Period Health 101

University Health Center Author

05/06/2021 Added

57 Plays

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Your period says a lot about your overall health. University Health Center provider Sarah Wallingford, PA-C, explains what's normal and what's not, including how cycle length, flow amounts, blood color and consistency and other period elements can vary from person to person.

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[00:00:00.410]My name is Stephanie Alderson. I am the the
[00:00:04.215]Assistant Director of the Women's Center.
[00:00:06.586]I use she/her/hers pronouns as you can see on the slide.
[00:00:09.025]Welcome to our last presentation in this series,
[00:00:14.473]"Stuff You Weren't Taught in School". We're really excited.
[00:00:17.397]We've loved giving these presentations over the course
[00:00:19.760]of the last two semesters. We're really glad you're here to join us for our last one.
[00:00:24.378]We are recording this presentation just because we hope to distribute it after this.
[00:00:32.910]Only the presentation is being recorded. Your information and your picture
[00:00:38.911]or your name are not being recorded. Your privacy is maintained.
[00:00:43.199]Throughout this presentation, Sarah is going to be giving a lot of
[00:00:47.450]great information. If you have any questions, that kind of pop into
[00:00:51.361]your mind throughout the presentation, please feel free
[00:00:53.811]to use our Q&A funtion. We love whenever people participate and ask
[00:00:57.880]questions. So just make sure you're using the Q&A function,
[00:01:02.247]and if your name is tied to your Zoom account, please make sure to
[00:01:05.937]select the "Ask this questions anonymously" option.
[00:01:08.580]That will protect your privacy and make sure no other people
[00:01:11.938]see your name. We do ask if you have a really
[00:01:15.877]specific question only to you, that you make an appointment
[00:01:20.091]with the health center because Sarah can't answer
[00:01:23.751]actual questions that pertain to your specific body.
[00:01:28.173]So just make sure you're asking kind of generic questions
[00:01:32.170]that you might have or something that we're able to answer.
[00:01:36.842]We also ask that you try to keep the questions pertaining
[00:01:39.783]to this presentation just because of time.
[00:01:44.855]Without a further ado, this is Sarah Wallingford.
[00:01:46.899]She works at the University Health Center, and she
[00:01:49.583]is going to be your presenter for Period Health 101.
[00:01:53.910]Thanks, Stephanie. Yes, I'm Sarah Wallingford.
[00:01:56.522]I am a PA, or Physician Assistant, working here
[00:01:58.873]at the University Health Center. This is my first
[00:02:01.404]academic year at the health center, but
[00:02:03.504]I've been a PA for 17 years. And I have lived and worked
[00:02:07.389]in a lot of different places around the world.
[00:02:10.151]So I'm excited to talk to you tonight about
[00:02:12.722]period health. What I think is so interesting
[00:02:17.336]about this topic is it's something that applies
[00:02:19.660]to so many people. It's just something that
[00:02:23.113]doesn't get talked about that often. So most
[00:02:25.929]days here at my clinical job, people will ask questions.
[00:02:28.741]This is a safe place to ask them, and as I present
[00:02:32.451]tonight hopefully you'll have some information
[00:02:36.761]that's kind of sparked in your brain that you want
[00:02:39.151]to find more about. So let's start off with what
[00:02:42.008]is a period and why do we have them in the first place?
[00:02:46.190]Your period, or your menstruation - that word comes
[00:02:49.589]from a Latin term for Menses - which is kind of based
[00:02:54.052]around the idea of something that happens every month.
[00:02:57.882]A period is just a normal, vaginal bleeding that is part of
[00:03:01.051]a healthy monthly cycle for a person who has a uterus
[00:03:03.976]and ovaries. Bleeding is your body's way of releasing
[00:03:09.488]tissue it no longer needs. So the stuff that's
[00:03:12.347]coming out is a combination of some blood but also the
[00:03:15.489]tissue or lining of your uterus. Most people will get
[00:03:18.456]their first period around the age of 12, that's about
[00:03:22.435]average, but it can be anywhere in the range of
[00:03:25.210]10 to 15. And even some people will get it a bit younger
[00:03:28.219]than that or sometimes slightly passed that.
