The Movie 'PadMan' is making waves much across India and is now attracting the attention of the international media as well, to a problem most women and girls have been facing in India. The movie is inspired by the life of Arunachalam Muruganatham, the inventor of a low-cost sanitary pad the manufacturing machine. He fought social stigma and faced social ostracization for trying to understand the fears and discomfort of women. He worked hard to come up with a low-cost sanitary pad that could be afforded by the poor women all across India.

Taboo:

The taboos, misgivings, and fears surrounding the menstruating women are not new, it is deeply rooted in our culture and its teachings. Such reservations exist in all the cultures whether it is Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity or Buddhism. There are several kinds of rules imposed on women like the prohibition of visiting a temple, physical intimacy, cooking and many more.

Present Condition:

India is a land of contrasts and while there are working women who do not think twice about pulling an 'all-nighter' at work, you also have women who have probably never stepped into a well-constructed or a clean bathroom in all their lives. What any woman of this generation would consider basic menstrual hygiene is probably grossly missing in the latter s case.

Apart from having minimum water to clean themselves, they use sanitary cloths (really old and discarded cloth) which are washed and reused for every period. They have very less water to wash these sanitary cloths and they are forced to dry them out in a dark and dingy corner of their house lest anyone sees it. In fact, there are several reports of women in rural India using straw, ashes, and sand instead of sanitary pads.

Complications:

Majority of such women in the rural areas report reproductive tract infections.

Lack of awareness amongst men about menstruation makes them ill-informed. As a result, they follow the mindless rituals and beliefs which make the problem much larger than it already is.

Lack of awareness about menstrual hygiene management has resulted in several young girls picking up infections thanks to the usage of hay, straw, and sand as a replacement for sanitary pads.

But, Bollywood's latest blockbuster 'PadMan' has broken the silence and stigma by starting out the conversation openly about sanitary pads. Having said that, below given are some of the basic hygiene tips that should be encouraged in every single woman.

Some Basic Hygiene tips

There are several small things women can do to prevent issues and problems. This can be done by following some simple changes in your routine:

Make sure you change pads frequently to avoid infections.

Soaps and Vaginal washes should be avoided as these can wash the  good bacteria  away.

Avoid wearing jeans and tight-fitting clothes as this can cause excessive sweating.

Make sure you dispose of the used pads correctly and wash your hands with warm water and soap to prevent bacterial infections.

While such awareness about menstrual hygiene is in its nascent stages, there is hope and that is thanks to men like Arunachalam Muruganantham. So, take a step forward and play your part in spreading awareness about menstrual hygiene and its effect on a female s overall health.

The PadMan Effect - Why Menstrual Hygiene is Such a Big Deal In India!

PMS is one of the worst food sensitive diseases. Symptoms include moodiness, bloating and headache. All it takes is one symptom to crop up for the whole body to go down. While environmental changes and preventive measures play a crucial role in dealing with this condition, careful choice of food goes a long way in keeping PMS under control. Here is a list of some best and worst food for PMS:

Foods that are Good During PMS:

Brussels sprouts, Artichokes and Broccoli: These veggies with high fibre content are known to ease bloating. Furthermore, the high water content of these veggies effectively deals with gas, discomfort, and puffiness. The idea is to refrain from foods with high sodium content that only contributes to the suffering.
Quinoa, what berry and popcorn: These foods help to deal with a short temper which is a very common occurring of PMS. Some other good effects of a high carb diet such as these include fighting anxiousness, depression and maintain composure. Consuming whole grain on a daily basis also helps to keep the mood cheerful. This happens because of the added secretion of the feel good factor hormone called serotonin.
Banana: Many women tend to face sleep disturbances before the period sets in. A recent study at the John Hopkins University found that less sleep before the period makes a woman susceptible to cramps and discomfort. Banana contains melatonin. The latter helps the body maintain its natural rhythm.
Eggs: The cravings during PMs can be very difficult to handle. It is therefore very important to start the day a very healthy breakfast. The right amount of protein and healthy fat present in an egg helps to keep the body energised throughout the day. Scrambled egg and an ounce of chicken is a perfect answer to PMs craving.
Some foods to avoid during PMS:

Processed fats: Processed fat contains a lot of processed fats, sodium and salt. Processed fats make a woman puffy and increment bloating. Processed foods contain very high protein content that becomes very difficult for the body to process during PMS.
Sugary foods: Craving for sugary food is pretty normal during PMS. However, too much sugar consumption during PMS fluctuate the blood sugar level. They also aggravate tension and mood swings. The latest study has found that refined sugar can disturb the immune system and creates a lot of fatigue in a woman.
Caffeine: Restricting caffeine during the period can help prevent the cramps and bloating. Certain caffeine such as coffee, cigarettes and chocolate can aggravate breast tenderness, anxiety, and depression. What's more, they systematically create a craving for sweet and other caffeine-related stuff. A better alternative to caffeine during PMs is herbal and green tea, water and fruit juice.

