‘Periods’ ouch…was that a bit direct? Well what can be the indirect way of saying it? Of course we all know about the codes – ‘the curse’, women’s problems, ‘that time of the month’, being low, etc.

Ever since a girl gets her first periods she is introduced to the practice of the deliberate attempt of euphemizing menstruation.  Is it a crime to chum in India?

People openly commit grave crimes and even have the guts to film their crimes and Whatsapp the video but menstruation becomes a taboo.

This post isn’t about the taboo practices during menstruation. But I want to highlight the media depicting such practices.

In media other than the sanitary advertisements do we ever talk menstruation?

Even when we have a scene showing periods it is a hush hush affair.

For example the film ‘Jeans’ starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays on the stereotype that during periods a girl can’t go to the temple, can’t get out of her home for a couple of days, etc.

These rituals had been a very important part of Hindu mythology. The rules and depiction of a woman menstruating is shown in this serial ‘Mahabharat’ (B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharat).

When the Pandavas along with Draupadi visit the Kauravas, she sits aloof in a room.

Sitting in a separate room during menstruation

When the character Dhritrashtra ask about her, his wife Gandhari exclaims that she would be coming in front of him only after 3 days. (During menstruation it is a common practice to not come in front of the male members of the family and stay aloof)

Menstrual topic in Mahabharat

Even the serial ‘Balika Vadhu’ that started with the concept of child marriage depicted the mannerisms of the household when a girl in the family starts chumming. As per some traditions in Rajasthan a girl is not even allowed to enter the kitchen during her chums.

Balika Vadhu

Since the girl doesn’t know of this she obviously panics at the sight of blood. It is extremely important that the topic is discussed with the girl beforehand. A healthy discussion is very essential.

In some cultures the first periods is celebrated to mark the occasion. This is shown in the Marathi film ‘Kaksparsh’ when the child bride gets her first periods.

When the child bride gets her first periods

On one hand where we aren’t even open to talk about this topic, we have customs celebrating this phase of a woman’s life.

If you thought menstruation myths were only restricted to India then it will shock you to know the kind of thought process involved with respect to menstruation globally.

In a 1991 Japanese film, ‘Only Yesterday’, a girl is shown to be menstruating and is teased by a bunch of guys. These guys tell others to not touch the ball she had touched saying “You will catch her period.”

Yes like we have to deal with ‘don’t touch the pickle’ there is even a concept of ‘don’t touch the ball’.

Menstruation is either looked as a misery or some subject of ridicule. The media (except the sanitary ads) hasn’t really made the efforts to create awareness about this topic.

Even now there are many households where the girl tends to shy away watching an ad of sanitary napkin with the male members of the family.

Not restricting only to India this topic needs a strong worldwide awareness instead of just a taboo.

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Period problems – Getting accurate information about how a woman feels during in her periods is hard to come by because there are varied problems that every individual have to face.

However, there are a common thread of problems and the key ones of them are night night-overflow and ending up with stained bedsheets. A significant number of women almost writhe in stomach pain thereby not being able to budge from their bed. We, hence dread those five days and when they approach near we fidget a lot, avoid white clothes and be mentally prepared to take leaves.

However, as per the above discussion, here are some common period problems that every woman face during her periods:

Period problems –

The hunger pangs:

When the body is ripped of so much blood, you are likely to feel hungry and you grow a liking towards everything containing high calories ranging from sweets to cheese. Talking about sweet, some women make chunks of cakes and brownies disappear in minutes.

Fashion is a difficult ball game then:

You are leaking at your bottoms so you organically avoid whites. But then you crave for comfort and choose the big-sized panties ditching your thongs or boyshorts. Loose clothes too are opted by many women because comfort becomes they key.

Angry bird on the loose:

You tend to lose temper every now and then and people around you are subjected to your wrath because you don’t like what’s happening down there and it leaves you irritable round the clock.

Beach holidays are a strict no-no:

You are in constant fear that the tampon strings would poke out to wave at that hottie with Frisbee any point of time. Well, that’s embarrassing to the point infinity. Isn’t it? So you steer clear of beach holidays with a poker face.

You are shy to open your handbag before your colleagues:

Because that has a new guest which is your sanitary napkin. You fear it might pop up in their sight leaving you crimson so you rather sneak out in the toilet to open your bag.

You put your colleague to the rescue:

You can’t keep calm in the fear of getting your bottom stained from a indiscreet sitting position so you keep asking your female colleague to check whether or not you have stained it already. Worse, you carry extra clothes too, just in case.

You lash out at your lover to plan a vacay then:

Because a no-sex vacation is no-brainer so even if he seems okay with it, you make sure he never is in future. You hate everything and everyone around you, especially the sexless vacations.

You discover you are running out of napkins:

Periods have its own way of surprising you and it knocks the door just when you weren’t ready. We presume, every woman have suffered this nightmare to run out of napkins when periods came without notice.

We all become worry-warts when those days come and face these likely problems. Only a woman can understand these peroid problems of another woman.

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Back Pain During Periods – Lower back pain during periods is a common thing to experience.

But oh God, the pain is unbearable at times. Periods are okay but the pain makes it worse, right? I remember, as soon as I get my periods, my back starts hurting so, so bad. So much at times, that I even start screaming. I don’t even feel like getting up from my bed. Do you have the similar problem? If yes, then I undoubtedly feel your pain.

It is really hard to stop the pain, right? But ladies, do not worry. Why, you ask? Oh because, with these below mentioned tips, you can easily reduce the pain. Now, isn’t that good enough? I tried & it worked a bit. So guess what? Now I won’t be screaming anymore. You can try these tips too.

