Happy menstrual hygiene day! [AMPS awareness]
I wanted to make a post about AMPS for this day! (Alternative Menstural Products) This is a little long but I hope you stick through it!
Well as we all know, tampons aren't good for us. Did you know pads aren't really either because of their chemical/bacterial content? They're not sterile like we may be lead to believe. 😱 Many people experience sensitivities in the form of rashes and infections, but may not ever connect the two.
What alternatives are there? There are (to my own knowledge) cloth pads, menstrual cups, sea sponge tampons, and cloth tampons.
Wait what? Cloth pads? Cup? Sea sponges? Sounds weird to some I know, but I promise it's not and they are lovely things that have been around for years! I believe cups have been around since the 30s.
I wanted to touch on TSS since that's a common worry. Any thing that absorbs does have a TSS risk but a menstrual cup (ZERO associated cases) doesn't if that is a big fear to you this may be great news. I use cloth pads and cups, and love them! I experienced itching and imbalances and never connected it to disposables but it has never happened again since switching. This is a common thing people report when they switch. Many also report lighter, shorter, less crampy periods.
If you want to learn more there are tons of places online to check out but I always direct people to Precious Star Pads on YouTube to get them started. Do a lot of research on things like cups, they are NOT one size fits all! If you tried them in the past and did not like them, don't give up hope because you could very well just need a different brand. :) You can also ask questions here and I will do my best to answer them.
Since I get these questions frequently on this app here's a some quick answers.
Cups (could apply to sea sponges) do not usually hurt to insert or remove unless there's user error or the cup is just not the right one for you. They also [once you get the hang of them] aren't messy.
Cups have a recommended wear time for up to 12 hours! How cool is that? With no TSS risk as stated above. But you can empty it as much as you please since it doesn't absorb it won't be dry and hurt to take out like a tampon.
Cloth pads do not smell! The smell we know from pads is the chemicals in the pad. You can store your pads dry for up to a week with no smells usually.
Cloth pads won't leak [if you have the correct absorbency and change it as needed]!
Cloth pads aren't torn up rags, they're usually super cute patterns. You can have any pattern, shape, size, and absorbency you can think up.
Cloth pads can be used for those pesky pee sneezes some women experience after childbirth.
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