I have read a few weeks now on the subject and have decided to write up my own version of the topic. Men, if you’re reading, you might want to stop now before you get all “weirded” out. Women, please continue, this is vital to every one of you!
We women are blessed with the richness of being able to give birth to a child. We also have menstruation. You have to have the latter to achieve the former and we are taught that menstruation is a bad thing in this society. Although I have no proof of this due to my motherly raising up of the “We don’t talk about those things, honey” syndrome, I firmly believe Menstruation is a very natural and healthy thing…er, at least it was in the beginning.
Our society has made a focal point for menstruation to be discreet and not spoken of and has also benefitted millions upon millions of dollars from it in disposable products for ‘that-time-of-the-month”. We use up so many disposable pads and tampons in our lifetime that we could fill a large dump truck with it! Then there are those of us that have had a few children, we seem to have bladder issues as well so there goes a few more million dollars!
I recently recieved an update on a going green website that deals with a lot of medical issues. I found out through that update for the first time in my life that there are alternatives to tampons. I learned about cloth pads and I also learned what all the disposable products do not only to the environment but to our bodies.
It seems that tampons and disposable pads can cause, (I said CAN, I highly doubt that it happens to every one of us) heavy bleeding, bladder trouble (just the thing I was using pads for!), cancer, extended periods, severe cramping, headaches, vaginal irritation, etc. not to mention the Toxic Shock Syndrome that happens primarily in the West as well. I was ecstatic with this finding as one of the side effects of Fibromyalgia which I came down with 20 years ago is, um…all of the above except the Toxic Shock. I have wanted relief from every one of these symptoms for years! I know Fibromyalgia can cause chemical sensitivities, but I never put two and two together and realized that my montly products were causing a lot of the symptoms that kept me feeling horrible for the first few days of every period. One of the worst things about disposable menstrual products is listed here and quoted from “Home Safe Home” by Deborah Lynn Dadd:
“Tampons and Sanitary Pads – Commonly made from synthetic fibers derived from petroleum, tampons and pads can outgas harmful chemicals and because they’re also usually bleached, they contain dioxins. Traces of the dioxin TCDD – possibly the most toxic chemical ever produced – has been found in tampons and is a known carcinogen. It’s also known to cause birth defects and sterility as well as liver damage and suppression of the immune system. Plus, it can be absorbed easily through the skin. The alternative: For thousands of years women have used rags. Today’s alternatives also include organic, bleach-free cotton tampons and natural latex “Keepers.”
So, I began to research. I found out that the average woman in the western world throws away 10 to 15 thousand pads and tampons in her lifetime. For me, that is a sum of around 1500 dollars in ten years. Times that by the women who have peariods and you have a sure money making deal! With knowledge like that, why would they want you to know what the products may cause?
I also found out how to make your own cloth pads, how to clean and care for them, and that when switching to cloth pads, most women felt better almost overnight. It was worth a shot. The trouble was, for me a pad was not going to cut it. I had to find something else because I didn’t like to have that wet icky feeling, and I am sure you women out there understand that one! So I did some more research into another alternative, the menstrual cup. It appears that there are many different styles, shapes, sizes and the like with only a couple being made in the United States, the rest are from Canada, Europe and Africa. None the less, I did not let that stop me from my search. I bought the cheapest model from the US as I didn’t have that much time to wait and found that it was suitable but I had to “tweak” it a bit to work for me.
Last week I got to use my new products as a test. First of all, I never wore anything but a cloth pad prior to my period starting. I found that only one day did I have just a slight headache instead of a throw-me-in-bed-and-hope-to-die migraine. That was an amazing feat in and of itself! Second of all, I realized that the menstrual cup was the greatest invention known to women! Yes, men still get the wheel- but women can claim the menstrual cup! (even if it was invented by a man, women stand up and claim it!) I could not believe the ease of use, the fact that I had to attend to things so very few times and I also could sleep through the night instead of having to get up to change one thing or the other in the middle of the night 5 or 6 times! YEAH BABY! That was a wonderful moment for me!
Since my experience I have also purchased a cup from Europe which will hopefully be more “fitting” for me and am anxiously waiting the arrival. They are truly my saviours when it comes to periods! Also, instead of having 6 or 7 days of misery, my period was cut down to 3 days of heavy to medium flow and a couple days of spotting. My bladder issue is all but gone and I don’t think I will be needing any medication to take that “Gotta Go” feeling away from me and it is such a relief!
I have learned a lot with just these few simple steps toward better health. It might have been a challenge to get to this point but it seems like it is all downhill now. In fact, I am making my own cloth pads to sell and am going to call them, “Green-Cycle” because they are better for you and the environment. Period.
Need I say more?
