycle. For this method to work, you will have to breastfeed a lot (six to eight times a day) in order to keep high levels of the hormone prolactin in your bloodstream. Your baby will have to be really hungry and breast milk may have to be his or her only source of nutrition. The advantage of this method is that it is extremely healthy for you and your baby. The disadvantage is your period will return when the baby starts eating solid foods.

4. Get More Exercises

Exercises can work magic in many respects. So when thinking about how to delay your period, exercise should be considered. Simply increasing the amount and intensity of your exercise can delay your period. Very vigorous exercise (like bicycling, swimming, skiing, weight training, running, dancing), hard physical labor (like chopping wood) and team sports (like basketball or volleyball) work best. Medium intensity exercise, such as gardening, horseback riding, house work, and softball can also do the trick.

Try to get 30 minutes to an hour of exercise every day. Increased exercise is not guaranteed to delay your period, but there is some medical research supporting the idea. If you are not physically active, you should get a checkup first and begin with moderate exercise.

5. Avoid Heat Increasing Foods

There is a widespread traditional belief that hot and spicy foods, such as chili peppers, can speed up your menstrual cycle. Even though there is no science to back up these claims, you can test the theory by eliminating all spices from your diet, such as hot peppers, garlic, paprika, ginger, and black pepper. You should also stop eating ethnic foods such as Mexican and Asian cuisine that are more likely to contain such ingredients. Some other heat-increasing foods include papaya, mangoes, dates, pineapples, and root vegetables such as yams.

6. Take Ibuprofen and Vitamin B6

It is said taking 800 mg (around four tablets) of the pain reliever Ibuprofen and a double dose of vitamin B6 every day for one or two weeks can delay menstruation. You should definitely consult your doctor before attempting this method because 800 mg of ibuprofen is a prescription dose. There is no evidence that this method works with other similar kinds of over the counter painkillers such as naproxen sodium and aspirin even though they all limit pain by suppressing inflammation.

Warning: You should think long and hard about the decision to delay your period because menstruation is a natural and healthy body process. Interfering with it may damage your body and throw your hormonal system completely out of whack. Besides, itmay lead to serious side effects and problems, including abnormal periods, painful periods, and even infertility. It is also why you should consult a gynecologist and get a full checkup before you delay your period.