PERSONAL HYGIENE AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF REGULAR MENSTRUAL CYCLE -Rishmeet Sethi

Good personal hygiene is very important. Keeping hygiene during menstruation can prevent women from infection in the reproductive and urinary tract. During menstruation there is an increased vulnerability to catching Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI's).

Even in today’s era, where several menstrual hygiene products like sanitary napkins, tampons, and menstrual cups are available, 88% of Indian women don’t use the most basic form of menstrual protection available in markets. Instead, many ladies use old rags, muds, leaves, etc.

Menstruation is a normal biological process which is key in maintaining the reproductive health of a woman. Regressive socio-cultural norms pertaining to menstruation are responsible for the use of unhygienic products to manage periods instead of much safer sanitary pads. Cleanliness of genital area and access to safe menstruation hygiene products can reduce the incidents of infection up to 97%. Proper use of sanitary napkins for periods is important to reduce risks associated with periods.

Changing sanitary napkins every 4 hours and washing hands every time sanitary napkins are changed are some small but significant steps towards ensuring good hygiene during periods. Unsafe use of the available commercial sanitary napkins can also result in serious forms of infections like Toxic Shock Syndrome and Vaginitis if not used with care and not changed in time.

Here are some important reasons why it is important to maintain good hygiene during periods:

1. Reduced Risk of Urinary Tract Infections: Using damp and dirty menstrual clothes or using a sanitary napkin for longer than 4 hours can act as a perfect environment for growth and multiplication of harmful bacteria and yeasts. These bacteria can invade your urinary tract including urethra and urinary bladder, resulting in painful urination, lower abdominal pain, back pain, and fever. These complications can be easily avoided by using sun-dried and clean sanitary towels or hygienic sanitary napkins for periods. Cleaning external genitalia with clean water and gentle soap along with a frequent change of sanitary napkins can prevent 97% of such infections.

2. Reduced Incidents of Rashes in Genitals: Abrasion, allergy and prolonged wetness can injure the external genitalia and cause rashes during menstruation. If sanitary pads are not changed frequently, vaginal skin may get infected with bacteria or fungus resulting in painful rashes. Hence they need to be changed as often as possible to prevent allergies and rashes.

3. Minimizing Risk of Cervical Cancer: Cervical cancer is cancer of the opening of the uterus which is caused by Human Papilloma Virus. This virus is transmitted sexually, and unhygienic handling of menstrual waste can spread the infection easily. Sharing of reusable absorbent pads, not washing of hands after changing sanitary napkins and lack of hygienic sanitation are some causes that can increase the risk of developing cervical cancer.

Some steps which can be taken to maintain proper hygiene during menstruation are:

1. Take a shower or bath at least once a day.

2. Change pads or tampons regularly to prevent infections.

3. Take a shower or bath at least once a day.

4. Take a shower or bath at least once a day.

5. Take a shower or bath at least once a day.

6. Make sure that you wash your hands with warm water and soap after changing your pad/tampon/menstrual cup.

7. Make sure that you wash your hands with warm water and soap after changing your pad/tampon/menstrual cup.

8. Make sure that you wash your hands with warm water and soap after changing your pad/tampon/menstrual cup.

Maintaining proper menstrual hygiene is vital to the health, well-being, mobility, and productivity of women and girls. So, let’s break the silence around periods and learn to take care of your body, health, mind, and spirit during menstruation.

A regular and healthy cycle indicates a normal reproductive anatomy. Regular periods are necessary to maintain good health of a woman. There are many factors and issues that lead to disturbance in the hormones of the female body, thus they should be in proper check to ensure good and healthy regular periods. The irregularity of periods may lead to many serious health issues in the female body. Disturbance in the hormones of a woman often results in the many various health problems. Weight gain, irritation, mood fluctuation, fatigue, etc. are some of the most common problems that a woman face. Irregular periods may be a sign of PCOS, PCOD, stress, or even diabetes.

Here are some benefits of having regular menstrual cycle-

Keeps the bones healthy: A good balance between the hormones like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone etc. helps to keep the bone healthy and strong in a woman. There are other hormones too in the female body that should be in proper balance. Hormones like thyroid, parathyroid, cortisol, insulin etc. should be in proper order. If any disturbance is caused in these hormones it eventually leads to irregular periods and will lead to a bone breakdown

Keeps hormones in check: When you are undergoing regular periods, then the sex hormones of the body will be in proper production. It is quite visible when the hormones are in balance. It will keep you happy and light. Thus, there will be no irregularity of periods.

Maintain a healthy weight: Usually, the fat accumulates around our belly. The overproduction of estrogen and the less of insulin also leads to making a woman obese.

Proper thyroid function: Thyroid controls the functioning of every individual cell in the body. It even regulates the process of growth, repair and helps in regulating the metabolism rate in the body. When there is some disturbance in the level of thyroid hormones, it eventually leads to weight gain. High cholesterol, depression, and other various disturbances in the body are also a part of irregular periods. Hence, a proper function of hormones leads to regular periods in the body.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy food, exercising regularly and living a stress free life can help maintain regular cycles.