Choosing the right sanitary pad

It is suggested that sanitary pads should be changed every 4 to 6 hours. PHOTO|COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • After minutes of conversation, I realized that the radio was running a fundraising campaign to furnish secondary school girls with sanitary pads.
  • Of course I didn’t hesitate to speak to them on air. Instead, I became bright-eyed and bushy-tailed over it.

A week ago I received a phone call from a Radio Broadcaster at a local radio station. She wanted me to cast light on the use of sanitary pads. I responded accordingly, of-the-cuff, responding to some catchy concerns.

After minutes of conversation, I realized that the radio was running a fundraising campaign to furnish secondary school girls with sanitary pads.

Of course I didn’t hesitate to speak to them on air. Instead, I became bright-eyed and bushy-tailed over it.

This scenario reminded me about the regular questions on sanitary pads and menstruation that most of my female clients usually bombard me with—whenever they visit my office.

Now, let me allude to some facts about sanitary pads (menstrual pads) which are worn by women during menstrual period.

The pads are useful in absorbing discharge that comes from the menstruation process. It’s protective clothing. Normally, the girls individually wrap them around their genital parts. They usually carry them in their purses.

Read about this. At one moment, a patient at the outpatient department (OPD) where I work asked me, “Doctor, the current pad that am using makes me feel itchy. What else is the best choice for me?”

Because of this question, I believe it’s important that I write about things that girls or women need to consider when choosing appropriate sanitary pads.

A suitable sanitary pad must have good absorbency; this simply means it must be able to absorb a large volume of discharge to the centre-core in a short period of time. It should make the user feel comfortable, dry and not slimy for about 5-7 hours without having to change it.

Factors like, its length, thickness and flow are important too. You know, menstrual discharge is heavier at the onset of your period. Therefore, you must pick a pad that suits your circumstances.

For example, women with very heavy periods should consider picking long slim pads, while those with light flow should use regular slim. On length, it should be able to cover the all the genital area fully in order to absorb blood totally.

The material used to manufacture it is also an important factor to consider. Sanitary pads are either cotton or plastic type. Many of my clients at the OPD do report to experience rashes/itching when using some kinds of pads in their delicate parts/ areas.

I do always advise them to change to cotton-type sanitary pads, though each lady’s skin is different, with some preferring a soft touch and others opting for a netted top layer.

Afar from a sanitary pad possessing the above qualities, it should also be of soft texture and skin friendly, so as to avert bruises, itching and other skin conditions.

Some pads have wings, others may not, and I do always recommend winged pads since they prevent leakages way better than non-winged variety, also maximum comfortability is assured.

Have I digressed? OK, let me now go back to the Radio Broadcaster’s Questions. It was a lady, who called. She wanted me to speak of the health outcomes incase a woman doesn’t use the tailor-made sanitary pads during her menstrual period.

I responded, “The overriding concern is the risk of getting infection through the use of improper self-made pads like pieces of khanga, since these improper materials do not have absorbing mechanism, thus being wet for too many hours is too risky.”

Normally, it is suggested that sanitary pads should be changed every 4 to 6 hours, because even when it is of the proper material when it is worn for too long it becomes wet and thus it can still make you prone to infection.

The second question from her was that what complications can such an infection cause? I briefly told her that the infection will spread to all reproductive organs and especially when not treated, timely which in the future may lead to miscarriage or at times it can make the woman less fertile.

Sometimes my clients at OPD want me to recommend a specific type of sanitary pad for them. It’s usually hard to respond to such question because it looks like everything is toxic nowadays. But, should we fret over everything? No. I usually just tell them to pick the pads with special qualities as mentioned above.

In Tanzania we have some local and imported sanitary pads products, including these brands, “stayfree”, “Bella”,” HC (human cherish pads)”, “whisper”, “Always”, “Angel”, “Freestyle” , “Nepilily”, “Goodcare”, “Glory.”

One of my clients kept me smiling when she said, “Dr hizi HC zina kiyoyozi ndani, siwashwi tena”, (these HC ‘s have Air conditioning-like properties) thus many of them do speak warmly of “HC” and “Neplily” sanitary pads. I am joking though.

In the recent past there were sanitary pads brands like “Jassy” and “kortex”, nowadays they are not easily available. Are sanitary pads expensive in Tanzania?, was another question I was bombarded with.

They are being sold at Sh 2,000, Sh3000 others at Sh5000, possibly some are sold above this figure, but I don’t recall any one being sold at Sh1,000.

Can a poor Tanzanian afford purchasing them monthly in the required quantity? It’s obvious that ordinary Tanzanians can’t afford that at times.

The government and other stakeholders should support the initiatives made to invest money on research to establish if the sanitary pads that are being used in Tanzania do not contain chemicals like Benzene and Dioxin among others which may have future negative health outcome.

The author is a medical doctor, Public health activist and young scientist.