[00:03:37.901]So what is actually happening during that cycle? Sometimes people ask
[00:03:42.029]"how long is a monthly cycle supposed to be?" and often
[00:03:47.461]we will refer back to a 28-day cycle. That is - I don't want to
[00:03:54.214]use the term "normal' - so many of us have bodies
[00:03:57.392]that work different. That is what we would consider
[00:04:00.606]average or an ideal cycle, but if your cycle is
[00:04:03.266]somewhat shorter or somewhat longer, that
[00:04:05.484]might just be normal for you. That monthly cycle
[00:04:08.315]usually has four parts to it. We start counting at
[00:04:12.055]the beginning of that circle. The first phase
[00:04:15.382]is when you're actually having your period. The first
[00:04:17.683]day of your period is called the first day
[00:04:19.416]of your cycle. Typically, that lasts about five days. Usually,
[00:04:24.099]people will have heavier bleeding on the first or
[00:04:26.283]second day, and then the bleeding gets lighter.
[00:04:28.650]Some people have a three-day cycle, some people have a
[00:04:30.849]seven-day cycle. And then people move into
[00:04:35.267]the second phase of the menstrual cycle. During
[00:04:38.166]that time your body is producing more estrogen.
[00:04:40.965]That's one of the hormones that helps to build up that lining
[00:04:44.932]in your uterus. At the end of that second cycle, you
[00:04:49.283]move into the third phase which is the ovulation
[00:04:52.500]cycle. That's when your estrogen gets to its highest
[00:04:55.249]level and your body is prime to ovulate or produce
[00:04:59.552]an egg. If that egg is fertilized, then that's when you
[00:05:03.649]become pregnant. But if it's not fertilized, if you body
[00:05:06.451]no longer needs that thicker lining inside your
[00:05:09.166]uterus, it starts to break down. And that's when you
[00:05:12.599]move into the fourth phase - or luteal phase
[00:05:14.516]where your body is getting ready to release that lining.
[00:05:17.801]At the very end of the cycle, is when you actually start
[00:05:20.801]again and have a period.
[00:05:26.694]So now that we know what the normal or ideal
[00:05:30.602]thing that might happen, let's talk
[00:05:32.602]about some common period concerns.
[00:05:34.091]There are two things that come up over and over
[00:05:36.683]again that people tend to be concerned about. The
[00:05:39.845]first one of those is skipping a period.
[00:05:44.864]This is something we get asked all the time. A poll will pop up
[00:05:49.623]here, so go ahead and answer that. The first thing
[00:05:54.472]people always think about when they skip their period
[00:06:00.122]is could I be pregnant? And if you are someone who is
[00:06:04.356]sexually active, then it's good to think or be
[00:06:07.873]concerned about that and potentially take a
[00:06:10.290]pregnancy test. A lot of other things can trigger that.
[00:06:13.394]Being on birth control can cause you to skip a
[00:06:16.176]period. Some people are on extended or long-term
[00:06:19.943]birth control. Two people answered [the poll], and yes, both of
[00:06:24.692]those people have skipped a period. So what other things
[00:06:30.909]could cause you to skip a period? Being sick
[00:06:33.476]can do it. If you have mono or I've even seen people
[00:06:38.319]who have had COVID, they've skipped a period or two.
