Anybody hate showering when on their period?

[Pormbk]

Honestly I despise it. Mostly just because it feels overstimulating.

I have very painful periods so tend to be a hermit whilst on them. Tbh as I wfh I tend not to shower for 3/4 days if I can. If I go out or have people over obviously I will shower. I still change clothes, underwear etc.

I know it’s not the most hygienic thing but weirdly most of the time people would describe me as Monica due to my obsession with cleanliness. Just goes out the window when on my period. Not sure why

Am I the only one like this?

Nowhere like mumsnet for a spot of competitive hygiene 🤣

I like a bath

That’s really interesting. I’m the opposite and feel so disgusting if I don’t shower. I find it warm and relaxing, soothing any pains and washing it all away.

Perhaps tmi but I always get a very sore vulva/labia (anyone else?) so find the warm water helps. Just do what you need to do! Gentle washcloth maybe?

…but who wants to be ‘a bit smelly!’

Same here.

As a teenager (1990s) I only had access to a bath and that was distinctly unappealling on the first couple of days of heavy flow. It certainly would not have made me feel clean!

With showers and mooncups it's a different situation for me now.

I have children with sensory issues and they are particular about which showers they use and dislike the fuss of transitions. I find my body more sensitive and feels pain more easily in the days before and the first day of my period so it's not a great leap of imagination that hormone levels can tip women from coping with the sensory input of showering to finding it overwhelming.

Access to showers as a default is only in recent decades. They began to be more of a feature from the 80s and 90s and have gradually become standard as bathrooms have been updated. Before then you'd have stuck with the aging bathroom you had if it was functioning. Central heating becoming standard has also made more frequent bathing more practical. Getting out of the bath in an unheated bathroom is no fun. I have a vague memory of being very young and being bathed in front of the coal fire before we had central heating. That was early 1980s.

It’s not about ‘wanting to be smelly’, it’s about not caring if you’re smelly when holed up at home on your period. Why should it bother you if someone smells when sitting around their own home?

Oh if you've never heard of it then it can't possibly be true 🙄 Human beings aren't inherently dirty. Not showering for a few days isn't unhygienic.

Bidet bottle for me
I often don't leave the house for the week I'm on my period due to pain/bleeding

Are you a man?

No, I'm a GP with an interest in women's health

Exactly! Jeezo. We need a bingo for it -
vile
disgusting
shocked
grim

bonus points for the posts where the person cleans themselves multiple times daily…

Did I miss anything? Chuck a toilet brush in for good measure. What is it with some women being so easily disgusted?

Quite right.

To those with the horrors, how do you think people survived a century ago?

As for calling the OP’s habits vile, get a grip.

I'm the opposite also. When I'm on my period I want to wash instantly so tend to have two showers a day, sometimes if at home during the day I have a quick one in afternoon also.

I do 'free bleed' so that's a huge reason why and also don't suffer painful periods

I'm puzzled by the fact that people horrified by seeing, well, blood when they shower don't just put in a tampon before the shower. Then it is easy to clean up the residual stuff between the legs. My periods were on the heavy side back in the day and despite this, it was all reasonably easily manageable. Have the period pants and mooncups banished tampons to the outer darkness? (I am not naive; I know there can be health issues with tampons--but only in a tiny number of women.)
Will I have to start a Tampax Nostalgia Thread?

I can't face them. They make my pain worse and I already have a dragging type feeling when I'm on

Actually I think this is better. Better down the plughole than making a mess elsewhere!

So you presumably know that in the real world most people can't see a GP and even if they can, they usually get told to go away and put up with it because other women do, and it takes an average of 8 years to diagnose endometriosis and not a lot less to diagnose other things?

Also, some women just have heavy periods, nothing wrong, just the way they are for them.

@pinksheetss what is free bleeding?

Genuinely baffled at this. Why would it not be possible to shower whilst on a heavy period? What could happen?

I’ve tried several different meds for my painful periods. Nothing has come close to working. I’m just a heavy flower. But my periods only last 3 days. Swings and roundabouts

Blood flowing out and mess - towel ruined forever

But the flowing water means the majority of it goes down the drain

Yes but I also know that a lot of women who could have their periods sorted never seek help.