Tag: periods

How to get relief from menstrual cramps?

Certain over-the-counter products and home remedies, like using a heating pad, may help relieve pain associated with period cramps. Avoiding certain foods may also help.

It’s common to feel discomfort around your abdomen, lower back, and thighs when you’re menstruating. During your period, the muscles of your womb contract and relax to help shed built-up lining. It may include nausea, vomiting, headache and diarrhea.

Some tips to reduce pain are:-

1. Taking over-the-counter (OTC) medications.

2. Applying heat

3. Massaging with essential oils

4. Having an orgasm

5. Avoiding certain foods such as alcohol, beverage, fatty foods, caffeine and salty foods.

6. Adding herbs to your diet

Maintaining a healthy diet and keeping up a regular exercise regimen can go a long way toward preventing menstrual pain. A 2016 study Trusted Source of 250 women found significant differences between period pain in women who maintained a nutritious diet, exercised regularly, and reduced stress. Generally, a diet geared toward decreasing menstrual pain should be high in minimally processed foods, fiber, and plants.

Boron is a mineral that helps your body absorb calcium and phosphorus. It also reduces menstrual cramps.

A 2015 study that looked at 113 university students found that boron reduced the intensity and length of menstrual pain. The foods include are avocado, peanut butter, bananas etc.

It sounds odd, but drinking water keeps your body from retaining water and helps to avoid painful bloating during menstruation. Warm or hot water is usually better for cramps, as hot liquids increase blood flow to your skin and may relax cramped muscles.

The idea of exercising immediately before or during your period may not appeal to you, but exercise releases endorphins.

Research suggests exercise is effective at reducing menstrual pain to the extent it may also eliminate or reduce the need for pain-relief medication. Moderate activity such as walking can be beneficial during your period in place of more strenuous activity. Yoga is a gentle exercise that releases endorphins and can help prevent or reduce menstrual symptoms. Some poses are :-

Cat-Cow pose
Child’s pose
Plank pose
Cobra pose

Remember taking care of your body as well as your mind during that time of the month is the utmost priority for all women out there as well as the responsibility of their men too to look after them and just ask what they need.

Comment down your views and tips that you want to share below.

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Why Shame Periods?

At present times, people still do not prefer to talk about periods openly in public. It is still considered something that women should be shy of. But why? Why do people see menstruation as taboo? It is a natural and must-needed phenomenon of a woman’s life. A woman is also a part of growing the generation and bringing life into existence. And periods are extremely important for this process to take place. We all love our mother and sister. Everyone wishes to have a girlfriend. Everyone wants to get marry, have a wife, have children with her. Then why is it so in our society that a woman has to be ashamed of something which is natural and god gifted? Instead, why do women not accept the fact publicly and talk about it openly?

Why is it so important?

We are now in the 21st century. And if still, this is the scenario then there is no point in technological advancements if people are not broad-minded. Menstruation is a serious matter and it is important that everyone is aware of it. For this, one should know the significance of periods in a woman’s life. 

As a woman, monthly periods are the way of removing unwanted tissues from the body which are no longer needed. Body release eggs regularly that are responsible for the pregnancy. But if a woman does not get fertilized within some span, then the eggs get perished. If these are not removed from the body on time then, it will affect the health of a woman adversely.

Some orthodoxy ritual to be followed

As a woman, especially being an Indian woman, she has to follow a lot of rules and regulations while on menstruation. But why is it needed? Is it a necessity in present times? No, it is not. Women during menstruation are isolated and asked to stay different from everyone. They have to choose a corner in a room and spend few days in that corner itself. They are not allowed to touch things or go near things that are used by other members in the room. It is prohibited for a girl to enter a room where gods are worshipped. Women are not allowed to visit sacred places these days. All these things do not sound good right. But every single thing has a reason for its existence.

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In older times, there were no proper hygiene practices available for periods. There were no sanitary napkins or tampons or anything like that available to maintain hygiene. The women would make the surroundings dirty during these days. And as a result, she was kept in isolation. Because there were no proper hygiene practices, she was not allowed to enter sacred rooms or temples. She would lose a lot of blood and hence, she was asked to take a rest instead of working with other family members. But nowadays all these things are not needed to follow. There are proper hygiene practices available. Plus, why should a woman stay away from someone (God) while he himself is the creator of all this. 

Summing up

To sum up everything, I believe periods should not be treated as taboo. Instead, it is something that no one should be uncomfortable or ashamed of talking about. It is a natural process that is highly important for a girl’s health. And also, it is one of the important assets for bringing the next generation into this world.

PERIODS

PERIODS

 

 

INTRODUCTION :

A period is the piece of the feminine cycle when a lady drains from her vagina for a couple of days.

For most ladies this happens like clockwork or somewhere in the vicinity, yet it’s entirely expected for periods to be pretty much continuous than this, going from day 21 to day 40 of their monthly cycle.

