Every woman is intimately familiar with menstruation. After all, we spend nearly our entire lifetimes with our period, sometimes cursing the fact that we have it every month, lamenting the discomfort it causes, as well as hoping every month that it arrives on time—unless we want to get pregnant, that is. But often, due to lack of knowledge and taboo around the subject, women tend to pay less attention to regular and good menstrual hygiene—or worse, do not have access to facilities that can help them maintain it.
However, menstrual hygiene is crucial for a woman’s overall health. Not paying enough attention to it can seem insignificant, but the fact remains that poor menstrual hygiene can cause not only short-term health issues, but also chronic ones that can take a toll on you. We discussed menstrual hygiene and its immense impact with Dr Asha Dalal, the director of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology, Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai. Here’s what she had to say.