Here they are –

• DRINK WATER

I know that during our periods, we usually don’t feel like eating anything. Some don’t even feel like drinking water. But hey, that’s where we do the mistake. One should have the habit of drinking water to stay hydrated.

• HEATING PAD

Place a heating pad on your back to reduce the pain. It really works. Or else, soak a towel in hot water, wring out the excess water & then apply it onto your lower back. Many believe that this tip really helps a lot to reduce the pain.

• EXERCISING

I know it’s hard to exercise on the day you get period. But this is about exercising daily. You don’t have to necessarily hit the gym. You can do simple exercises at home as well. You can exercise at home so that on the day you get periods, you’ll feel less pain.

• MASSAGE

You can tell someone to massage you. I always tell my mom & that’s how the pain reduces. I undoubtedly feel good. You can ask someone to help you out. So you know, their warm hands can do the magic.

• HOT SHOWER

What’s better than hot shower? Dare to get up & have a hot shower bath. It’ll surely reduce your lower back pain. Many believe that hot shower really reduces the pain quickly. This is the best therapy one could have during their period days.

(Image Source: Bariatric Cookery, Spine health, Livestrong)

The post Ladies, Follow These Tips If Your Lower Back Hurts During Periods! appeared first on Youngisthan.in.

Girls suffer from lot of discomfort during periods and due to the taboo many girls go through it very secretively. Some girls may not be aware about few things and some religiously follow age old myths which jeopardise health. It’s wise if you refrain yourself from certain things for your own good.

Today we have rounded few  Things You Should NOT Do During Periods  and it will be better if you avoid them for few more days.

1. You should avoid these foods

Trans and saturated fats can lead to inflammation during period. Instead of eating chocolates, sweets and dairy other products one should go for lean meats, beans and fish to imbibe more proteins which in turn reduce your pain. Also for some people caffeine cab worsen the agitated moods and pain.

2. You should not skip meals

Girls should not forget that they are losing good amount of blood from their body so have meals on time and keep your stomach filled to restore energy.

3. You should avoid unprotected sex

There’s a myth that one cannot get pregnant during periods. The chances of getting pregnant are high during this time. Also it’s better to avoid intercourse to avoid any infections.

4. You should avoid heavy workouts or physical work

You can go for some specific Yoga and other exercises  but one should stay away from heavy workouts and physical work. As during this of month girls are suffering from lot of stomach cramps or back ache.

5. You should avoid cloth as sanitary napkin

It is advisable to go for sanitary napkin as there are chances of leakage and girls should also note that it’s very vital to change your napkin after every 3-4 hours in order to avoid infections and bad odor.

6. You should avoid over cleaning and bathing

Of course you should bath but not to overdo it. Many girls feel unhygienic during their periods but it’s also important to not over clean the vaginal area as good bacteria will wash away.

7. You should avoid running out of napkins and tampons

All girls must carry sanitary napkins with them. One must be ready when you are on-the-go with extra pads properly stored in bag.

8. Avoid using soaps and vaginal hygiene products

Vagina has its own cleaning mechanism so washing off the good bacteria with soaps and other products is not good at all. Use soap for external parts and for vaginal area you can use warm water.

We hope by refraining these things you stay fit and healthy during your periods!

The post Attention Girls! 8 Things You Should NOT Do During Periods appeared first on Youngisthan.in.

The other day, while mindlessly strolling through a heap of web pages, looking for something interesting and enriching to read, I fatefully bumped into this story from another land, that applauded a woman who took a leap further in an attempt to break the PERIOD TABOOS, and RAN A MARATHON, WITHOUT WEARING ANY PROTECTION, while her period blood went dripping down her legs for the world to see (the pictures went viral on the web).

Ok, great!

Bravo lady! All claps for you! Now we can definitely be proud of the fact that we women get periods and there is nothing unholy and absolutely nothing to be ashamed about that! It is, after all, a natural body procedure, just like drinking water, right?

Now my question to the people who loved this hooray deed of hers and applauded her left, right and centre, will you applaud a man in the same gallantry fashion if he ran a marathon length with pee running down his legs and him screaming aloud “Oh see, I am peeing, it’s natural, I can run with the pee, there’s nothing to be ashamed about!!”

If your answer is NO, which I am quite sure it would be, I ask, why not?

He too is experiencing a natural bodily function. So what if it’s pee, can’t he pee in public and let people know, loud and clear that he is peeing?

Why that only, why can’t people start running with poop spilling down their pants and say “Oh so what, it’s just poop! Everyone does that. What’s there to be ashamed about?”

So next time, when you get a nature’s call, no need to rush to the toilet or take necessary measures, you can just use the space and applaud self that you are breaking the toilet taboos.

No, don’t get me wrong here.

I am, with all my sincere heart, all for Women Empowerment and breaking the stale taboos running in the system and let each and every girl breathe an air of freedom.

But, I totally miss the point of shoving period blood in people’s face to make them understand that having periods is a very natural process for every girl. If someone asked me, I would never hide that I am on my periods, be it a man or an elderly male relative, for that matter. But I would also not subject them to the actual sight of having periods, for the sake of being open about it, in the name of modern and evolved thought processes.

Just like any gentleman would not subject a lady to the sight of a men’s washroom, just because he needs to break certain taboos.

Talking openly and encouraging other younger brigade to talk about it with a healthy approach, be it talking to men, sons, husbands, male colleagues and elderly males in family about this may make a point.

But running down the street with blood streams running down your legs? I am sorry, doesn’t ring a  bell here!

Do share your thoughts with me. 🙂

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