Your period can last somewhere in the range of 3 and 8 days, yet it will normally keep going for around 5 days. The draining will in general be heaviest in the initial 2 days.

At the point when your period is at its heaviest, the blood will be red. On lighter days, it very well might be pink, earthy colored or dark.

You’ll lose around 30 to 72ml (5 to 12 teaspoons) of blood during your period, albeit a few ladies drain more vigorously than this.

When do periods begin?

Periods as a rule start at around the age of 12, albeit a few young ladies will begin them prior or later.

A deferral in beginning periods isn’t typically a reason for concern. Most young ladies will have normal periods by age 16 to 18.

Sanitary products

Sanitary products soak up or collect the blood released during your period.

The main types of sanitary products are:

  1. sanitary pads
  2. tampons
  3. menstrual cups

SANITARY PADS

Sanitary pads are strips of padding that have a sticky side you attach to your underwear to hold them in place. One side of the pad is made of an absorbent material that soaks up the blood.

Pads come in many sizes, so you can choose one to suit how heavy or light your period is.

Pantyliners are a smaller and thinner type of sanitary pad that can be used on days when your period is very light.

Tampons

Tampons are small tubes of cotton wool that you insert into your vagina to soak up the blood before it comes out of your body.

There are 2 types of tampon – ones that come with an applicator and others without an applicator that you insert with your fingers. In both cases, there’s a string at one end of the tampon, which you pull to remove it.

Tampons come with instructions that explain how to use them. If the tampon is inserted correctly, you should not be able to feel it inside you. If you can feel it or it hurts, it might not be in properly.

It is not possible for a tampon to get stuck or lost inside you. Your vagina holds it firmly in place and it expands inside you as it soaks up the blood.

Menstrual cups

Menstrual cups are an alternative to sanitary pads and tampons. The cup is made from silicone and you put it inside your vagina.

Menstrual cups collect the blood rather than absorb it. Unlike sanitary pads and tampons, which are thrown away after they’ve been used, you can wash menstrual cups and and use them again.

PMS (premenstrual syndrome)

Changes in your body’s hormone levels before your period can cause physical and emotional changes.

This is known as PMS (premenstrual syndrome) or PMT (premenstrual tension).

There are many possible Symptoms of PMS, but typical symptoms include:

  • feeling bloated
  • breast tenderness
  • mood swings
  • feeling irritable
  • spotty skin or greasy hair
  • Loss of interest in sex

When do periods stop?

Your periods will proceed until you arrive at the menopause, which typically happens when you are in your late 40s to mid-50s. In the UK the normal period of menopause is 51.

Your periods may begin to turn out to be less regular over a couple of months or years prior to halting out and out. Now and again they can stop out of nowhere.

The importance of menstrual cups

Many girls of the rural areas don’t attend school during their menstruation because of the stigma attached to it and the unavailability of proper supplies. The issue of affordability and privacy in the rural areas can be resolved through availability of better alternatives to sanitary pads. One very good option for the latter is using menstrual cups. The pros of using such a cup are as follows –

  1.  These cups are reusable and can be used for 3-4 years if maintained with good hygiene.
  2.  Menstrual cups are also very environment friendly unlike pads as they are mostly made of silicon, rubber or latex , unlike sanitary pads, which are made of plastic and can only be used once. On an average, a woman utilizes 3,500 sanitary pads throughout her lifetime. That, alone, is enough to suggest how much of money and resources we would be saving if we shifted to using menstrual cups.
  3. They prevent discomfort and leakage while walking and sitting as well.  If placed righteously, menstrual cups can be a safer options for school going girls as it would provide them will ease while doing activities and resolve their fear of leakage in school.
  4. Menstrual cups also prove out to be the best alternative because they are a one-time investment. In rural areas, regular supply of sanitary pads is a big issue. In this scenario, menstrual cups can persist for a much longer time.
The current state of India in regard to using menstrual cups
  1. Although India is a progressive country, the mentality of some people of the rural area refuses to change. In some households, it is a myth that wearing a menstrual cup can lead to the breakage of the “hymen” of a girl. Hymen is a tissue while surrounds the entrance of the uterus of a girl. The condition of the hymen is heavily linked to the honor of the family since they consider it as a proof of her “purity”.
  2. Menstrual cups are still not available in almost any of the chemist shops in India in the urban areas only, let alone the rural areas. As of now, menstrual cups can only be ordered online, which the people from the rural area don’t have the access to.
  3. There are still a lot of myths in the society surrounding the usage of menstrual cups with regards to safety and health which need to be debunked as soon as possible!
  4. Menstrual cups and other period supplies are still not a part of the period education which is imparted in schools. The girls need to be made aware of the mere existence of these products firsthand.
Conclusion

If more awareness is raised about the affordable alternatives to sanitary pads and about periods in general, we can succeed in finishing the problem of period poverty and the stigma that periods make you impure, in this country. The education of the girls of our country shouldn’t continue to pay the price of this mindset and belief system !