Ways To Feel Fresh During Your Period
During your red days, it is important to keep yourself feeling and smelling fresh. It may be hard to do stuff during these days, but your hygiene routine should not be forgotten. Listed below are points to take in consideration if you have your period.
- There are different options you can choose from to absorb the blood you are secreting tampons, sanitary napkins, cloth pads, and menstrual cup.
- Tampons are worn inside the vagina and is an absorbent cotton. Tampons are disposable and comes in variety of sizes and absorbencies.
- Sanitary napkins or disposable cups are fitted to your underwear. If you are uncomfortable inserting tampons inside your vagina, using a sanitary napkin is the best option for you.
- Cloth pads are a bit similar to sanitary napkins. The difference is that cloth pads requires regular laundering. Cloth pads does not trap odors when blood is absorb and does not contain chemicals compared to disposable ones.
- Menstrual cup is inserted to the opening of the cervix. It can be worn up to 12 hours.
- If you do not change your product of sanitation regularly, it can trap organisms and may cause infection.
- Menstrual cup every 12 hours
- Tampons every 2 hours
- Sanitary napkins every 6 hours
- To prevent any foul odor, wash yourself before changing to a new pad. Avoid using soap on the inner parts of your vagina. You can also use wipes or tissues to clean.
How To Take Care Of Menstrual Hygiene During Menstrual Cycle
The menstrual cycle is the monthly process of the uterus discharging blood and tissue, which usually begins in pre-adolescence and ends with menopause. It is a social as well as a biological process, with substantial social and economic repercussions for all women. Many adolescent girls and women, on the other hand, do not have access to the correct scientific information and hygienic habits during their menstrual cycle, which can lead to negative health results.
Poor menstrual hygiene management can have a significant negative influence on both physical and mental health. To correctly manage your menstrual cycle, you must first understand how your period works, why it occurs when to expect it, and how to manage it. Women can do whatever they want when they are not menstruating since they know there are safe and sanitary ways to absorb or collect their menstrual flow.
Here are a few key behaviours to remember during your menstrual cycle to keep your menstrual hygiene in good shape:
Leaving the Pad on for an Extended Period of Time
Because your menstrual flow is heavier during the day while youre active, the pad absorbs more blood, sweat, and sebum. This produces a breeding habitat for bacteria, which is why wearing one pad for more than four hours every day is not recommended. However, because your bodily functions slow down and the intensity of bleeding lowers when you sleep, you can safely wear a pad overnight.
Clean Thoroughly
Maintain a Regular Menstrual Diary
Keeping Your Vagina Clean Between Showers
Warning: Dont leave a tampon in for more than 8 hours. Leaving a tampon in for too long can lead to toxic shock syndrome .XResearch source
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How To Stay Clean And Smelling Fresh On Your Period
This article was co-authored by Carrie Noriega, MD. Dr. Noriega is a Board Certified Obstetrician & Gynecologist and medical writer in Colorado. She specializes in womens health, rheumatology, pulmonology, infectious disease, and gastroenterology. She received her MD from the Creighton School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska and completed her residency at the University of Missouri – Kansas City in 2005.There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 16 testimonials and 82% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 522,290 times.
Many people feel self-conscious during their menstrual cycle, but menstruation is a natural process. Read on to learn about proper hygiene during your period to avoid feeling self-conscious.
Which Foods To Eat And Avoid During Your Period
Its hard to predict exactly how youll feel during your period. While some people barely have any symptoms, others struggle to get out of bed thanks to cramping, headaches, pain, and nausea. Today, Flo reveals the top foods to eat during your period to alleviate swelling, bloating, mood swings, and much more.
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Why Taking A Bath During Your Period Can Be A Good Thing
Taking a bath during your period has a few benefits, the most important of which is hygiene.
While some period and bathing myths sound harmless, their impact on menstrual hygiene can have potentially serious health implications.
Practicing good hygiene while youre on your period can help prevent skin irritation and infections, including:
Its also a good way to prevent funky odors down there.
Hygiene aside, taking a bath during your period offers other benefits, too, like relaxation.
A hot bath can help you unwind and relax tense muscles, providing some natural relief from cramps and other period symptoms, like headaches and low back pain. Taking a hot bath before bed can also help you sleep better.
Heat therapy to treat period cramps isnt new. Applying local heat can relax your abdominal muscles and reduce tension, which may help with other period pain, like backaches and headaches.
Heat can also increase blood circulation in the pelvis. This can help reduce blood and fluid retention, which takes pressure off the nerves in the area, resulting in some pain relief.
If your periods affect your poop and cause constipation and gas, that increased blood flow may also help get things moving again. And since were talking constipation, a warm bath can help if you have hemorrhoids, which are a common side effect of constipation and straining on the toilet.
When Disposing Of A Used Sanitary Product Should You Wrap It First
Roll up a used pad, enclose it in the wrapper of the new one or in toilet paper, and then throw it away. This will minimize any smell and prevent the spread of bacteria, which can build up over time.
Flushing even the smallest hygiene product can easily clog a pipe or sewer. If youre in a bathroom with no trash bin, you can take the used pad with you and throw it away somewhere else.