PMS - Foods You Must Have or Avoid During It!

Painful menstruation or menstrual cramp is termed as Dysmenorrhoea and refers to the discomfort or pain associated with menstruation. In 80% cases, cramps are an integral part of the preliminary dysmenorrhoea syndrome. Though this symptom is not deemed as a very serious clinical problem, the pain and its associated symptoms are acute enough to keep an affected woman from normal functioning for the first one or two days. These symptoms may take over one or two days prior to menses, reach their pinnacle on the first day and subside slowly with the passage of time. The pain can be typically depicted as being ached, cramping of the stomach and often reaching to the lower back portion.

There is probably no woman across the world, who has not undergone the painful menstrual cramps. But don't fret! Homeopathy treatment has a range of remedies to relieve you off this unease.

1. Cimicifuga: Normally menstruation cramps indicate a pain that flows across the pelvic region from one side to the other. This remedy will particularly be helpful in neuralgic and rheumatic cases as well as congestive cases where it works effectively with Veratrum Viride and Belladonna. It is also very efficient in combating headaches preceding menses, acute pains across abdomen, labor like pains and scanty flow.

2. Caulophyllum: This remedy is great for treating spasms and pain that flow downwards. The spasmodic periodic pains that need to be treated with Caulophyllum are mostly concentrated around the groin and radiate to other surrounding parts. Gelsemium can also be taken for treating neuralgic as well as congestive dysmenorrhoea when the pain bears down. The pains are often labor-like and spasmodic with flow of pale urine. In order to get faster relief, it can be taken along with hot bag press.

3. Belladonna: If you are afflicted with the congestive forms of menstrual cramps, then you may take Belladonna. In most cases, a pain and discomfort is felt prior to the flow and a feeling of something heavy around the vulva can be relieved if you sit up straight. This pain occurs and subsides all of a sudden making the flow clotted and restricted. This kind of dysmenorrhoea is extremely painful and makes the genital dry. In case the pain gets severe and cuts through the pelvis, then Veratrum viride can also be administered.

4. Zanthoxylum: This remedy is very effective in fighting dysmenorrhoea and uterine spasms. It is very effective when the pain is burning, agonising and extending down through the thighs making the limbs paralysed and numb. You can take this measure when the pain is affecting your ovaries as this medicine works closely for neuralgic form of menstrual cramps. Women with delicate nervous temperament can also take this remedy as it relieves from headache and eye pain caused from 
Menstruation.

Homeopathy has a huge range of medicines and it becomes difficult for a commoner to select an ideal one. Therefore, when you are deeply affected with menstrual cramps, you can always consult an expert before administering any medicine.

Pain During Menstruation

4 Types of irregular periods and their causes

Menstruation is a cyclical process when at a certain time of the month, the lining of the uterus is shed and vaginal bleeding occurs. Sometimes there can be abnormalities in this cycle. Irregular periods in women are abnormal variations in the length, volume, duration and quality of menstrual cycle. Irregular periods aren't uncommon among menstruating women.

Abnormalities in periods can be of the following nature:

- Varying time between successive periods
- Loss of more or less blood than usual
- Varying length of your periods

Based on these categorizations, the different types of periods are:

1. Irregular menstrual bleeding - Irregular menstrual bleeding is characterized by bleeding that takes place for more than 20 days in a solitary cycle, which can lengthen over a period of a year.

2. Absent menstrual bleeding - In this type of menstrual bleeding, a woman does not get her period at all within a span of 90 days.

3. Heavy menstrual bleeding - This involves excessive blood loss that may intervene with a woman's physical, psychological and social quality of life.

4. Heavy and prolonged menstrual bleeding - This is less common than heavy menstrual bleeding and is different from in terms of duration. A different type of therapy is required to treat the condition as it is more severe in nature.

5. Light menstrual bleeding - Light menstrual bleeding is characterized by less blood loss than usual.

Irregular periods can be caused due to several reasons. Some of them are:

- Switching from one birth control pill to another or taking certain medication
- Excessive exercising
- Breastfeeding or pregnancy
- Stress
- Hyperthyroidism
- Polycystic ovary disease (PCOS)
- Uterine fibroids
- Getting an IUD (intrauterine device)
- Gradual thickening of uterine lining or the development of polyps on the uterine lining
- Scarring of the lining of the uterus can also be a possible cause

Changes in the body's level of hormones can also disrupt a woman's periods. Estrogen and progesterone are the chief hormones that play a crucial part in the menstrual cycle and influence the flow as well, thereby giving rise to abnormalities if their balance is disturbed.

