Before we get into today’s post, I want to say off the bat – I’m going to be talking about periods today. They’re a normal part of life, and I don’t think it should be awkward, but if it’s something that makes you uncomfortable reading about, you can stop now and come back on Friday for the usual Friday Favorites post.
For as long as I can remember, my periods have been irregular. It’s actually something that’s gotten slightly better as I’ve gotten older, but they’re often between a few days to a week off in either direction. I track them with the Clue app and built-in Health app on my iPhone so that I have a general idea when it’s coming, but the window is fairly big. This isn’t a huge deal for me in my life right now, but it does mean that it makes it difficult for me to really prepare for my period.
When I say prepare, I mean logistically, because having a period as a disabled woman can be a bit tricky. I can’t use the bathroom by myself, and because of how tricky it can be for me to balance on a toilet out in public, trying to replace a pad in the middle of the day is not easy. And if my period ends up being a little earlier than I expected, it can be (literally) messy trying to put a pad on. Tampons are a whole other story, because again – I can’t insert it by myself!
Even at home it can be challenging. Wearing a pad and sitting on it all the time can feel a bit like wearing a diaper – it’s not ideal. And since it takes some maneuvering to get me comfortably positioned in my chair, there’s always the chance that the pad will end up shifting a little bit and not covering everywhere that it needs to. The same thing happens overnight, too – it takes a bit of work for me to find a comfortable way to sleep, and things get shifted just enough that I wake up to a stain on my sheets.
Enter Thinx period underwear. I’m not really sure why it took me this long to try out a pair of period underwear, but I’m so glad that I did. They’re so much more comfortable than wearing a pad, and definitely easier than wearing a tampon. I was really impressed, too, that there was absolutely no leakage at all, even when I wore them all night long. And you don’t have to do anything special to clean them – just throw them in the washing machine!
I got the organic cotton bikini style, but there are so many different options if that’s not your preference. Since I’m so petite, finding underwear that are small enough can be challenging – espsecially for period underwear, when you want to make sure they fit well! Thinx has sizes from XXS to 3XL, which is a great range, and the XXS fit me perfectly.
Obviously, I think these underwear are great for someone like me, with a disability, but I also think anyone would love them. They’re convenient and comfortable, and you don’t have to worry about running out of a tampon or pad and needing to borrow one from a stranger! And unlike a tampon, there’s no harm to wearing them a day or two before your period when you think it’s coming soon but you’re not exactly sure what day. Everyone, disabled or not, has had at least one incident with an unfortunate period stain, whether it’s on sheets or clothes, and these underwear make that one less thing that you need to worry about. They’ve made my pandemic periods at least a little more tolerable, and I think they’ll do the same for yours, too.
