What To Do If You Leak On Your Period

Let's say that you've been busy all day, and you forgot to change your pad/tampon/moon cup/soft cup. Or maybe you slept on your back at night and woke up with blood leaking. (This may not be true for others, but if I don't sleep on my front during my period, I leak every night.) Anyway, for some reason, you leaked blood. What do you do?

1. Get upset. I don't really recommend this, but it seems to be the first thing that everyone (including me) does, so, go ahead. Get upset.
2. Calm down. This one is self explanatory.
3. If you're in a public place or with other people, get back home, or to wherever you're staying. If you're with friends who also experience periods, you can probably just say you have a period-related emergency and hurry off. If you're with people who are... inexperienced about periods, you may just need to say, "I have to go" and hurry away.
4. Assess the damage. See if blood leaked through all of your clothes, or if there's just a little blood.
5. Soak the bloodstained clothes in cold water. Don't use warm water. The warm water will set the blood into the clothes and cause bloodstains. Scrub the bloodstain with soap and keep rinsing it with cold water until it comes out. You should wash out the blood right away to avoid letting it set into your clothes.
6. Get new clothes. Your old clothes are going to be all wet by now, so you can't wear those. Get some new clothes.
7. Put in/on a new pad/tampon/moon cup/soft cup. You don't want to leak again.
8. Put on the new clothes.
9. Go do normal things again. But remember, don't forget to change your pad/tampon/moon cup/soft cup! (This is especially important for tampons; you can get Toxic Shock Syndrome if  you leave them in for too long.)

Want to avoid leaking blood at night? See Paige's post on Sleeping On Your Period.

Sources:

• http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Blood-Stains
• Personal experience

Continue reading →

Caught In Public With Your Period

By Paige

Most of us have been here. Running errands, shopping, out with friends, whenever or where ever you are at the time, something is wrong. Whether you find out by a bloodstain on your jeans or sudden cramps, you're stuck in public, and you're on your period. So here's how to deal with that in my first ever post, Caught In Public With Your Period.

Step One: Avoiding the Problem
If you can avoid this in the first place, that's great. Keep a tampon or pad or whatever supplies you normally use, in a discrete pocket of your purse (if you carry one.) Keep a dollar worth of quarters in your pockets or your wallet. Most public restrooms have a tampon machine, and usually they take quarters. If however, you are not carrying money, proceed to the next step.

Step Two: Asking
If you are with friends, it might not be difficult to ask for a tampon, or a few quarters, but with new acquaintances, it might pose a problem. If alone, strangers are nearly impossible to ask, though it is possible for some people. If you can, just ask. It may seem impossible for some introverts, like me, but it's better to be a little embarrassed than to regret it later. If none of the above can apply, double toilet paper over a few times and use it temporarily until you return home, hopeful with no blood on your jeans/dress/skirt/whatever you were wearing at the time. Which leads to step three. . .

Step Three: Bloodstains
The horror of people around the globe: Bloodstains! Believe me, bloodstains suck, especially if you're in public and can't do anything about it. The best advice I can give is that if you have a sweater or other article of clothing, wrap it around your waist. This may sound weird, but it might just work. If you can pull the look off, great. If not, or if you don't have a sweater, pull your shirt down as far as possible, or strategically hang an over-the-shoulder purse behind you. Unfortunately, not everyone carries a purse, and some people wear crop tops. If this is the case, play it cool until you return home, and hope that this doesn't happen while wearing white.

Continue reading →