When it comes to treating irregular periods, modifying your lifestyle, treating the underlying issue behind an irregular cycle, changing your birth control pills (if that is the cause), opting for hormone therapy or even surgery are viable treatment options.



All about Irregular Periods : Their Types and Causes

Menstrual cycle is an integral part of a woman's life. Isse mahilao ki reproductive shakti ka pata lagta hai. A typical menstrual cycle has a timeframe of about 28 days. Lekin kuch ladies mein yeh timeframe 35 days tak bhi ho sakta hai. Every female has different cycle. Usually, it is 11th to 14th day, counting from 1st day of the period, are the most fertile days.

Periods are important because it signifies the childbearing age of a woman. In a normal menstrual cycle, the innermost lining of the uterus starts to thicken to prepare itself for embedding of a growing foetus. In the absence of a foetus, the lining breaks down and results in periods.

Aap periods ke baad kitne din mein pregnant hote hain ye aapke menstrual cycle ki length pe depend karta hai. Typically, in a woman with a normal menstrual cycle length of 28 days, ovulation happens around the 14th day.

Ovulation ke waqt aapki ovary ek mature egg release karti hai. The released egg sits in the Fallopian tube to meet a sperm for fertilization, jiske turant baad aapki pregnancy start ho jaati hai. While a sperm can survive in the uterus of a woman for up to three to five days, female egg sirf 12 to 24 hours ke liye available rehta hai.

Yadi is timeframe ke beech sperm, egg se mil jaata hai toh aapke pregnant hone ke chances zyada hote hain. While it may not be a great idea to try getting pregnant after ovulation, egg release hone se pehle agar aap koshish karein toh pregnancy possible hai.

Therefore, periods hone ke baad se 12th to 16th day pregnancy ke liye kaafi crucial hote hain. In case you have unprotected sex during these days, then there are bright chances that you may get pregnant in this window.

There are certain signs of ovulation that indicates that your body is the most fertile in those particular days. For example, ovulation ki date ke aaspaas aap abdominal bloating, pet ke ek side mein dard aur increases sense of smell mehsus kar sakte hain.

In addition, there is an excessive production of clear cervical mucous, which closely resembles egg white. Agar aap ye symptoms experience karein to iska matlab hai ki your ovulation date is near and you can try and get pregnant around this time.

One way to determine your individual fertile period is to keep a record of your menstrual cycle (for eight or more months, if possible). Select your shortest cycle (say 27 days) and subtract 18 from it. The resulting number nine is your first potentially fertile day. Subtract 11 from your longest cycle (say 30 days) and you get 19. This marks your last potentially fertile day. So if the cycles you measured over several months were between 27 and 30 days long, you would be most fertile somewhere between days 9 and 19. 

This is still a very wide window of opportunity. You can narrow it further by charting your basal body temperature (your morning temperature before getting out of bed). For most women, it ranges from 96 to 98 degrees Fahrenheit. When your temperature rises slightly (four- to eight-tenths of a degree), it usually means you have ovulated within the past 12 to 24 hours. 


Periods Ke Kitne Din Baad Pregnant Hote Hai

How to ensure a normal period when you're suffering from PCOS?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder affecting 12-18% of women of reproductive age. PCOS is a condition where at least two of the following conditions occur:

1. Appearance of acne, excessive hair on your body

2. Irregular delayed periods

3. The presence of 10 to 12 small cysts in the ovaries.

You do not ovulate each month, and some women do not ovulate at all if they are suffering from PCOS. This is because although the ovaries of women, suffering from PCOS, usually have many follicles, they do not develop fully and so ovulation often does not occur. If you do not ovulate, you may not have periods.

So what can you do to have normal periods?

Although some women with PCOS have regular periods, high levels of androgen and also the hormone insulin, can disrupt the monthly cycle of ovulation and menstruation. If you have PCOS, your periods may be irregular or may stop altogether. The average menstrual cycle is 28 days with one ovulation, but anywhere between 21 and 35 days is considered normal, and for a woman suffering from PCOS, this cycle can take as much as 3 months to complete.

To ensure a normal period during PCOS, your doctor can prescribe hormonal contraception. The medication can also reduce menstrual cramps, acne, and excess hair growth. The estrogen and progesterone in hormonal contraception act to override the body's normal hormonal control of menstrual cycle and ovulation. Production of hormones such as testosterone is greatly reduced by the oral contraceptive pill. Some oral contraceptive pills not only aim to block the effects of testosterone but also increase insulin resistance.

By allowing the regular shedding of the uterus lining during menstruation, the pill can reduce the risk of developing endometrial cancer while ensuring you get normal periods.

Note: it is important that you closely watch your weight. Lifestyle changes and weight reduction help a lot when you are suffering from PCOS.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'consult'.
Related Tip: How Not to Miss Your Workout During Your PERIOD

How to Ensure a Normal Period When You're Suffering from PCOS?

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