[00:06:41.237]Certain medicines sometimes can trigger it. If you
[00:06:47.132]are an athlete and you have very low body fat,
[00:06:49.782]or you exercise excessively, perhaps you're underweight
[00:06:54.532]or you just don't have great diet or nutrition
[00:06:56.781]all those things can trigger you to skip a
[00:06:58.615]period. And stress can do it, so sometimes just
[00:07:01.999]having a stressful month, either from terrible tests
[00:07:06.765]or a loved one having issues going on, can
[00:07:10.666]trigger it too. So it is good to keep in mind
[00:07:13.349]that you have some resources when
[00:07:15.482]those things happen. So we'll talk later on about
[00:07:19.132]resources here at the health center, but CAPS is also
[00:07:22.366]a resource for people if they are under a lot of
[00:07:25.200]stress. The university also has a nutritionist
[00:07:28.549]that you can access if you're concerned your
[00:07:30.783]nutrition is causing you to skip a period.
[00:07:33.133]The next really common concern people related
[00:07:36.350]to their periods are irregular periods.
[00:07:38.898]So in addition to just missing a period,
[00:07:41.399]either you period comes earlier than
[00:07:44.082]you expect, later than you expect, it's longer
[00:07:46.849]than you expect, it's not on a really even, regular
[00:07:50.717]cycle. So what can possibly cause those things
[00:07:53.832]to happen? Especially when you first get
[00:07:56.517]your period, often periods are irregular. Sometimes, at
[00:07:59.600]the beginning you might have one period and
[00:08:02.033]then go several months without having another
[00:08:04.016]period. And the same thing happens when you're
[00:08:05.850]getting ready to be done with periods.
[00:08:07.666]So as you get close to menopause, people
[00:08:09.700]will often have more irregular periods. Some
[00:08:12.979]people's bodies just have irregular periods
[00:08:15.569]all the time. Sometimes they have 28 day cycles and then 42 day cycles.
[00:08:23.429]One thing that can be helpful is to learn
[00:08:26.263]your body and to learn your signs that you're
[00:08:29.489]going to have a period. So there are some very helpful
[00:08:32.089]period apps. We've listed a few here. Spot, Clue, Flo, and Eve by Glow.
[00:08:38.990]You can look all of those up in the App Store
[00:08:42.123]Some have different features. Some are very basic
[00:08:44.439]where you are just saying "Okay, what day did my
[00:08:48.739]period start? Was it heavy? Was it light? When did
[00:08:51.768]it end?" Some really help you to track symptoms
[00:08:54.889]that happen before your periods. Are you
[00:08:58.574]starting to feel more hungry? Are you moodier or
[00:09:01.740]more irritable? If any of you have used either
[00:09:06.216]these period tracking apps or other ones then
[00:09:10.566]feel free to mention those in our comments. If
[00:09:13.084]there's one that you really love, then definitely flag that
[00:09:15.598]so other people can check it out too.
[00:09:21.681]Now that we know the most common period
[00:09:24.566]concerns, let's talk about what's acutally
[00:09:27.315]happening with your flow. Period Blood.
[00:09:30.402]What's normal and what's not? Like I said,
[00:09:34.329]there's no normal. What is maybe ideal?
[00:09:39.295]What does it mean about your hormones?
[00:09:47.672]A few different colors that people will notice
[00:09:50.658]with their period. The healthiest color of flow
[00:09:53.410]is often a bright red. That's typically what people
[00:09:56.061]are having on the second day of their
[00:09:57.894]period when it's heavier. Then a light pink
[00:10:02.461]often is kind of that first spotting color
[00:10:04.706]that you might have or that color of flow
[00:10:07.171]at the end of your period when it's getting ready
[00:10:09.238]to be done. A dark purple flow can mean you're
[00:10:12.572]having heavier bleeding. Sometimes that something
[00:10:15.739]that will happen if you have a much higher
[00:10:20.222]estrogen level and have formed a thick lining
[00:10:23.423]inside your uterus. Brown period blood often
[00:10:26.873]means that in the previous month, you didn't
[00:10:30.400]fully shed that lining. So there's been some old
[00:10:33.105]lining that's oxidized and turned a darker color.
[00:10:36.023]Now in the following month, you're actually
[00:10:37.723]expelling it. Sometimes that relates back
[00:10:40.260]to having lower progesterone levels where you're
[00:10:43.043]not fully expelling all of that every month.
