Today I have a guest post from Ellie. Ellie blogs over at The Better Period, where she blogs about how women of all ages can have a better period experience. If you’d like to learn more about Ellie and her blog be sure to check out her author bio at the end of this post!
Today I have something different for you all. We don’t talk about periods on this blog, but we do talk about the many different ways we can better our overall health. Well, guess what, our periods are a part of our health. That’s why today we are going to spend some time talking about it, and learning more about it and the way it impacts our overall health. And we’re going to do this with the help of Ellie!
May I ask you a personal question? How do you feel about your PERIOD? Yes, I’m shouting the word period at you because so often we talk about periods in hushed voices and behind closed doors. But we can change that! Periods are an amazing part of our bodies and our health. Therefore, it’s time to start embracing your period!
Even if you’re at a stage of life where you don’t get your period yourself or you’ll never get a period because of your gender, chances are there is someone close to you in your life who has their period right now! By having an understanding and appreciation for periods you can help to create a period positive environment for everyone in your life who has their period.
Today, I want to share with you some background about our failings in embracing our periods. Then I will share the three ways I believe can help you to embrace your period.
Today, I want to share with you some background about our failings in embracing our periods. Then I will share the three ways I believe can help you to embrace your period.
These three ways to embrace your period are:
- recognize your menstrual cycle as a vital sign of overall health
- make your period better with more comfortable, convenient and reusable period products in place of pads and tampons; and
- get to know your menstrual cycle through tracking or charting.
OK, let’s dive in!
THE BIG TABOO
It’s 2019, but despite advancements in just about everything, we don’t talk much about periods. Although progress has been made, menstruation is considered a taboo in many cultures and religions. As a result, education and self-awareness in this area is lacking. Unfortunately, this leaves young girls getting their period without understanding its full potential. They then grow up into women who still don’t know much about their reproductive health and the importance of their period. More often than not, we are seeing our period as something to be endured, rather than embraced.
A prime example of this, is an article that Cosmopolitan published online just last month. The article was titled “Here’s How to Stop Your Period From Coming If You’re Sick of This Sh*t Every Month”, with a subheading saying, “Opt out of that nonsense”.
The article also ran in the March issue of their print magazine.
I first heard about this when a health professional I follow on Instagram, Nat Kringoudis, took to Instagram Live to express her outrage over the article. Nat is an Australian doctor of Chinese medicine, a natural fertility expert and a passionate advocate of embracing periods for their important role in our overall health. Understandably, the irresponsible journalism from Cosmopolitan promoting that it’s okay to stop your period if you’re sick of it, was disheartening to Nat.
In the article a doctor is quoted to saying, “Some people like to get their period to know they’re not pregnant, but there’s no other health benefit of having it.” This statement is rather misleading and perhaps not presented in its full context. The doctor may be referring to the ‘period’ that occurs when taking the contraceptive pill. The period experienced while on the contraceptive pill is not actually a real period, but rather a withdrawal bleed, so in this context there may be no benefit to having the withdrawal bleed. BUT, certainly your REAL period has a lot more purpose than merely confirming your pregnancy status each month.
MENSTRUATION AS A VITAL SIGN
I’m not a doctor by any stretch, so I turn to the professionals to back me up on this. In December 2015, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) published a piece called, “Menstruation in Girls and Adolescents: Using the Menstrual Cycle as a Vital Sign”. The document, endorsed by The American Academy of Pediatrics, recommends and concludes the following key points:
- “Once girls begin menstruating, clinicians should ask at every visit for the patient’s first day of her last menstrual period and the pattern of menses.
- Identification of abnormal menstrual patterns in adolescence may improve early identification of potential health concerns for adulthood.
- It is important for clinicians to have an understanding of the menstrual patterns of adolescent girls, the ability to differentiate between normal and abnormal menstruation, and the skill to know how to evaluate the adolescent girl patient.”
Most significantly, the piece goes on to recognize that “by including an evaluation of the menstrual cycle as an additional vital sign, clinicians reinforce its importance in assessing overall health status for patients and caretakers”.
The industry was thrilled with the recognition by The ACOG that periods are an important part of overall health and considered a vital sign. Lara Briden, who is a naturopathic doctor, Period Revolutionary and author of the book ‘Period Repair Manual – Every Woman’s Guide To Better Periods’, says in her book, that “Your period is not just your period. It is an expression of your underlying health. When you are healthy, your menstrual cycle will arrive smoothly, regularly and without symptoms. When you are unhealthy in some way, your cycle will tell the story.”
Lara encourages her readers to think of their period as a monthly report card on their overall health. She provides many examples in her book of how she has used information about a patient’s menstruation to assess their health and determine what course of action or treatment needs to be taken. It’s really fascinating.
See my favourite period book recommendations, including books by Lara Briden and Nat Kringoudis
IS YOUR PERIOD INTERFERING WITH YOUR LIFE?
