You hear and see it everywhere at the moment - free menstruation. But what is it exactly and how is it supposed to work? I dare to do the self-test.
Completely without pads, tampons, menstrual cup or similar through the period?
When I first heard about this method, I could hardly believe my ears.
That can't be possible! Can it?
But I read up and tried it - read my experience with free menstruation here.
Table of contents
Why free menstruation has been around for a long time
As sad as it may sound, women were considered unclean and dirty for having a menstrual period until the time of the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries.
What really happened inside a woman's body was a huge mystery. For example, women in the Middle Ages were not even allowed to wear underwear - so where to put all the blood?
Many peoples and in almost all cultures existed various tools and special clothing to absorb the monthly blood. Where women could not or were not allowed to wear underwear, they simply let the blood run onto the ground (or wherever else they happened to be) - so here we have the archetype of free menstruation.
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Otherwise, women at that time helped themselves with tufts of grass, scraps of cloth or the like. Not only does it sound unusual, it is - most of the time this didn't really help.
Then, at the end of the 18th century, came the first industrial products for menstrual hygiene. Finally, women could breathe a sigh of relief - there were sanitary towels made of wood wool and the beautiful "Diana belt":
The first period products on the market
In the years that followed, sanitary napkins continued to evolve. In 1983, the universally known "Always" brand sanitary napkin came onto the market. In parallel, the first tampon was produced in the middle of the 20th century, and in 1950 the well-known O.B. tampon (which, by the way, means "without a pad") finally hit the stores.
Countless variants of pads and tampons came onto the market, including reusable products - there are also washable tampons.
Furthermore still came Menstrual sponges*menstrual cups and soft cups onto the market - especially Menstrual cups are very trendy these days.
But enough history - now it's time to get down to business!
How does free menstruation work today?
Simply put - without any aids. Neither tampons or pads nor menstrual cups are used.
At first, this sounds extremely surprising - none of us wants to walk around bleeding and with visible stains.
But contrary to all the prejudices and first thoughts of disgust, free menstruation is much more hygienic and clean than you think.
This is because menstruation is a natural process - the body cleanses itself of dead tissue, i.e. the unfertilized egg. After all, this is what we perceive as menstruation.
When we use tampons, they collect not only blood and tissue, but also a lot of bacteria.
It's much the same with pads - not to mention the unpleasant mix of odors from older blood, sweat and other secretions.
If we now learn to control our elimination, menstruation will be much cleaner and more fragrant. And that's what we all want, after all.
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These are the advantages of free menstruation
- No foul-smelling items such as pads or tampons
- You do not have to worry about the disposal of the used item
- no more expenses for monthly hygiene
- Period pain could be relieved
- it is more hygienic and healthier, as there is no need to introduce bleach or other questionable substances into the vagina
- you can never forget your tampons or pads again
- no more panic rummaging around in your handbag looking for the last tampon
- no more embarrassing situations when your pad falls out of your pocket in front of your boss or your tampon supply is spread all over the floor
- you get to know your body better and listen to it again
So, with so many benefits - what are you waiting for?
Instructions for free menstruation
Now the most important thing: How will this work in practice? It's best to start your experiment when you have one or more days off and nothing important like a job interview or a lecture in front of an audience of 500.
To be safe, you can also use a thin panty liner to try until you have internalized the method and you feel confident.
Then it starts - on the first day of your period you probably don't bleed that much. Then you go about your daily routine and do everything as usual. In the beginning, you will probably go to the bathroom more often than usual to check everything.
When you go to the toilet, you will surely notice that when you tighten and relax your pelvic floor, more blood comes. Just let it flow and clean yourself normally after going to the toilet.
You will also notice that after some time you will feel kind of full and you will need to empty.
After a few days or periods, you'll notice all by yourself when it's time to go to the loo again - almost as normal as when you have to pee.
Free menstruation at night
Depending on how heavy your period is, you can of course wear a panty liner for safety.
However, the bandage wearers among us will probably know it just the same - at night, due to the horizontal position, the blood flow is not very strong.
It is enough for most women to go to the toilet before and after going to bed.
Did you know that you can postpone your period?
Free menstruation during undertakings or on the job
Now you've tried free menstruation for the first time in peace - but how does it look now for everyday things like sports or at work? Actually, there is no difference.
However, I would recommend wearing a panty liner during the heavier days for safety. I don't think anyone wants to worry about blood stains during a presentation or similar.
Especially during sports or when there is no real toilet nearby, for example during day trips or hiking, I would rather use tampons. This is much safer and it happens, especially during sports, that you also want to lose blood due to relaxation and tension.
Other activities such as swimming or sauna also require tampons - that goes without saying. Many women do not use them during their period anyway.
My experience with free menstruation
I tried free menstruation as a self-test. I have to say that I am one of those people who have very little menstrual bleeding, and that despite Non-hormonal contraception. The best conditions!
But at the same time I was extremely skeptical and overcautious. I put this test on my vacation and cheated a few times - but more about that in a moment.
So, somewhat anxiously, I waited for my period to start. Normally I am very punctual, but to the hour, of course, I can not say.
For safety's sake, I slipped into a pair of wide old black sweatpants, which can be pulled down quickly. And a love-killer knickers. If it happens then nevertheless, it is not a pity about these pants.
On the chairs and the sofa I put a dark blue towel. Because I don't want to leave any stains here either.
Feeling very insecure, I unload my best friend because I just don't have the head for a leisurely tea.
Of course, I'm so busy preparing that I don't really notice when it starts, so I have my first mishap. Crap.
I run to the toilet but it is already too late. Everything is full. I'll spare you the details. Both pants go to the laundry.
And I don't feel like this insecure feeling anymore. That's why I grab a period panty. A week before my self-test I read about it and thought it could be a good investment. And indeed, I am now mega glad that I have a Mylily period underwear* have bought.
This is a panty that absorbs menstrual blood - a washable panty with an integrated sanitary pad, so to speak. But that's just a safety precaution. I would like to continue the "free period in self-test" project.
Here's what you need to know about period underwear!
So I run all day about every hour to the loo and can not really think about anything else. Great, but at least everything stays clean. During the night I don't dare to do the experiment. Also here comes my Mylily period underwear* for use.
A second day I still held out, with similar loo intervals. Then, on the third and strongest day, I throw my plan overboard.
I'm switching back to my usual menstrual hygiene - organic tampons from Happy Mona. It's just too stressful for me to constantly remember to go to the loo and be afraid of leaving extremely unpleasant stains somewhere.
I couldn't go out of the house either, not even to go shopping or for a walk. This is not what I understand by "free menstruation". I feel anything but free, but locked up.
My conclusion
I think that free menstruation is quite appealing and makes sense for people with weak periods and stamina. Avoiding waste altogether and letting nature take its course - what could be better?
For me, however, it was just too uncomfortable - I had to think about it all the time and couldn't relax. Going anywhere was out of the question for me, I just wanted to stay at home in safety. I am a little disappointed, but I want to try menstrual cups as soon as possible, which I personally have never used at all.
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