[00:10:46.142]Orange can sometimes indicate that you have some
[00:10:48.910]type of infection. We will move on to the amount and consistency
[00:11:03.609]It commonly comes
[00:11:05.064]up where we ask the question "Are you periods heavy
[00:11:08.468]or light?" You don't have anyone else's periods
[00:11:13.900]to compare it to, so how do you know if
[00:11:15.734]it's heavy or light? If you were able to actually
[00:11:18.818]measure the amount of flow, a normal flow
[00:11:21.435]for your total period would be 2 to 3 tablespoons
[00:11:24.401]of blood and up to 5 tablespoons is still
[00:11:27.573]considered normal. If it's more than
[00:11:30.751]5 tablespoons, which is more than 80 mililiters,
[00:11:34.451]than that is considered heavy flow.
[00:11:36.468]So how do you gauge that?
[00:11:39.002]If you're having to change a tampon or pad
[00:11:42.201]more than every one to two hours that
[00:11:44.318]can indicate you're having a heavy flow.
[00:11:46.552]Some amount of clotting is normal, but if
[00:11:49.185]you're experiencing clots that are bigger than
[00:11:52.952]quarter-size that may indicate you're having
[00:11:55.535]heavier or excessive flow. Most periods
[00:11:59.701]will finish within seven days. Occasionally,
[00:12:02.885]people might have a longer period that's just
[00:12:05.603]spotting or irregular. If you're having heavy flow for
[00:12:08.436]a full seven days, or extending past that, then
[00:12:12.034]that can indicate that you're losing too much
[00:12:15.587]blood flow.
[00:12:21.108]We'll move on and talk about
[00:12:22.502]the different period products. Another survey
[00:12:24.836]question is going to pop up about which of these
[00:12:27.138]you have used and tried in the past.
[00:12:29.072]I'll just say that some people use all of these period
[00:12:32.305]products. For some people, only one or two will work.
[00:12:35.373]There's no best period product, so it's finding what's best for you.
[00:12:39.123]Out of these, menstrual pads are still probably
[00:12:44.205]the most popular, or common, worldwide product.
[00:12:47.422]A pad needs to be changed every two to
[00:12:50.372]three hours. Tampons are a close second behind
[00:12:53.955]menstrual pads, and a tampon can be left in
[00:12:57.138]place for four to six hours. Tampons can generally hold
[00:13:02.072]a bit more flow. Tampons are nice for activities like
[00:13:05.958]swimming or things where it's not easy or
[00:13:09.008]convenient to wear a pad. It looks like our responses
[00:13:12.442]are 100 percent of people have used pads.
[00:13:14.942]Let me give you a little more information about
[00:13:17.642]the other products in case you want to try them.
[00:13:20.042]A menstrual cup is a newer product, so it's
[00:13:23.508]something you insert vaginally. The menstrual cup
[00:13:26.243]can hold up to 25 milliliters of menstural flow.
[00:13:30.725]It can hold more than a tampon, and it can stay
[00:13:34.658]in place for up to 12 hours. Because it doesn't
[00:13:37.909]have cotton or anything where that flow is being
[00:13:41.842]absorbed, then it's a little less prone to having infections.
[00:13:49.455]A period underwear can be worn, typically,
[00:13:52.516]all day long. A pair of period underwear can hold
[00:13:56.685]what would be contained in four tampons. Generally,
[00:14:00.614]at night, you switch to a different pair. For
[00:14:03.248]anyone who is considered about environmental
[00:14:05.465]impacts, of course, menstrual cups and
[00:14:07.581]period underwear are more environmentally
[00:14:09.614]friendly. Also, if you can put up the initial
[00:14:12.914]investment to pay for those, then in the long-term,
[00:14:17.548]they actually pay off economically.
