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Original poster

To swim whilst menstruating?

308 replies

awomensworkisneverdone · 20/05/2018 09:42

So funny light hearted conversation with sister and friend Friday and totally random.
I swim every Friday evening with my other half and my dc.
My sister told me it was vile for me to swim whilst bleeding. My friend disagrees and said it fine.
I did go swimming as my period was pretty much over (day 5). Would I swim whilst heavy? I would say no I wouldn’t. Would you?
Sister says it’s not fair on others swimming and friend says she’s wouldn’t care. Are there actually any rules about it? Would you? Would a tamping be suitable if you did want to swim? I’m not sure about others but if I bath whilst using a tampon it will eventually fill up with water and expand rapidly! Confused or is it just me?? Would you swim during your period?

OP posts:
GoldenGumballs · 22/05/2018 07:19

And the sea is full of poo anyway! (And plastic) Off for a swim with my goggles & snorkel Grin

specialsubject · 22/05/2018 09:12

This reply has been deleted

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OldMummy75 · 22/05/2018 09:18

I am apparently one weird woman whose menstrual flow DOES COMPLETELY stop when exposed to water. It doesn't even restart for at least an hour after putting back dry clothes on.

Tampons hurt me like hell and always did. It feels like having a ball of scrubbing pad in my vagina! Medically it is apparently not a "real" issue as I lubricate well enough to be "functional" when desired... (TBI, sorry!)

As a teenager loving to swim, I followed female relatives' advice and experimented in a private setting. I found out that if I wash my downstairs area with cold-ish water (a thick, wet, paper towel works fine) and wet the gusset of my swimming suit before putting it on, NOTING ever comes out. Trust me on that one; I did check very carefully as teenaged me was SO scared someone would notice anything!!!

So there it is; it works for some of us. And nothing comes out, even for some time after getting out of the water. (Also found out that nothing comes out in my bath either, BTW...) So I feel no guilt whatsoever about it and feel a bit perplexed at the outrage expressed here. I usually avoid swimming the first day or two but that's usually because I just don't feel like exercising.

Maybe people with common cold shouldn't go to swimming pools either... (SNOT!!! ARGH!!!)

manicmij · 22/05/2018 09:39

Gross if you don't use a tampon. Yes they can become water logged. It's called absorbtion. The "tail" of the tampon absorbs the pool or bath water and it travels up to the tampon. Opposite process of wearing a tampon. If not changed and becomes soaked in "flow" this will eventually travel down onto the "tail". Standard, basic very early school science.

morningconstitutional2017 · 22/05/2018 09:50

At school many years ago (1970s) we were expected to fill in a form citing 'personal reasons' for not going swimming. We stayed in a classroom and were expected to get on with homework/projects etc.

This was fine until a rule change - apparently we weren't quiet enough so we all had to gather in the hall with another class to sing hymns. This was much worse than going swimming.

If I was a keen swimmer I'd wear a tampon and swim anyway unless I felt too grotty.

Janetino52 · 22/05/2018 10:19

I've never heard anything so silly in all my life.
Swimming whilst menstruating is perfectly normal which is why we use tampons!
I've swam before using tampons and I've never experienced any water getting into that area! Are you using the correct size tampon?
I wouldn't go swimming if I was heavy as I would worry about leakage and having to change myself constantly.
If you want to swim with your family then do it, not only is it a wonderful form of exercise but it is a nice memory to remember in years to come when you will sit down and reminisce about your Friday swimming nights!
Also a swimming pool is full of chemicals for obvious reasons! Don't tell me that all the younger kids have never, ever peed in a pool!!! So your sister calls you horrible for swimming whilst menstruating? What about all the lovely little babies splashing about in the pool with their swim nappies on! Would she call these horrible too????

Original poster
awomensworkisneverdone · 22/05/2018 10:22

Don’t be silly special subject. I wouldn’t allow my children to drop rubbish Growup ffs
I’m the mum will teach her daughters that periods are normal! Not Shame them as you would
Twat!

OP posts:
Leapfrog44 · 22/05/2018 10:24

With a tampon it's 'fine' but the tampon DOES fill with chlorinated water, which is soaked up inside you and some of the blood will also therefore leak into the pool. I don't like the thought personally but I don't have a problem with others doing it.

Mammyloveswine · 22/05/2018 10:36

I would always swim with a tampon in... I don't keep a tampon in for a bath or shower.. that's weird imo!

Claire90ftm · 22/05/2018 10:42

If your tampon is filling up with water then you're not putting it in far enough. It's fine to wear a tampon whilst in the bath/swimming. Or buy a mooncup.

thecatsarecrazy · 22/05/2018 11:05

Since having children tampons don't do the job anymore so I couldn't

MidgetGem54 · 22/05/2018 12:01

Wear a mooncup when swimming

goodomens830 · 22/05/2018 12:09

Of course you can swim with a tampon. Everyone should know that. I've never had a tampon expand because of water lol! However....you cannot swim without one!!! That's disgusting

Namechange128 · 22/05/2018 12:19

How on earth do some of the posters on here think that serious swimmers can train if they're off a week per month? It's this kind of funniness that makes Britain so bad at swimming and also unfit generally. Yes a tampon, yes it can get a bit wet, but the fact that the water gets in there to the tampon means it was getting in there with no tampon too. And even with quite heavy flow, you are not going to have that much during usually under an hour, most of which you will spend horizontal. Op will be fine!

ThatWhiteElephant · 22/05/2018 12:31

Just swim wearing a tampon.
I would not swim with a tampon just because I would worry (my periods are crazy erratic!) that I would leak. Having said that, my flow seems to stop when in the bath. I have never ever had a tampon fill with water whilst bathing!

polkasha · 22/05/2018 12:45

Yes they definitely do! And release said water unpredictably afterwards

JuJu2017 · 22/05/2018 14:52

Of course you can swim whilst menstruating, provided you are also wearing a tampon! You wouldn’t want someone to pee in the pool would you, why is bleeding in it any different?!

Theflying19 · 22/05/2018 15:18

Of course you can swim while on your period. Do you female Olympic swimmers get a note from their doctors every month to let them off training?!

GoldenGumballs · 22/05/2018 15:33

We seem to have lost our way a bit. The question is not can we swim during our period because yes we can wear tampons. Bit the main issue (pardon the pun) is it ok if op doesn’t wear a tampon at the back end of her period when it’s just light spotting. Would you mind swimming in the same pool cos some people think that’s ok.

UndomesticHousewife · 22/05/2018 15:47

Do you swim if it's day 2 of your period? You say you swim every Friday so presumably on some Friday you've been a lot heavier, do you not use anything then either?

Littlebitty · 22/05/2018 16:02

This thread has just made me realise how yucky swimming pools are! Confused But each to their own!

karyatide · 22/05/2018 17:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Chouetted · 22/05/2018 18:29

I'm boggling a little at the idea that it is possible to not release bodily fluids into a swimming pool.

Everyone does it. Literally. I regularly release bodily fluids while merely walking down the street - especially now that the temperature has risen and the hayfever season is kicking off.

karyatide · 22/05/2018 20:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Chouetted · 22/05/2018 20:21

Is it? You were the one talking about "bodily fluids", I was following your lead. If you wanted to talk about just pee/poop/menstrual fluid, rather than all bodily fluids, it would have been better to say so.

As an example, I cry, sometimes people give me a hug, and my tears come into contact with them. I think that's acceptable, because I've seen other people do it, but I'm perfectly able to believe that you don't. I'm definitely able to believe that someone might be be weirded out if I cried in a swimming pool.