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And Wash The Right Way
Because your vulva and vagina are more sensitive than other parts of your body, they require a different kind of wash product. Always wash externally and never use normal body soap or body wash. Avoid douches or shampoo on your intimate area, which can upset your natural flora and acidity. Opt for a wash specially formulated for intimate use or just use your hand and warm water.
Menstrual Health And Hygiene
Good menstrual hygiene management plays a fundamental role in enabling women, girls, and other menstruators to reach their full potential. The negative impacts of a lack of good menstrual health and hygiene cut across sectors, so the World Bank takes a multi-sectoral, holistic approach in working to improve menstrual hygiene in its operations across the world.
WASH United
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How Do I Prevent The Rotten Vaginal Odor
- Change your pad or tampon, or dump your cup, every time you use the toilet, every 4-6 hours, even when your period is light.
- Treat the end of your period just like the rest of your period. Dont leave tampons in for extended periods of time just because youre not bleeding much. If your vagina is too dry to insert a tampon frequently, use smaller sizes of tampons so there is less absorbency. If your cup doesnt slide in as easily, get your cup slightly wet or use lubricant.
What You Wear Does Matter
Just as wearing tight panties can cause itchiness or darkness of the skin, wearing tight jeans or undies can also increase heat and can cause irritation.
Wear something cotton because cotton panties are definitely comfortable and more absorbent than undergarments that are made from synthetic materials.
One of the most common problems women worry about is menstrual odor. It might sound impossible to not have that menstrual smell down there all the time but why not let the air in by wearing something thats not too tight?
Letting your body breathe is one way to reduce the smell. Changing undies in a day is highly recommended.
While on your period, your bodys temperature tends to be higher than usual. A lot of girls claim that they sweat more when theyre on their period.
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My Vagina Smells: Metallic
This is a normal odor during your period. Blood is iron-laden, so it is natural to smell that way, especially if you leak and let it dry. Side note: Dont forget that women tend to lose iron every month via period blood, so be sure to eat your veggies!
Toward the end of your period, the metallic odor is usually caused by pH changes in your vagina and the discharge containing that different pH. I experienced this issue a lot during the last year that I wore tampons with tampons, the abnormal pH discharge sits against the vaginal wall, absorbed in the tampon. Its like if your shoes and socks get wet and you wear them all day your socks are going to be very aromatic by the time you get home, and every pair of socks you put on inside those wet shoes will smell that way until the shoes arent wet anymore.
If You Use A Pad For The Night And Sleep For About Eight Hours Should You Get Up Every Four Hours To Change It
When youre active during the day, your menstrual flow is normally heavier, so the pad absorbs more blood, sweat, and sebum. This creates a breeding ground for bacteria, which is why you shouldnt wear one pad for more than four hours.
When you are asleep, your bodily functions slow down, and the bleeding intensity decreases, so you can safely wear a pad overnight. However, dont use tampons for more than eight hours. Theyre associated with a risk of toxic shock syndrome, a severe infection.
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Period Products And Staying Fresh
Approved by our medical experts
Finding out what period products work for you, and creating your own routine for care and hygiene, is all part of getting to know your period. There are loads of different period products out there it’s all about experimenting, trying new things and finding what’s right for you. Many people have a couple of preferred products and switch between them to suit different activities, what outfit they want to wear, or even the time of day. The main thing is finding the products that are the most comfortable and work best for you and your flow. Being on your period shouldn’t stop you from living your life!
In this handy guide we’ll cover some of the different products out there, a spot of myth-busting around keeping yourself clean, and some hints and tips on trying out other products. We want to give you the knowledge and confidence to make your own choices around what products you use.
It’s worth pointing out that sometimes it’s a case of getting used to different products. It can feel a little unusual the first couple of times you try a new product, but as you get more confident using different ones you might find you prefer some to others. The key is to follow the instructions, and not be afraid to give new things a try.
So by now you’ll know all the details around your period, why we get them and where everything is inside your body from our Period 101 blog. However, it’s important we also understand where things are from the outside too!
Menstruation Is Messy But Not Dirty
There is a very subtle but important distinction here:
- Does your period make a mess? Yes.
- Are you dirty during your period? No.
It may make a big mess but there is nothing inherently dirty about your menstruation. Remember why you bleed every month. You bleed because you didnt get pregnant. Your normal menstrual cycle is all about your fertility.
Many cultures and religions have attached negative attitudes to menstruation giving the impression that a person who is menstruating is dirty. Medically this is just not true.
Your menstrual flow is made up of blood and the lining of your uterus. These parts of your body are not dirty. Your menstrual flow passes from your uterus and out through your vagina.
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Our Top 5 Period Pals
We’re going to introduce you to 5 of the most common period products you might come across. You can click on each one to find out more about them, including how to use them, why you might choose to use them, and some top tips.
Tampons
Small compact cylinders of cotton wool-like material which is inserted into the vagina to absorb your flow
Period pants
Reusable pants which have an absorbent and leakproof layer which absorbs your flow and contains it within the pants
Pads & Liners
Rectangular pads made of absorbent material which are placed inside your underwear to absorb your flow
These are the most common products available, but there are many different kinds of each product out there to suit everyone. A really important thing to remember, whatever product you use, is to read the instructions and make sure you change/clean the product as often as needed.