To think sanitary pads are the work of the devil?

[theimposter]

Just had an op and not allowed to use tampax for a while so for the first time ever having to use pads. The most uncomfortable thing ever if you actually want to move around and do outdoorsy stuff. Who actually chooses to use these?! Any tips on brands and what doesn't irritate your lady gardens gladly received. I don't wish to have to go totally bald down there to reduce irritation as re growth will be even more painful!

[HillyHolbrook]

No advice but you're definitely not alone. I hate using sanitary pads so much, I feel dirty as well as uncomfortable too

Maybe try lower absorbency and change more often? If they're thinner they might be a bit less like wearing a tiny nappy?

[ifyourehoppyandyouknowit]

I've heard good things about cloth/washable sanitary pads. I'm too lazy, but if you have problems with irritation, they might help?

[theimposter]

Thanks; not sure if it's the scented bit that's making it worse or just that I'm not used to them. Probably didn't help sitting on a saddle for 2 hours either.. Should hopefully just be the next few days so disposable types would be best as no way I ever intend to use pads again (although been meaning to investigate mooncup).

[TequilaMockingbirdy]

They're awful aren't they? I always feel so uncomfortable and over padded down there. And disposing of them is a PITA. Much easier to pop a used tampon in a bit of loo roll and bin it rather than rolling them pads up and getting rid.

[Atbeckandcall]

The scented ones are pants (pun absolutely intended).

They are a bit uncomfortable, but is it because there is chaffage, or are you itchy and irritable "down there"?

[Alisvolatpropiis]

I have never used sanitary pads. Only ever tampons.

I find the mere idea of them grim.

Yanbu

[catsofa]

Mooncups are brilliant.

I think I used to wear sanitary towels while horseriding many many moons ago before I tried tampons - did you mean a horse or a bike saddle? If you meant bike then I wonder if padded cycling shorts would help, as the pad tends to stay in one place much better than a sanitary towel and so might hold the towel in place? I wonder if one would also help spread your weight around the pad in a horse saddle in a more comfortable way too actually...

Also with padded shorts you could use the thinnest pads possible safe in the knowledge that in the event of a small leak nothing would show through anyway.

Yes they are horrible. At 14 I was so depressed about having to use them one week in four for nearly the rest of my life. Don't think I've actually used one since I was about 16!

Irritation I think is most likely because of dampness, so when not in a saddle if you're able to wear a skirt with no leggings or tights under it or a loose pair of trousers or something else which allows maximum airflow, then that should help a lot.

Can you really get scented sanitary towels?!?!?!

[dramajustfollowsme]

See, I'm the opposite.
I find tampons very uncomfortable and hate wearing them.
I never buy scented towels though just thin towels with wings.
I suppose that is why it is good to have a choice.

[wonkylegs]

Some brands are definitely worse than others - finding lillets ones not too bad ATM (although saying that they'll probably change them to something more uncomfortable soon)

[SelectAUserName]

The only towels I get on with are Cottons ultra-thin pads with wings. They're hypo-allergenic and unscented, and the cover is 100% cotton fibre but they are disposable.

[squoosh]

I'm quite fond of sanitary towels, much prefer them to tampons.

[squoosh]

Oh and YABU

[Meow75]

When I still had periods, Always Ultra were my brand of choice. Thin but reliable. Important for a PCOS-suffering trainee teacher losing what seemed like a third of her blood every month.

I know this isn't a contraceptive thread, but Depo-provera and Implanon have improved my quality of life immeasurably.

Hope you feel better soon, OP.

[Salazar]

Yeah, I'm with you. I hate them. I'd rather ruin my knickers than wear them. Saying that, I haven't had a period in years so it is very easy for me to say as they are such a distant memory.

[AmberSweet]

Yanbu! I've just given birth to my second dc and am in the same boat, haven't used sanitary towels since I was a teenager and forgot what a pita they are!

[kickassangel]

And they never catch everything, or is it just me? Ther always seems to be some leakage at the front or the back, depending what I have been doing.

I hate them but have them as my second defense as I can't always get to a toilet often enough, so need a back up plan.

[technosausage]

I put a extra pair of pants on to stop the pad moving about so much.

[PrincessBabyCat]

I like the Always brand. They have wings that can clip onto your panties and they don't leak.

I like to use a combination. I use tampons when the flow is heavy and miserable and then panty liners when it tapers off.

[MummyBeerest]

Yanbu. I wore them for years as a teenager because "nice girls didn't wear tampons." I hated them. I said I'd rather be a total whore than a diapered saint.

Sidenote-you had an operation? Then went horseback riding? My hat's off!

[mkmjimmy]

Mooncups work really well. Sanitary towels just seem like a throwback to the days when women had to use rags and wash them out.

[Normalisavariantofcrazy]

Always scented ones are awful but their infinity are so good they make me paranoid that I've not put a pad on

[bellybuttonfairy]

Im another rare one then. I cant bear tampons. For two reasons, I just can always feel them inside (however high up I push them) and having a manky blood soaked bit of cotton wool inside me for hours - just doesnt seem right.

[meandcoffeeequalhappy]

Try ones that aren't plastic coated, there is a range in waitrose (natracare) that are 100% organic cotton and much less irritating. Whichever manufacturer that came up with non breathable plastic (even if it pretends to be) to have in your knickers while damp, all day, was a male.

[cheekygeeky]

Tequila - you bin used tampons??!! I thought everyone flushed them ?

I hate pads but have to use tampons and pads due to heavy flow.