How women's sanitary products may cause sexual health problems.
My mother and sister both used tampons. They couldn't stand pads. I grew up seeing tampons as normal and not knowing many other choices, or even that most women in the world don't have access to disposible sanitary products.
Being struck down with vulvodynia at the age of 12 meant that after a few, exceedingly painful, experiences with tampons, I decided to ditch tampons in favor of pads. Two years later, I read about the death of 15 year old Alice Kilvert from tampon related toxic shock and I resolved never to try them again.
When I became a mother, I used cloth diapers on my baby because they didn't contain chemicals and fill up landfill sites. Little did I know the pads I was wearing did not biodegrade and were full of chemicals that agrevated my vulvodynia, could cause painful sex and endometriosis. I was ashamed that I got to 30 years of age before I even realised that.
So when my period returned when my son was 9 months old, I vowed it would be the last one using disposibles and I bought myself lots of cloth pads including some tie dyed ones in purple, blue, green and funky orange, from bumbeano nappies. Am I disgusted by the idea? Not at all. I'm revelling in the transition and for the first time in my life, I am actually looking forward to bleeding!