[00:14:23.606]One concern that comes up sometimes is about
[00:14:25.986]using something like a tampon or menstrual
[00:14:27.437]cup that is inserted vaginally whether that
[00:14:29.924]affects your virginity. That absolutely does not affect
[00:14:34.763]your virginity. It is possible, for someone who is a virgin,
[00:14:38.629]who has a hymen for it to be irritated by
[00:14:41.331]those products. But typically it does not affect your
[00:14:44.082]hymen. Those are both perfectly safe products
[00:14:46.882]to use if you're interested in them.
[00:14:48.548]So let's talk about PMS symptoms. PMS, or
[00:14:51.760]pre-menstrual syndrome, are things that
[00:14:54.732]happen leading up to right before your period
[00:14:57.179]starts or in the first or second day of your period.
[00:15:00.239]We have a whole list of symptoms here, and there's
[00:15:03.306]probably even more than this.
[00:15:04.923]Most people who have periods have some
[00:15:06.555]of these symptoms. Unfortunately, some people
[00:15:09.376]have all of these symptoms. Things like
[00:15:11.526]menstrual cramps, food cravings, tender breasts,
[00:15:13.992]bloating, headaches, dizziness, aches
[00:15:16.275]and pains in the joints, trouble concentrating, fatigue,
[00:15:21.326]nausea, sadness, depression, and anxiety. And
[00:15:25.358]really the underlining trigger for most of these
[00:15:29.843]symptoms are hormones. Part of what
[00:15:32.442]tells our body to have a period is our estrogen
[00:15:35.125]and progesterone both decrease to their
[00:15:37.509]lowest levels. That can have a real effect on our
[00:15:40.227]body, so just beware that if you have any of
[00:15:43.376]these symptoms, you are perfectly normal
[00:15:46.059]and that's part of your body reacting to those
[00:15:48.393]low hormone levels. There are some things
[00:15:51.059]you can do to try and help control those PMS
[00:15:53.009]symptoms. The first one is for people who
[00:15:56.809]have really severe cramping, taking an
[00:15:59.309]anti-inflammatory medicine. Typically,
[00:16:01.926]ibuprofen or naproxen can really help with that
[00:16:06.093]cramping pain. If you are using a period tracker,
[00:16:09.859]and you know "I always get bad cramps" "I know I'm
[00:16:13.206]going to start the next day" it can be helpful
[00:16:15.540]to carry those medicines around with you
[00:16:18.412]because the sooner you take them, as those
[00:16:20.812]symptoms start, the more effective they are.
[00:16:22.612]For people who don't like to take medicine,
[00:16:24.829]heat can help either on your low back
[00:16:27.529]or your low stomach. Sitting in a warm bath,
[00:16:30.396]making sure you're staying well hydrated
[00:16:32.846]and eating as healthfully as you can. Cutting
[00:16:34.947]back on caffeine can help with some of your symptoms -
[00:16:38.430]as difficult as that is to do. And exercise
[00:16:42.131]can actually help. A lot of us don't feel
[00:16:44.864]like exercising when we're having PMS, but
[00:16:47.396]exercise helps to release endorphins that
[00:16:50.029]actually block some of our pain receptors.
[00:16:55.408]We did a lot of talking about what is the kind
[00:16:58.186]of ideal, or normal, period and then common
[00:17:01.472]problems people might have. But
[00:17:03.344]when does it cross that line between "this is
[00:17:06.028]a common problem or I might need to see
[00:17:08.699]someone for medical advice?". If
[00:17:11.066]you think you are pregnant, we talked about if
[00:17:13.732]you've skipped a period then typically you should
[00:17:16.249]take a pregnancy test. If you've skipped two
[00:17:18.532]periods, you should take two pregnancy tests.
[00:17:20.983]If you've skipped more than one period, you
[00:17:23.648]should typically go see a medical provider.
