Well hello there! Welcome back to the Zany Lady blog. Today we’re going to be chatting about periods. (YAY SO FUN!)
As some of you reading this know, I’ve had quite the voyage with periods. Not even just periods, just hormones and menstruating in general. It’s all been a ~journey~.
For starters, I got my period in the 4th grade. 4TH GRADE. Why. I had no idea what was going on and thought, for a second (maybe more), this is death. This is how I go.
Spoiler: I didn’t die. But I did feel close to it a lot. Since the beginning I had piercing, overwhelming cramps. The kind where you have to call your mom and leave school early. The kind where you couldn’t focus on anything else. It was the worst (still is sometimes).
Another side of my period struggles came with period care. Obviously, since I started bleeding at a young age, I was introduced to pads first. Most of my friends got their periods in middle or high school, and would start using tampons shortly after. When my friends started using tampons, I also wanted to. (I also wanted a cell phone when my friends started getting them. Tampons + cell phones = the full teenage experience.) And I tried. I really thought it would be as easy for me as it was for my friends. Alas, it was not. (For the tampons––I had no problem getting a cell phone.)
I wrote it off as “not being ready” for the longest time. But then I saw whatever was preventing me from wearing tampons spill into other layers in my life. Anything vaginal was impossibly painful. Not only tampons, but riding a bike, stretching, sex, etc. I couldn’t do any of it.
After years of knowing something was up but not having the courage to find out what, I ventured to a pelvic specialist. Turns out, I have a severe case of vaginismus. (I also recently saw a new doc and it’s called something more specific than this but HA, I forgot what she said. Nice, Becca, nice.) You can google that if you are interested, but basically it means it’s painful to do everything I just listed above.
So, tampons were out of the picture, as were any sort of menstrual cup (duh). What’s left? Pads? Does anyone genuinely enjoy using pads? Definitely not me. For the longest time I thought my only option was pads, until I discovered one of my favorite brands, Thinx. Thinx makes period-absorbent underwear, giving women like myself another option for period care. It’s also soooo much more sustainable than tampons or pads, which both create a lot of waste.
Thinx are underwear that absorb
your period, control odor, wick
moisture, and prevent leaks while
keeping you fresh and dry
throughout the day.
Thinx was an absolute game changer for me. I’m a professional woman living in NYC––I can’t be worried about my period. I’ve got other things to focus on. They also have a brand for tweens and teens, Thinx (BTWN). I would have LOVED to have a brand and product like Thinx as a scared menstrual 10 year old (that sounds like a horror movie). I wasn’t ready for tampons and I couldn’t bare the thought of wearing a pad to school. (Hi moms of teenage girls, def look into this, it will make all the difference for them––and the underwear comes in cute colors, so like, that’s reason enough.)
All of their products are super easy to care for, too. One of the most asked questions when I start talking about Thinx is: But where does the blood go? How do you clean it?
Every pair of Thinx is made with built-in period protection.
Thinx products are super adsorbent, whisks moisture, controls odors and prevent leaks.
A lil diagram of how they’re built:
This visual is super helpful at breaking down what the product actually is. It’s confusing to wrap your head around a pair of underwear doing all the things I listed, but the diagram explains how that’s possible.
Thinx is a great brand for their products, obviously, I love them and use them every month, but also for what they stand for.
GiveRise is a giveback program within the brand with a mission to smash shame around bodies and reproductive health. I’ve chatted a little bit on the blog about how my upbringing affected how I saw my body, and it was dripping in shame. Anything relating to my body was disgusting and no no, don’t talk about it, that’s not something you should talk about.
Being on the other side of that now and loving my body, truly knowing my body, educating myself on my body, I want that for everyone else. I love that Thinx is giving their efforts to help educate and empower women on their bodies and health. Three of their big goals are advocating for equity, educating future generations and gaining access for everyone. You can read more about their initiatives here.
They also have a super fun blog called the Periodical and, fun fact, I applied to be a writer there before I got my job at Coach! It didn’t work out (obviously) but I love their writers and the content they post.
I have the honor to be able to partner with Thinx and teach y’all about their products. From someone who uses the product on a regular basis, I can tell you, this brand is revolutionary. They are breaking boundaries and catapulting into the future of reproductive health.
With being a Thinx partner, they let me create this cute page all about why I love the brand and my favorite products. Check it out!!
If you are anything like me and are just not satisfied with the period care that is offered, you should definitely try out Thinx. Even if you’re curious for a period rotation alternative, browse around. You can go to my Thinx Leader page and see what I’ve been loving and browse all of their categorizes and styles.
I wouldn’t preach a brand if I didn’t love it myself, and I’ve been using Thinx for years. They have a 30 day return window too, so if you order and don’t love it, you can return it, no problem. Shop through my link and get $10 off your order.
Aside from Thinx, I think it’s important to talk about women’s health and all that comes within that realm. If you also struggle with anything related to reproductive health, feel free to reach out. DM me (@zany_lady) and we can chat. I can assure you, you’re not the only one who deals with issues and it’s super therapeutic to talk to other women going through the same thing. If I can’t be that for you, I’d love to get you connect to someone who can.
Yay for women’s health transparency!! Start talking!! Buy Thinx undies!! All the things!!
Xoxo
Zany Lady 