Q&A
At LAADLI, we believe in eliminating the stigma surrounding menstural hygiene
How regularly should feminine hygiene products like pads and tampons be changed?
Feminine hygiene products like sanitary pads and tampons should be changed after every 4 hours, depending upon your blood flow.
They should not be worn for a longer period of time since that can lead to the development of infections.
This is because the trapped moisture provides a breeding ground for bacteria, making the vagina susceptible to a yeast infection.
What are some effective ways to cope with menstrual cramps?
Some effective coping ways are pain relief medicines, heat packs, regular exercise (yoga) and hot water showers. It is also important to stay hydrated and avoid caffeine and alcohol.
Visiting a gynaecologist, under certain severe circumstances, is also suggested.
What are the consequences of improper disposal of menstrual waste?
Approximately 36% of the female population of reproductive age in India utilise sanitary napkins, thereby producing around a billion pads on a monthly basis. A majority of these pads are non-recyclable and non-biodegradable. This has led to a mammoth amount of waste being generated, which has largely worsened the pollution crisis in India.
Moreover, it has led to the following:
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Incorrect disposal of sanitary napkins leading to blockage of the draining system.
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Plastic sanitary napkins being burnt often. This releases harmful toxins in the atmosphere, therefore, is not an environmentally friendly approach to disposal and shouldn’t be practiced.
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Women from lower economic backgrounds and rural areas not having proper access to sanitary pads, hence, often utilising cloth napkins. This leads to improper and unhygienic disposal of the cloth.
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The blood on the napkins stagnating as a result of accumulated menstrual waste and bacteria, such as Escherichia Coli. These napkins then pose a significant threat to the hygiene of the surrounding area.
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Landfills clogging with sanitary products, which take up to 800 years to decompose. Due to the chemical composition of the products, the environment (land and water bodies) could end up getting contaminated.
Why should schools educate young girls about menstrual hygiene?
Lack of knowledge about menstruation is one of the prominent obstacles towards achieving adequate menstrual hygiene worldwide.
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One of the reasons menstruation is still considered a taboo in several parts of the world is due to lack of education.
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Educating women about menstruation helps them learn more about the consequences of poor hygiene, and thus will result in better menstrual hygiene.
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Better awareness helps the girls learn, both, the importance of sanitary pads and the harm an alternative like cloth can pose. This results in more women using pads.
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Education helps men and boys also understand menstruation, which eventually results in more significance given to hygiene and, hence, mandatory expenditure on pads.
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Overall, education helps change the opinion about periods in order for people to consider it as a natural process rather than something impure and stigmatised.
What if I skip a period?
It's normal for your period not to be normal - especially in the first few years after starting your period . Stress, exercise, and sickness can all cause you to miss one. It can happen if you gain or lose a lot of weight.
What is PMS?
PMS is the pre-menstrual syndrome which includes changes like mood swings, tender breasts, food cravings, fatigue, irritability and depression that occur in the time gap between the ovulation and menstruation phase.
What is menopause?
Menopause is a natural decline in reproductive hormones which takes place after 40 or 50 years of age, wherein the menstrual cycle permanently comes to an end due to ageing.