Taking Care of Your Body During Your Period

Looking after yourself on your period isn't complicated, it's really just a handful of small habits. Get these down and you'll feel fresh, comfortable, and confident all month. Here's everything you need to know.

Changing your products regularly

Pads

• Change every 4 to 6 hours.
• Change more often on heavier days.
• Always swap for a fresh one before bed and when you wake up.

Tampons

• Wash your hands before you put a tampon in and after you take it out. Change every 4 to 6 hours, and more often on heavy days. The American Academy of Pediatrics says 4 to 8. Either way, 8 hours is the hard limit, and a tampon never stays in longer than that.
• Start with a lighter absorbency and go up only if you need to.
• The 8 hours counts from the moment the tampon goes in, not from when you fall asleep. If your night is longer than that, use a pad or period underwear instead. Overnight only works if you put in a fresh tampon right before bed and take it out first thing.

Staying fresh

Everyday habits

• Shower or bathe daily. Warm water is all you need for your vulva (the outside area).
• Wear cotton underwear. It lets your skin breathe.
• Change your underwear daily, and more often if you need to.
• Wipe front to back. This keeps bacteria where it belongs.

What to skip

• Scented sprays or washes near your vagina, they can cause irritation.
• Douching. Your body cleans itself on the inside, no help needed.
• Tight clothes worn all day long.

About odor

A slight smell during your period is completely normal, it's just blood and tissue. To feel fresh: change your products regularly, keep a few wipes handy, wear breathable clothes, and drink plenty of water. If the smell turns strong, that is not something washing will fix, so tell an adult.

Period-proof your day

At school

• Keep supplies in your bag or locker so you're never caught out.
• Wear darker bottoms on heavier days if it helps you relax.
• Know where the nearest bathroom is.
• Tuck a spare pair of underwear in your bag, just in case.

At night

• Use an overnight pad or period underwear.
• Pop a dark towel under you if you're worried about leaks.
• If your flow is heavy enough that you need an alarm to change your pad in the night, set one, and tell a parent or carer too. Tell them as well if you are soaking through onto your clothes or bedding, or passing clots bigger than about 2.5 cm. Bleeding that heavy is worth a doctor knowing about.

Using tampons and cups safely

If you are using something that goes inside you, two things matter more than anything else on this page.

• Change a tampon every 4 to 6 hours, and never leave one in for longer than 8 hours, not even overnight.
• Empty a menstrual cup at least every 12 hours, and more often on a heavy day.
• Wash your hands before you put one in and after you take it out, and wash the cup too.

Those timings exist because of toxic shock syndrome. It is rare, and it can happen with a tampon or with a cup. Take the product out and get an adult straight away if you get a high temperature, or feel hot, cold or shivery, aching muscles, a raised rash that feels rough like sandpaper, or something that comes on fast and feels like flu. Tell the adult you were using one, because that changes what a doctor looks for, and get help the same hour rather than waiting to see if it passes. If you also feel confused, faint or short of breath, that is an ambulance.

Pads and period underwear stay outside your body, so none of this applies to them.

Remember

Taking care of yourself on your period is just part of taking care of *you*. A few simple habits, and you've got this. Sosô's got your back. 💛