Periods, Tampons and all that other girly downstairs stuff
Throughout the tummy aches, hot water bottles, doses of Feminax tablets and inability to function on occasion. I got to thinking, how much do we really know and understand about our "time of the month", the causes of pain, the things that help with the discomfort and all the inflictions we don't understand or believe in because we simply do not know and are mostly too scared to ask, well below I have tried to explain and help you understand what could be the problem "downstairs" if you catch my drift.
Recently I have been reading more and more about young girls developing a terrible illness caused mostly by tampons named TSS or toxic shock syndrome. This sounds highly petrifying and frightfully deadly and in some cases it is. This is simply because we do not understand a lot of its causes and symptoms.
Toxic Shock syndrome or TSS is mostly caused by bacterial toxins entering the bloodstream, either through cuts and open wounds or when a foreign object enters the body, such as a tampon carrying bacteria or when a tampon is left in the body too long. Causing a warm and perfect breeding ground for all bacteria. After all it is a cosy area that babies are grown, so its a soft warm PH balanced environment, creating the perfect home for lots of baby bacteria to grow and multiply. According to some research the sliding of a tampon inside the body may also create microscopic tears which in turn, allow the bacteria to enter into our lovely rivers of blood flowing through the arteries. Symptoms can often be mistaken for a tummy bug, including fever, sickness and headaches.
Nothing, however, is set in stone as yet, these theories are currently unproven. It is a misunderstood disease on many levels. The main cause seems to be when a super absorbent tampon is left in place too long or, any tampon is not changed as regularly as it should be. This is when the bacteria can develop. Tampons must be changed at least every 6 hours no matter if its super absorbent or made for a heavier or lighter flow, we must be sure to keep it fresh and clean! Where and when you can, use a towel/liner, especially at night time as we always should anyway. When your flow is lighter and coming to an end a towel is also recommended, I know they aren't the nicest of things, but at the end of the day, we are all girls, we all have the same problems, anyone who doesn't get that or understand are the sad ones, its a fact of life, DEAL WITH IT!
Another possible effect of tampon use in our lady parts is Thrush. As a woman Thrush is known as the mortal enemy, it is horrible, totally incapacitates you and makes you feel like an irritated camel looking for its water, or a bird without wings. It can be caused by so many different things in life, stress, tampons, diet, ph imbalanced body wash being some of the causes. It can also be caused by sex or irritation from a partner, which is the conclusion jumped to by most people. But they do not understand this is not the only cause!!!
The main saviour I have found for this one is drinking lots of water, eating natural yoghurt and buying Canneston, an over the counter oral tablet and cream. This instantly helps the soreness and irritation. Plus CUT OUT THE SUGAR! Sugar helps the fungus breed, everyone loves a sweet environment after all, even the Thursh virus. The less sugar we put into our systems the better for our PH balance. It will eventually go and as soon as you start to use the Canneston, symptoms will pretty much instantly be relieved. But rest up on the tampons, stress and sex for a bit to ensure you can fully recover, as there is nothing worse than it rearing its ugly head again in a weeks time. Even try changing your body wash to a PH balanced one such as FemFresh, they have recently changed their packaging to make it a little more appealing to us younger ones. Sadly Thrush is not an illness that will ever leave us but there are ways of controlling it and ensuring we keep it at bay!
Something that can sometimes be mistaken for Thrush is called Bacterial Vaginosis, such a gross name for something thats not so bad really. Lets call it the flower disease for now ;) This again can be caused by stress, bacteria, sex and non ph balanced body washes. You notice you have it instantly by a stronger smell and a different discharge. It is a simple PH imbalance. Because our lady parts are very sensitive and have a slightly acidic PH level allowing only good bacteria to survive and the bad bacteria to stay away. As soon as this changes even the subtlest amount it effects us and thats when the "flower disease" can strike. The best treatment for this is, BV gel tubes (these are incredible and will almost instantly relieve the problem. After a weeks use you will be back to normal.) Another great thing to take daily is Acidophilus supplements from Holland and Barrett. This ingredient is also found in natural yoghurt, so munch away on that good stuff and you will be as right as rain in no time at all.