[00:17:25.682]Like we talked about heavy periods that are
[00:17:28.082]lasting longer than seven days, if every time
[00:17:30.849]you get your period you feel really dizzy
[00:17:33.048]like your pulse is racing, those could be signs
[00:17:35.582]that you have low iron or you're aneamic.
[00:17:37.849]If your period completely stops, or has become
[00:17:41.949]irregular when it used to not be in the past,
[00:17:44.583]if you have irregular spotting or bleeding
[00:17:47.832]in between your periods, or those PMS symptoms
[00:17:51.583]are becoming so severe that they're preventing
[00:17:54.200]you from working or going to class or hanging
[00:17:56.516]out with your friends, those are all reasons
[00:17:58.387]to actually get personalized medical attention.
[00:18:03.592]Where can you go for that medical attention?
[00:18:05.332]Well of course, the University Health Center.
[00:18:07.871]We're one of your resources. We have
[00:18:10.635]several providers here, and we can help
[00:18:12.986]with birth control prescriptions, emergency
[00:18:15.018]contraception, your annual exams - your
[00:18:18.585]annual gynecological exams. There
[00:18:20.585]are some things that are covered by student
[00:18:22.666]fees, like HIV testing, STI testing like chlamydia
[00:18:28.021]and gonorrhea testing. We also can offer
[00:18:32.227]pregnancy testing here and basically any
[00:18:34.569]medical exams you may need for a sexual
[00:18:36.505]health concern. I'm going to let Stephanie
[00:18:39.247]hop on to talk about additional resources.
[00:18:43.099]The Women's Center and LGBTQA+ Resource Center,
[00:18:50.746]in case you don't know, is actually united under
[00:18:52.877]the same director. We offer a lot of the same
[00:18:55.840]things for students. One of those things is
[00:18:59.502]Safer Sex Kits. Those are our kits that we hand
[00:19:02.829]out for free on campus. They contain three
[00:19:05.596]condoms and one packet of lube. We have latex kits,
[00:19:09.002]latex-free kits, and flavored kits. We also have
[00:19:12.551]dental dams and internal condoms available
[00:19:15.867]by request, if you just go on the Women's Center
[00:19:18.602]website and request those there. We also have
[00:19:21.868]a relationship with Nebraska Aids Project. They come
[00:19:26.651]in and do free HIV testing once a month by appointment.
[00:19:30.252]It's very safe, and it's all anonymous. They wipe
[00:19:34.402]down everything in between testing and things
[00:19:36.918]like that, so it's very COVID-friendly. They do it
[00:19:39.186]in the Women's Center conference room, so
[00:19:41.685]if you have any interest in that please let us know
[00:19:44.368]and I would be glad to help you schedule an
[00:19:46.385]appointment. Also, at the end of this month
[00:19:49.085]we are partnering with Code RED to provide those
[00:19:51.935]menstrual cups. They are going to be housed
[00:19:54.901]in the center, and we hope to have them by the
[00:19:56.952]end of the month. Code RED is an RSO on campus
[00:19:59.285]who is committed to sustainable menstural options,
[00:20:02.219]so that is something to be aware of. Also not
[00:20:06.835]necessarily out of the Women's Center and
[00:20:09.368]LGBTQA+ Resource Center, we just wanted to plug
[00:20:12.568]CAPS because as we talked about like skipping
[00:20:15.085]a period can come from stress and a couple of other
[00:20:18.319]things that can be going on beyond physically -
[00:20:20.769]they can be going on mentally. So if you're having stress
[00:20:25.185]or having issues like that, please reach out to CAPS.
[00:20:27.535]They are here for you. Also, the Husker Pantry
[00:20:31.569]has free menstrual products often that you
[00:20:35.402]can request through their website. So make sure
[00:20:37.986]you check them out. And then if you're ever
[00:20:39.936]in any of the Unions, Libraries, or Rec Center, they also have
[00:20:43.152]free menstrual products in all of the bathrooms
[00:20:45.070]including the gender-inclusive bathrooms.
