The delicate part of skin you're neglecting
I'm slowly coming to the end of breastfeeding and anxiously awaiting the return of my period *sarcastic excitement* and as I'm continuing to heal from giving birth, both physically and mentally, it's really heightened my awareness regarding the importance of vaginal health.
The vagina is the most absorbent organ in a woman's body - resulting in extreme sensitivity to whatever we expose to or insert into it. So it makes me wonder, why aren't we more conscious and concerned about our vaginal care rather than the latest eye cream?
As women, we endure a lot that takes place in our reproductive system. It's unfortunate the topic of periods and vaginal care can be so taboo that it causes us to neglect and adapt a - let's not talk about/get it over with attitude. Understandably, of course. The pain and discomfort that comes with it isn't something we're rejoicing over. However, with each woman using thousands of tampons each year, it's important we start educating ourselves on the ingredients and chemicals that may be effecting our overall health. I did some digging to try and figure out what exactly was in some of the big name tampon products and, yup, as I expected and many have concluded, it's almost impossible.
Due to tampons falling under a medical product, major companies do not have to list ingredients, however, there's more than just "cotton" that make the product list. I came across this post. If you have a couple more minutes, head over to Naturally Savvy. Author, Andrea Donsky experiments with a commercial tampon and an organic tampon. I had no words ...
On a positive note, there is great news! Due to the growing awareness and authenticity among women and our health, there has been amazing products and safer choices that have been developed.
Below are ingredients you should be looking out for, along with safer, organic options.
Keep an eye out for:
- Residue from pesticide (cotton, unless stated organic, used in tampons have been previously sprayed with pesticides and other toxic chemicals prior harvesting *Hi, GMOs*).
- Fragrances/dyes (all of the pretty floral scents you think are helping are actually hurting you. They can irritate skin and, along with the other two, be a major hormone disrupter).
- Artificial fibers (our bodies absorb fibers like viscose rayon when they break off and float around during the saturation process - see Andrea's blog post).
Here are some organic (and pretty) options:
I've also listed a few organic personal lubricants as well:
(these are great postnatal and/or while breastfeeding)
- Sustain
I want to hear your thoughts! Do you have any recommended lotions, soaps or other tampon recommendations? I'd love to hear from you. Follow Candid Health on IG and please share and/or comment below.
