So it's that time again... you know. The time everyone dreads. Period time! Every month women have to make a very important decision... what on earth they are going to use to contain the mess from staining their favorite clothes and causing potential embarrassment. I think a lot of women mindlessly grab a tampon or pad and don't think anything more about it because that's what we are taught to do. But what are all of our options and what are their health effects? So lets get right into this messy and sometimes uncomfortable topic.
Let's start with one of the most popular option... disposable tampons. Along with many things in this world tampons are filled with chemicals. But unlike most chemicals we put into or onto our body, when we put these chemical filled pieces of cotton into our delicate porous vaginas our body absorbs it all up and allows these chemicals to go almost directly into our bloodstream! Yikes! So what do these chemicals do? Well these chemicals have been linked to a long list of very serious health disorders, some being brain disorders, reproductive issues, obesity, cancer, developmental issues such as lower IQs and higher rates of asthma. Oh no!
The next I want to talk about is equally popular, that being disposable pads. Let's not try and validate these chemical filled products simply because they aren't inserted into our body. Just because they aren't inserted they aren't any better. These sanitary napkins contain a TON of chemicals. Like WAY more than tampons. Just because it's sitting outside of our body we are still absorbing all these toxins. And the side effects of these toxins can be just as harmful and sometimes more harmful than tampons. They are linked to causing MANY types of cancer, thyroid malfunction, infertility, hormone dysfunction, immune system damage, diabetes, pelvic inflammation disease and toxic shock syndrome. So if you are anything like I used to be then you would be very upset right now as these are the only two options that I was provided growing up. But fear not as we surprisingly have many other options.
Reusable clothe pads and tampons are the first that I'd like to talk about as they are familiar to our old toxic tools but have none of the harmful effects. You can purchase them at a store or make them yourself by sewing layers of absorbent fabrics together and wearing them the same way as traditional pads or knit/crochet yarn to make absorbent torpedoes that you can insert and wear the same way you used to wear your old tampons. Super easy, do it yourself solution! Cool right! Well this is just the beginning.
Another great solution are period friendly underwear like Thinx. They are reusable absorbent panties that supposedly can contain and hold a full day's worth of flow! Wowzas! It's made up of many layers of fabric all layered in just a way that the liquid gets trapped in the panties and not on your clothes.
Now time for a bit of a different solution to the traditional soak it up method. That being menstrual cups and disks! Hooray! These are both inserted and sorta spring open collect our flow! Yessss! Cups deal around our cervix and stay in place all day comfortably and discretely and disks sit lower and also spring open. Simply remove wash and reinsert every 12ish hours.
Another solution is to use a sea sponge. These are all natural, reusable and hold as much liquid as a traditional disposable tampon! Simply stuff up there and remove every 6ish hours, wash out and reinsert. Woo hoo! A natural no mess solution to period time!
If you don't like any of these you can simply go the way of free bleeding. This is something I just learned about not too long ago. It's simply doing absolutely nothing. Well maybe not absolutely nothing as I'm sure people chose their least favorite clothing to bleed into. Or at least not the favs. Lol. Free bleeding is just wearing clothes and allowing blood to flow and not worrying about it! Eeeek! The thought of it feels very empowering though maybe too inconveniently messy for me so for now I think I'll stick with my cup!