[00:20:47.520]If you are a person who identifies more with
[00:20:52.504]gender-inclusive bathrooms, then you also have
[00:20:54.552]access to those products.
[00:21:00.901]Now we're going to give
[00:21:02.064]y'all some time to submit your questions if you
[00:21:03.749]have any in the Q&A.
[00:21:06.904]Give you a couple seconds to type them out.
[00:21:18.681]One question for you, Sarah.
[00:21:24.031]"Do tampons and/or menstrual cups cause toxic
[00:21:27.165]shock syndrome?"
[00:21:30.833]So let me just explain what toxic shock syndrome is,
[00:21:34.432]for anyone who is not aware of that. It is caused
[00:21:37.942]by a bacterial overgrowth with a type of
[00:21:40.892]strep bacteria that starts releasing this toxin.
[00:21:45.566]Bacteria is pretty normal, but on a tampon, if
[00:21:49.671]that bacteria is overgrowing and that toxin
[00:21:52.369]get released vaginally, your body can start
[00:21:54.803]absorbing it and have this really serious reaction -
[00:21:57.419]fever, vomitting, rash - you can be hospitalized
[00:22:02.899]or even die potentially from it.
[00:22:04.949]Tampons can trigger that toxic shock reaction.
[00:22:07.483]It is rare, so it is around the scale of one
[00:22:12.029]out of 100,000 people who are having periods
[00:22:17.039]that it might happen to. But that's
[00:22:20.356]triggered typically after a tampon has
[00:22:22.634]been in place for nine hours or more. So
[00:22:25.605]during the presentation, I was mentioning that
[00:22:27.257]tampons should really be removed every four
[00:22:29.273]to six hours. The maximum you should leave
[00:22:31.689]a tampon in is eight hours. If you're
[00:22:33.473]following that, it would be very rare to have
[00:22:35.390]toxic shock syndrome. If you find yourself
[00:22:38.473]using a tampon, and it's still not fully soaked
[00:22:41.475]at six hours, it usually means you're using
[00:22:44.656]too heavy of a type of tampon. Instead of
[00:22:48.573]using a super tampon, use a regular tampon.
[00:22:51.690]For a menstrual cup to trigger toxic shock syndrome,
[00:22:56.556]that has happened, but very very rarely.
[00:23:00.274]It is far less common than with a tampon.
[00:23:05.749]Another question I know a lot of people
[00:23:08.524]worry about a lot especially going to class and
[00:23:10.784]things like that, does your period smell and
[00:23:13.629]can other people smell it?
[00:23:18.089]Almost all body fluids do have some degree
[00:23:21.938]of a smell, so if you think about like your
[00:23:24.688]urine - that potentially can have a smell.
[00:23:26.975]Period or menstrual flow can have a smell
[00:23:30.643]similar to blood. It contains blood and has
[00:23:34.416]an irony sort of smell. Typically for most people,
[00:23:37.400]other people around you are not smelling that.
[00:23:39.599]It's something you might notice when you're
[00:23:41.666]changing your products, but it's not
[00:23:43.166]common for other people to notice it. And
[00:23:45.167]it's normal. If you notice it's a really
[00:23:48.900]strong odor or someone else around you tells
[00:23:52.650]you that notice that odor, it typically may
[00:23:55.533]need to be checked. There are some people
[00:23:57.949]with vaginal infections or every so often
[00:24:00.066]we have a patient who has left the tampon
[00:24:03.801]in place without realizing it. Both of things can
[00:24:06.800]trigger a stronger odor than what you
[00:24:09.033]would normally expect.
[00:24:13.065]Can people get pregnant during their period?
[00:24:14.999]The answer to that question is yes.
[00:24:22.180]This is not common, but as we talked about earlier,
[00:24:26.454]a normal period usually lasts about five days.
