Periods and Pandemic : How the world is dealing with it?

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#MondayMenstruation

Lockdown due to coronavirus all over India has made it difficult to fulfill the basic hygiene requirements! In India, the extension of lockdown had a severe impact on the accessibility to these hygiene products. Due to this reason, it is getting difficult for women to sustain their hygiene in secrecy and dignity.

How exactly is the government resolving this situation??

The government of India, consisting of both central and states, along with several NGO’s is trying their level best to create awareness about the importance of maintaining menstrual hygiene. They have also tried imparting some safe practices, especially among adolescent girls who need to let about these practices to avoid unfortunate diseases. It is important to teach these safe hygiene practices into young girls to help them for getting afflicted with disastrous diseases caused due to poor menstrual hygiene.

Owing to the efforts made by the government, many subsidies got enacted regarding free supply to sanitary napkins to the girls living in rural areas or to those who cannot afford these napkins. The government has tried to

Low-cost variants have been efficiently made available through local production
Free distribution
subsidized prices.

The government is seeing its efforts ripe as a fruit for the past few decades. Women all over India have started accepting and using more hygienic and safe practices.

But due to the lockdown and high price rise in some areas, women have been necessarily forced to adopt their old ways of dealing with menstruation. Due to unavailability and access to the hygiene maintaining products, girls are adopting various Orthodox methods:

Same menstrual napkin used for a prolonged duration.
Using old clothes and rags instead of napkins

What about using the Reusable sanitary napkins?

Due to unhygienic conditions, women develop urinary tract infections. The scarcity of water also has eliminated the usage of reusable napkins. These napkins need to be thoroughly washed and dried before second use. The scarcity of water is not the only obstruction in the usage of reusable napkins but also plays a key role in the cleaning process. This problem often doesn’t allow women to clean and sanitizer themselves as often as they should.

In normal conditions, when women have RTIs, they would avoid going to doctors in rural areas. With other health assistance halted and the health workers engaged in the ongoing pandemic response actions, RTI symptoms resulting from poor menstrual hygiene go unaddressed. Hence, some actions should take place to give these women access to hygiene essentials.

How to resolve the hygiene crisis?

Following steps can help the women suffering from such conditions:

Necessary ease can be easily laid on essential menstrual products through the public and private sectors. Large-scale producers of sanitary napkins should facilitate the supply to local shops and medical stores. They can also facilitate the supply across various states.
The manufacturers can ensure that commercial prices are well within MRP. The girls and women who are incapable of accessing the disposable sanitary pads have initiated making homemade pads at home. This, in a way, is critical if they don’t follow the correct procedure to make it! There are a number of organizations like Jatan Sansthan who give guidelines to pads at home under hygienic conditions.
Quarantine facilities should have isolated facilities, especially for women. They must provide underwear and sanitary napkins to the females.

In times of such catastrophe, often compromises with hygiene and the health of women is recklessly made. These compromises can lead to uncertain diseases leading to even her death! Thus it becomes important to take some actions for a woman’s dignity and rights.

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I got my first period at the age of 13. Always painful, heavy and irregular. My gynaecologist said the condition will improve with age. And yes, it did. The irregular periods were gone by the age of 16-17. But what never left my company was this pain, this unmerciful and burning pain. I remember sometimes I used to faint because of the pelvic pain and heavy bleeding. I see many girls who play, swim, party and lead a normal life even when they are menstruating. I would say “Girls you must be God’s favourite”.

So, I considered myself a not so favourite of God and started leading my life accepting the monthly challenges. But then my life took another turn. When I was 26, I started getting random cramps. Cramps like mini ninjas were trying to kill me from inside. Getting down from my bed in the morning became like a battle. I rushed to my gynaecologist. And after all the scans and tests, I was diagnosed with Endometriosis, a chronic illness I have to live with.

I had not heard of endometriosis before nor had any member of my family. I had to do my own research by consulting the internet and doctor. Endometriosis is a disorder in which tissue similar to the endometrial tissue (tissue that forms the lining of your uterus) grows outside of the uterine cavity, on ovaries, fallopian tube, bowel, and tissues lining your pelvis. Some of the symptoms I suffered from were:

chronic pain during or in between cycles
heavy bleeding during periods
Fatigue/lack of energy/weakness

Some days can really be hard when the pain is to the extent that I cannot stand up straight or walk properly as the pain is down my legs and up my back. Lying curled up in bed in the fetal position around a hot water bottle becomes a common way of coping.

The treatment my doctor suggested is of combined oral contraceptive pills. These pills contain a mixture of estrogen and progesterone and works by suppressing ovulation and affects the production of female hormones in the ovary. The hormones in the Pill cause the uterus lining to become thinner, causing periods to become shorter and lighter, thus reducing endometriosis symptoms. I have been taking this treatment from past 3 years now with planned breaks in between. I can say that in my case the treatment did not work as effectively as expected. Instead it brought some side effects like weight gain and mood swings.

This is when I had to bring some changes in my lifestyle. And trust me these changes work as add-ons to the treatment.

Yoga and workout: There are yogasanas which are specially for Endometriosis pain relief. Workout is important because this treatment can cause an unproportionate weight gain.
Avoid dairy products: As suggested by an ayurvedic doctor because dairy products contain hormones which can affect the natural hormone generation of the body.
Add green vegetables and fruits in your diet.
Positive attitude: This illness can sometimes play with your mind and you can feel sick and on your own. Don’t fall for it. Go out, spend time with people and try to lead your life as normal as you can. Just take one day at a time.

People often say, “You don’t look sick”. But I am not surprised, even I was not aware of it before. A surprising fact is that approximately 10 per cent of women in India are suffering from this debilitating illness, still, no one knows about it till they suffer themselves. So, I just want to bring this awareness among girls who are suffering from lethal pelvic pain or any other symptom. Don’t spend half of your life assuming that it is just normal period pain and go see your gynaecologist for correct diagnosis before it’s too late.

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