Last but not least is the evil of most evils, the Hades of our underworld, the Darth Vader of our kidneys, the Voldermort of our reproductive system (I think I have pretty much scared you all by now) Cystitis. It can strike when you least expect it, it will hit you at the exact moment you are in the middle of a very important day and it will say hello just as you are about to go on holiday. It is basically an infection of urine and the Urethra caused by many things such as tampons, sex, stress, holding your toilet for too long and perfumed soap products. Untreated this can lead to bigger problems such as kidney infections etc. So please, as soon as you feel like you constantly want to go to the toilet, even though nothing comes out apart from a million razor blades that were once blocking up your insides, the only place you find comfort is on the toilet seat as this feels safe, crying as you feel like the world is going to end, please get help. I find an instant relief is drinking as much water as is humanly possible, as this then allows you to go to the toilet and let water pass through your system helping flush out the kidneys, also sitting in a warm bath really relieves the pain in the tummy. If this isn't possible, immediately track down a hot water bottle and rest this on your lower tummy, it will ease the symptoms. Sugary drinks, caffeinated drinks such as tea and coffee are a big no no. Just water. Even the myth of cranberry juice doesn't really work sadly. The cranberry juice drinks we buy have so much sugar in this counteracts the effects of the full cranberry content we need in our systems to help fight the disease. Holland and Barrett do a great Cranberry concentrate which can be diluted or simply downed like a magic shot of wonder when in desperate need. It is however, slightly disgusting and very sour when downed without water. There have been many times I have been crying on the toilet drinking pure bottles of this stuff to help my white blood cells fight the war happening in my bladder. Sometimes the only thing that will shift Cystitis is antibiotics so if it is that bad you must get to a doctor and sort the problem before it gets any worse. Normally this will disappear almost instantly when you start your prescription, but you must finish the course otherwise it could return as soon as its faded.
I really hope this helps you all in the war against those horrid female diseases we will all experience at least once in our lifetime. I also hope I have brought a greater understanding to you all about what the problem could be and how to be more aware of "down there". There is nothing worse than sitting, trying to get to the bottom of the problem because you are too afraid to ask or too scared to visit the doctor. Remember doctors and nurses see these problems and body parts ALL the time. You will certainly not be the only one in a day with these symptoms. They are there to help and will never judge. Please always seek professional help if you are not sure what the problem is, sooner rather than later if possible as it will only get worse! If there are any questions anyone ever has please let me know and if i can help in anyway I certainly will. Its always amazing to hear from all of you.
Sending you lots of Love and happy health in the coming New Year!!!
Frangelicaa
xxx
Recently I have been reading more and more about young girls developing a terrible illness caused mostly by tampons named TSS or toxic shock syndrome. This sounds highly petrifying and frightfully deadly and in some cases it is. This is simply because we do not understand a lot of its causes and symptoms.
Toxic Shock syndrome or TSS is mostly caused by bacterial toxins entering the bloodstream, either through cuts and open wounds or when a foreign object enters the body, such as a tampon carrying bacteria or when a tampon is left in the body too long. Causing a warm and perfect breeding ground for all bacteria. After all it is a cosy area that babies are grown, so its a soft warm PH balanced environment, creating the perfect home for lots of baby bacteria to grow and multiply. According to some research the sliding of a tampon inside the body may also create microscopic tears which in turn, allow the bacteria to enter into our lovely rivers of blood flowing through the arteries. Symptoms can often be mistaken for a tummy bug, including fever, sickness and headaches.
Nothing, however, is set in stone as yet, these theories are currently unproven. It is a misunderstood disease on many levels. The main cause seems to be when a super absorbent tampon is left in place too long or, any tampon is not changed as regularly as it should be. This is when the bacteria can develop. Tampons must be changed at least every 6 hours no matter if its super absorbent or made for a heavier or lighter flow, we must be sure to keep it fresh and clean! Where and when you can, use a towel/liner, especially at night time as we always should anyway. When your flow is lighter and coming to an end a towel is also recommended, I know they aren't the nicest of things, but at the end of the day, we are all girls, we all have the same problems, anyone who doesn't get that or understand are the sad ones, its a fact of life, DEAL WITH IT!
Another possible effect of tampon use in our lady parts is Thrush. As a woman Thrush is known as the mortal enemy, it is horrible, totally incapacitates you and makes you feel like an irritated camel looking for its water, or a bird without wings. It can be caused by so many different things in life, stress, tampons, diet, ph imbalanced body wash being some of the causes. It can also be caused by sex or irritation from a partner, which is the conclusion jumped to by most people. But they do not understand this is not the only cause!!!