[00:24:30.124]If you were having 28-day cycles, and you're
[00:24:33.862]ovulating on day 14, that's pretty far away from
[00:24:36.468]a period. There are some people who have
[00:24:38.663]a shorter cycle. Maybe they actually ovulate
[00:24:40.655]on day 10 or 12, and semen can stay viable
[00:24:46.155]inside a uterus for up to five days. Potentially,
[00:24:49.205]someone who's having intercourse at the
[00:24:51.569]end of their period and maybe is an early
[00:24:53.955]ovulator, could become pregnant. That doesn't
[00:24:56.673]mean you can't have intercourse during
[00:24:58.772]your period, but you should be using condoms
[00:25:00.989]as you should a lot of other times too.
[00:25:07.726]This kind of leads to another question, "can period
[00:25:13.129]blood spread disease, like STIs?"
[00:25:17.443]The answer to that question is, yes.
[00:25:19.376]Period blood and other vaginal secretions
[00:25:23.137]that go along with that most definitely can spread HIV,
[00:25:25.938]gonorrhea, chlamydia, pretty much all of
[00:25:28.105]the STIs. One thing that is even more
[00:25:31.588]concerning is that during your period
[00:25:36.005]it is easier for you to contract an STI.
[00:25:40.589]Basically, because your cervix is already
[00:25:43.455]opening to release that period blood and
[00:25:46.206]it's easier for an STI to move farther inside
[00:25:49.555]your cervix and uterus. So again, another
[00:25:52.338]reason to use condoms.
[00:25:57.198]The last question, "Is period synching real or is it a myth?"
[00:26:00.879]You're getting me with a hard one!
[00:26:06.651]Period synching, which means that people who
[00:26:09.174]are having periods live in close proximity -
[00:26:11.320]so roommates, groups of friends - do
[00:26:15.068]their periods start to line up? This was
[00:26:17.754]originally thought to be a true, scientific
[00:26:21.082]thing. There were some studies that
[00:26:22.761]happened probably 50 years ago. That's
[00:26:25.660]where this theory, or idea, came from. But
[00:26:28.711]more recently, maybe in the last 20 years,
[00:26:31.111]they have really studied this more. Even
[00:26:33.161]in the last five years these period tracking
[00:26:36.643]apps have looked at it too. What they're
[00:26:39.677]finding is it doesn't really pan out. Just
[00:26:45.333]the chance, or likelihood, of people -
[00:26:48.178]if you have a seven day period every month,
[00:26:51.744]and your friend has a seven-day period, those
[00:26:54.777]two things are going to line up several
[00:26:56.811]times a year. That's more likely than it being
[00:27:00.129]a real thing. Having said that though, everyone
[00:27:02.711]of us typically when we've have a roommate
[00:27:04.812]we have a period at the same time, so
[00:27:06.878]it seems legit. So the science right now is
[00:27:09.261]saying no, but I'll say it seems like it happens
[00:27:11.910]doesn't it?
[00:27:17.884]Awesome, I think that's the rest of our questions.
[00:27:20.964]Great, well, I've enjoyed so much presenting
[00:27:23.217]and I'm always happy to hear from people
[00:27:24.979]who listened in on the presentation tonight.
[00:27:26.703]So thank you so much, Stephanie.
[00:27:28.765]Yeah, of course, and this is just some
[00:27:30.631]contact information if you have any
[00:27:32.298]questions for Sarah. This is her email
[00:27:34.932]address, however, again, if you have
[00:27:37.432]some really specific health questions, then
[00:27:39.499]make sure you're creating an appointment
[00:27:41.266]which you can do at the University
[00:27:43.149]Health Center which is that number there.
[00:27:45.233]If you ever have questions for
[00:27:47.049]the LGBTQA+ Resource Center or for
[00:27:49.299]me or anyone at the Women's Center, then
[00:27:51.617]here's our contact info as well. We'd
[00:27:53.432]love to hear from you! Thank you
[00:27:55.333]so much for joining us. Have a great
[00:27:56.932]rest of your night.

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Period Health 101

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