Myths & Facts6 min read
About the blood itself
Myth: periods are dirty. Menstrual blood is a normal mix of blood and uterine tissue. It is not waste, not toxic, and not a sign of illness.
Myth: a smell means poor hygiene. Some scent is normal. A strong or persistent change, especially with itching, soreness or unusual discharge, is worth asking a healthcare professional about - not scrubbing or masking.
Myth: clots mean something is wrong. Small clots are common, particularly on heavier days. Frequently passing very large ones is worth mentioning at an appointment.
About what you can do
Myth: you should not bathe, swim or exercise. There is no health reason to avoid any of them, and gentle movement and warmth ease cramping for many people.
Myth: you should not wash your hair. There is no basis for this at all.
Myth: you cannot cook, enter a kitchen, handle food or take part in religious or social life. These restrictions are cultural, not biological. Nothing about menstruation makes food unsafe or a person unclean, and the practical cost of these rules - missed school, missed work, isolation - falls entirely on girls and women.
About timing
Myth: everyone has a 28-day cycle. Twenty-eight days is an average. Cycles commonly run from 21 to 35 days in adults, are longer and less regular in the first years after periods begin, and change across a lifetime.
Myth: ovulation is always day 14. It usually happens around 12 to 16 days before the next period, so in a longer cycle it simply comes later.
Myth: you cannot get pregnant during your period. Less likely, but possible - sperm can survive several days and ovulation timing varies.
Myth: irregular periods always mean infertility. They do not. Persistent irregularity is worth investigating, which is a different statement.
About talking
Myth: talking about periods is embarrassing. Open, respectful conversation is what gets a girl a product when she needs one, gets a bin put in a cubicle, and gets someone with disabling pain to an appointment ten years earlier than she would otherwise have gone.
Myth: this is a subject for girls only. Boys who understand menstruation grow into the classmates, colleagues, partners and fathers who make it ordinary. Leaving them out of the conversation is how the silence renews itself.