So why then, if periods are such a valuable part of our health, do we dread them and wish they would stop? Well let’s be honest, it’s no secret your period can be a pain!
If your period gets in the way of living your best life every single month, then you might love the option to stop it. I was exactly the same for all of my late teens and early twenties. I happily used the contraceptive pill to skip my ‘period’ whenever I needed to. Holidays, special occasions, summer, just didn’t feel like it – you name it, I’d use any excuse to skip. Around my mid-twenties I decided I no longer wanted to take the contraceptive pill, but this meant I no longer had control of my period and was quickly back to my period interfering with my life every month.
YOU DON’T NEED TO STOP YOUR PERIOD, JUST MAKE IT BETTER
Since I could no longer stop my period, I went on a mission to find a way to make it better. I wanted my period to be more comfortable, less inconvenient and easier to manage. During this search I stumbled upon menstrual cups and period underwear. They quickly became my keys to an infinitely better period experience.
MENSTRUAL CUP
A menstrual cup is a soft, medical-grade silicone cup, that is inserted into the vagina to collect, rather than absorb, the menstrual fluid. Why is it any different to a tampon? Well, a menstrual cup can be left in for longer – up to 12 hours depending on your flow and the manufacturer’s guidelines. So, you can basically go about your whole day without worrying about changing. Then you can empty it, rinse and reinsert for overnight. I completely forget I even have my period when I am using a menstrual cup. Because of this, I no longer dread my period each month, nor does it interfere with my life!
Read More: 10 Ways Using A Menstrual Cup Will Make Your Life Better
This is a menstrual cup! Don’t worry it folds up much smaller for insertion.
Image source: thebetterperiod.com
Using a menstrual cup does mean getting up close and personal with your period. But I’ve found it a wonderful way to embrace my period. Seeing my period collected in a cup, rather than absorbed by a tampon or pad, has given me a better understanding of what my period actually looks like and how heavy my flow is.
PERIOD UNDERWEAR
Period underwear is absorbent underwear you can wear on its own when you have your period, without the need for a pad or tampon. This underwear contains special technology that absorbs the menstrual fluid and locks it away, while also fighting bacteria and smells and keeping you fresh and dry. The underwear is easy to wash and can be reused many times, just like normal underwear. Period underwear gives you the freedom to wear comfortable underwear on your period. It keeps you protected and fresh without the discomfort of wearing a pad or tampon. Period underwear lets you get on with your day without your period holding you back.
Read More: Meet Period Underwear, Your New Favourite Undies!
Period Underwear looks just like normal underwear!
Image source: Instagram @modibodi
As an added bonus, menstrual cups and period underwear are friendlier to the environment. Being reusable means less period waste ends up in landfill from disposable period products. It’s a win-win!
GET TO KNOW YOUR CYCLE
You can also embrace your period by paying more attention to it! How can you do this? Start tracking your menstrual cycle on an app like Clue or get your creative juices flowing by charting it offline.
Yep, you can go old-school and put pen to paper with a menstrual cycle charting notebook. It’s like a journal for your period! The journal will guide you through tracking your cycle daily. You will track important aspects like your basal body temperature, cervical mucus, physical symptoms and emotional symptoms like mood.
It’s a great way to keep control over your intimate data and not have it stored in a third-party app. You also create something tangible to flick through at the end of 12 months. And you can physically see what your cycle has done over this time. I love the look of the Pen & Paper charting journals. They are beautiful!
The Pen & Paper charting journal
Image source: Instagram @fertilitycharting
Once you dive deeper into charting your cycle, you will learn there are different phases of your menstrual cycle. They are just like seasons, and they each come with their own strengths and weaknesses that you can tap into. To learn more about these seasons, check out this TedX talk ‘The Power of Your Period’ by Lucy Peach.
Lucy is amazing, if you ever have the chance to see one of her live shows, I highly recommend it. Last year I went to her show called “Your Greatest Period Ever.” Unconventional yes, but totally awesome!
PERIOD POWER TO YOU
You have made it a long way through this post, well done! There’s so much to talk about when it comes to embracing your period. It’s difficult to scratch the surface in a single blog post. But I hope you are feeling inspired now to:
- recognize your period as the vital sign of overall health that it is
- explore the option of making your period a more comfortable experience with the alternative period products that are available
- get to know your cycle by paying more attention to it and maybe even get creative with it.
We girls, women and menstruators are not cursed with our periods. We are blessed, with a powerful cycle that we can tap into, in order to live our best lives. Now that’s what I call embracing your period!
Author Bio:
Hello! My name is Ellie and I am the author and founder of The Better Period. Using menstrual cups and period underwear changed my period life and I believe everyone’s period life can be so much better by not only using these products but also learning about all things period. The Better Period is a blog written from me to you and from it I hope you will learn how you can have a better period. I hope you will be inspired to spread the better period word to all of your menstruating friends and together we can help everyone to get a BETTER PERIOD!