Someone emailed me and asked about feminie protection and toilet paper. I did several posts a couple of years ago on this but am having my own problems navigating informaiton in the site. So, I did not want to delay.
Standard feminine protection is NOT good! They use bleach to make those products pure white and then we wonder where toxic shock syndrome came from. Hmmmm. let's see, let's make a product we used bleach on and then market it to women to place inside their most vulnerable tissue area and leave it there repeatedly for days on end, and then wonder why their bodies are revolting with illness.
OK enough of the sarcasm, I am sorry, I could not resist. There are new products now on the market now-naturecare is the one I am most familiar with and use myself. They are unbleached tampons and pads. Even these tampons COULD cause irritation if your are swollen and tender inside still, so pads may be better idea until your tissue is much more calm. Also, if you don't bleed much or are dry, it could be irritating. So, once the vaginal chemistry is more balanced, using tampons becomes more and more doable. Mean time, thank goodness for pads:) Either way, you do not want bleach anywhere near you and especially not your privates:)
The same goes for toplet paper! Did you know they BLEACH toilet paper?! As if you care that the paper you are about to soil with your bodily wastes is white. Crazy right? Adults make some really perplexing choices when it comes to making money. Anyway, this is why I was looking for that post from a couple of years ago, because there was some research on this subject and it was actaully stunning to see all of the chemicals that go into toilet paper that even I did not know.
Given that informaiton, one would think that I myself would have remembered this important piece of information and applied it to my own household, but...I didn't. I am human, and I lost sight of this important fact. I buy the Green brand that is here in my local grocery stopre because it seems to be the lesser of all the "evils" and I am always hopeful that is it not the least bad, but the most good. But, who knows. I am really not sure. Somewhere in the back of my mind someone said something like, it wasn't good. There is also the issue of recycled toilet paper. Hmmm-I do wonder about that!
So, here is the bottom line-I am giving you clear information on the feminine protection and not so clear on the toilet paper. If you FEEL irritated by your toilet paper, just know, it is very likely NOT your imagination-so switch brands until you find one that feels gentle on your genitals.
I recently had a patient that was causing themselves bleeding due to wipes that contained a natural chemical ( I am blanking on which one) that over time was causing too much antibacterial action and irriated the tissues to the degree there was blood, burning and itching. When they stopped, so did the symptoms. And, no, this person does not have IC-just a normal run of the mill person.
So this was a great question to the person who asked me. Thank you for doing so and pelase, everyone, feel free to email me and ask questions for me to blog. I will always do my best to answer them.
And lastly, I apologize, as always for my continued typos. My hands dont always keep up with my brain and I dont seem to have spell check-another thing I need to update to my system:)
Dr.M
Comments
Very informative thank you! I
Very informative thank you! I used to carry my own TP everywhere! Getting lazy again, need to get back to that. And, for periods and feminine products is there enough torture then to subject our poor irritated tissue. I never even thought twice about the products I was using, just put up with all the irritation and thought was something everyone had to deal with, and OMG was it extremely unpleasant on top of severe pain. Definitely can feel the difference using the chlorine free products, not perfect, but an improvement! "Always, a happy period!" Hmm, NOT SO MUCH!!!:(
Kind of along the same lines, I don't know how I've gone this long and not asked, are there certain brands of underwear that seem to be less irritating? I know they say white cotton underwear, but I've never really felt like that is the only issue with underwear or anything tight or close fitting for that matter. That was probably a question for day 1 or maybe day 30, not nearly 4 years in. :/ Thanks!
I made the mistake of using a
I made the mistake of using a "regular" maxi pad a few months ago. It was leftover from when I had gotten rid of all that stuff and i just grabbed it. Anyway- I had an immediate extreme reaction to it! Itching , burning, pain- absolutely horrible. I never had that reaction before but I think sometimes the reactions increase the longer you stay away from that stuff. I have also used cloth pads which are messy but much less irritating to me. The toilet paper question is pretty much impossible to navigate. If I was single, I'd use cloth but I can't go there with a family of 5. I use Scott which is cheap and plain. It is still bleached but seems like the less complicated the better- no softeners, lotions etc. It would be possible to keep a small metal trashcan with plastic pail behind the toilet and use cloth for the non- bm wipes though. I might think about that.
I use lunapads. They are
I use lunapads. They are reusable pads made of flannel. While the idea of them may seem gross and labour intensive, they are actually extremely comfortable and I will NEVER go back to disposable pads. Like so many other aspects of this treatment journey, the use of these requires a mind shift as you have to wash them. You can check them out at their website lunapads.com. It's a bonus that the company gives to women in impoverished countries.