The main saviour I have found for this one is drinking lots of water, eating natural yoghurt and buying Canneston, an over the counter oral tablet and cream. This instantly helps the soreness and irritation. Plus CUT OUT THE SUGAR! Sugar helps the fungus breed, everyone loves a sweet environment after all, even the Thursh virus. The less sugar we put into our systems the better for our PH balance. It will eventually go and as soon as you start to use the Canneston, symptoms will pretty much instantly be relieved. But rest up on the tampons, stress and sex for a bit to ensure you can fully recover, as there is nothing worse than it rearing its ugly head again in a weeks time. Even try changing your body wash to a PH balanced one such as FemFresh, they have recently changed their packaging to make it a little more appealing to us younger ones. Sadly Thrush is not an illness that will ever leave us but there are ways of controlling it and ensuring we keep it at bay!
Something that can sometimes be mistaken for Thrush is called Bacterial Vaginosis, such a gross name for something thats not so bad really. Lets call it the flower disease for now ;) This again can be caused by stress, bacteria, sex and non ph balanced body washes. You notice you have it instantly by a stronger smell and a different discharge. It is a simple PH imbalance. Because our lady parts are very sensitive and have a slightly acidic PH level allowing only good bacteria to survive and the bad bacteria to stay away. As soon as this changes even the subtlest amount it effects us and thats when the "flower disease" can strike. The best treatment for this is, BV gel tubes (these are incredible and will almost instantly relieve the problem. After a weeks use you will be back to normal.) Another great thing to take daily is Acidophilus supplements from Holland and Barrett. This ingredient is also found in natural yoghurt, so munch away on that good stuff and you will be as right as rain in no time at all.
Last but not least is the evil of most evils, the Hades of our underworld, the Darth Vader of our kidneys, the Voldermort of our reproductive system (I think I have pretty much scared you all by now) Cystitis. It can strike when you least expect it, it will hit you at the exact moment you are in the middle of a very important day and it will say hello just as you are about to go on holiday. It is basically an infection of urine and the Urethra caused by many things such as tampons, sex, stress, holding your toilet for too long and perfumed soap products. Untreated this can lead to bigger problems such as kidney infections etc. So please, as soon as you feel like you constantly want to go to the toilet, even though nothing comes out apart from a million razor blades that were once blocking up your insides, the only place you find comfort is on the toilet seat as this feels safe, crying as you feel like the world is going to end, please get help. I find an instant relief is drinking as much water as is humanly possible, as this then allows you to go to the toilet and let water pass through your system helping flush out the kidneys, also sitting in a warm bath really relieves the pain in the tummy. If this isn't possible, immediately track down a hot water bottle and rest this on your lower tummy, it will ease the symptoms. Sugary drinks, caffeinated drinks such as tea and coffee are a big no no. Just water. Even the myth of cranberry juice doesn't really work sadly. The cranberry juice drinks we buy have so much sugar in this counteracts the effects of the full cranberry content we need in our systems to help fight the disease. Holland and Barrett do a great Cranberry concentrate which can be diluted or simply downed like a magic shot of wonder when in desperate need. It is however, slightly disgusting and very sour when downed without water. There have been many times I have been crying on the toilet drinking pure bottles of this stuff to help my white blood cells fight the war happening in my bladder. Sometimes the only thing that will shift Cystitis is antibiotics so if it is that bad you must get to a doctor and sort the problem before it gets any worse. Normally this will disappear almost instantly when you start your prescription, but you must finish the course otherwise it could return as soon as its faded.
I really hope this helps you all in the war against those horrid female diseases we will all experience at least once in our lifetime. I also hope I have brought a greater understanding to you all about what the problem could be and how to be more aware of "down there". There is nothing worse than sitting, trying to get to the bottom of the problem because you are too afraid to ask or too scared to visit the doctor. Remember doctors and nurses see these problems and body parts ALL the time. You will certainly not be the only one in a day with these symptoms. They are there to help and will never judge. Please always seek professional help if you are not sure what the problem is, sooner rather than later if possible as it will only get worse! If there are any questions anyone ever has please let me know and if i can help in anyway I certainly will. Its always amazing to hear from all of you.
Sending you lots of Love and happy health in the coming New Year!!!
Frangelicaa
xxx
Loved this post (the most you can love a post about feminine hygiene haha) - it definitely needs to be talked about more! :) x
ReplyDeleteZoe x
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