menstruation

Professor Ana Gabriella Sardinha and her team have been developing The Menstrual ConSCIENCE Trail game to teach Brazilian young people about menstrual cycles.

For all the body positivity of our modern era, we still don’t hear many public conversations about periods. In many parts of the world, people are and have long been cut off from resources and education about periods: and the more marginalized the person, the more cut off they’ve usually been. Let’s have an honest discussion about what periods are, some of the unique challenges that transmasculine people who menstruate can grapple with, and how to address them.

Other people had to have been struggling with this, right? There was no way I was the only one. But if that was true, then why didn’t I – or anyone else I knew, for that matter – know about it? Why had I wasted years of my life pushing people away, feeling miserable, and not even understanding why? I’m going to make sure that nobody else has to go through what I did.

If we have the idea that puberty or pregnancy are the only big body changes we'll experience in life, and we come to perimenopause or menopause not understanding that they, too, are another big phase with some big change, it can be a real shock. However and whenever you might get to menopause or the menopausal transition, knowing about it in advance will always make the experience better. Whether you want to find out about it way in advance, you're in or approaching some form of it now -- like POI or with hysterectomy -- or you want to know more to support someone in it in your life, here's a place to start.

Only a small percentage of Latinas in the U.S. use tampons, despite their cultural prevalence—what gives?

What's endometriosis and what can you do about it?

Ah yes, the unexpected period gambit. Also known as the "I am not wearing white shorts until I hit menopause" phenomenon. I know it well, as do most people who menstruate. The image of the spreading, red stain on your pants (inevitably in front of the people who pick on you and/or the person you're...

No. It is not possible for a gynecologist to tell if someone has been sexually active, either with themselves or with a partner through an examination. The only exception might be if you were examined shortly after masturbating; the doctor might notice redness or irritation of the vulvar tissues...

It's really hard to say when your periods might develop a discernible pattern. In general, we would probably expect to see that happen within the first 3-5 years of menstruation. However, that is a very general guideline because there are a lot of other factors that could be at work as well. Your...

Yes, there are health risks associated with ingesting or being exposed to menses, because this is both fluid sharing and also blood sharing, even though menses is more than just blood. Overall, what you're looking at are the risks associated with unprotected -- without a latex barrier like a condom...