Wait! Period Products Weren’t Being Tested With Real Blood?
Should we be surprised?
Didn’t we all wonder why the advertised period product aired on television showed blue liquid instead of what a period pad is actually designed for?
Back then, I always wondered what difference would it make if they added some red color to the liquid. Little did I know that these products weren’t being tested for their absorbency with real human blood but water or saline water.
It turns out, only recently the very first paper in the British Medical Journal’s Sexual and Reproductive Health has published an article that looks at the absorbency of real blood on period products.
Period products have been used for a long, long time.
Using water to test the efficiency of the product wasn’t that helpful cause neither it is as viscous as blood nor does it have the tissues and secretions from the shredded endometrial lining.
For the test, the lab conducted the research using O+ blood: one set of trials used a 33-day prior blood sample and the other 58 days ago.
The result: menstrual discs are better equipped (61ml-80ml) to handle heavy menstrual flow than pads, tampons, or period underwear.
Why is this important you ask?
The researchers also noted a mismatch between the reported and the actual absorbing capacity of such products, with actual products claiming that they had greater capacity than what the research found.
People who have been told otherwise about their heavy bleeding and gaslit into thinking that “soaking the pad every two hours” isn’t problematic or those who suffered with anxious thoughts thinking that they bled heavily didn’t know anything about their bodies.
A product that was being made for women was actually not being made for them.
The discourse?
Considering the laziness and disregard when it comes to “women’s health”, the medical health system has never disappointed. It isn’t surprising that any research on period products never saw the light of the day.
This research is a piece of evidence that shows the gaping inadequacy of how research on period products and their usage has lagged behind and the ways in which it has been routinely ignored.
Customers carried a financial burden in accessing and purchasing menstrual products, menstrual hygiene items, and laundry without having any idea of their issue.
Doctors operated very subjectively and most of them didn’t have the time to ask the patients what brand was being used or if it was a super maxi. They had a tough time suggesting tests or treatments, as excessive menstrual bleeding put them at risk of anemia or could be suggestive of other underlying medical health conditions.
This gap in the health care system for undermining women's health has been widely predominant. In the year 2022, a report revealed how India’s popular sanitary pad had toxic chemicals that could induce serious health issues; at a fast rate cause the mucous membrane of the vagina is highly permeable and can absorb toxins at a higher rate than other parts of the skin.
According to The Quint, in 2021, the sanitary napkin market in India was valued at around US$618.4 million; people use it without a second thought. How has it deluded us and in what ways?
The silver lining:
- Folks can now reach out to their doctors to consult if they feel they are bleeding heavily instead of just “fitting in” and accepting the “normal”.
- It will now help the doctors estimate whether or not the patient is in need of further tests or treatments and do the needful.
- Data-driven research will now help menstruators make better decisions about the kind of menstrual products they need to invest in and make the choice accordingly.
- The brands will now be forced to develop menstrual products that will align with the standardized absorbency of such products.
- People will now have a better understanding of their body and be conscious of it.
Hopefully, this research will form the basis of future research involving women’s health. No longer can we afford to consider women’s health as a monolithic concept; there is a dire need for transparency, accountability, and safety.
Moreover, this research affirms the power of informed choice. Armed with data-backed insights women will now have the confidence in navigating a labyrinth of feminine hygiene products. The narrative must shift from presumptuous to personalized understanding, a hallmark of an empowered healthcare system.
It’s about time that we recalibrate our approach, to infuse women’s health with the care and attention that it deserves.
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