How to choose suitable sanitary napkins?

How to choose suitable sanitary napkins?

i. Air Permeable
During menstruation, the skin of the women's sensitive part is most vulnerable. Surveys have shown that 73% of the women would feel itchiness and pain on some parts of the skin during menstruation. These are mostly caused by the use of sanitary napkins which are not air permeable. As such, it is of critical importance to choose suitable sanitary napkins to ensure safety during menstruation. Sanitary napkins are normally made up of three layers: surface layer, absorbent layer and underlying layer. The choice of sanitary napkins should be based on considerations relating to the materials and functions of these three layers.

ii. Surface Layer Consideration
Firstly, the surface layer should preferably have a cotton net surface with rapid absorption to avoid wet skin surface. The funnel type of design is better than the bucket type of design as the discharge absorbed would not back flow easily. Some sanitary pads in the market use artificial fiber as the main material for the surface, some women will have allergic problem with artificial fiber.

iii. Absorbency Layer
The middle layer should have effective absorption agents that can turn the absorbed liquid discharge into a jelly-like state so that it would not back flow when pressed and would not cause the sticky feeling. Avoid to use paper pulp from recycle paper as absorbency agents, Some women with sensitive will feel uncomfortable with such materials.

iv. Underlying Layer
The underlying layer should be made of air permeable materials to allow diffusion of water molecules in the gaseous state. This would keep away the moist air to effectively reduce the moisture and heat between the sanitary napkins and the body so that there is a dry and refreshed feeling.

Changing sanitary napkins to avoid troubles
Due to the special physical characteristics of women, the sanitary napkin is the women's indispensable 'friend' but this friend may bring considerable troubles when it is not treated well. For ordinary sanitary napkin used continuously for two hours, its surface may have bacteria numbering up to 107 per square centimeter and this contamination may seriously affect the health of the women.

Symptoms of infection during menstruation include mild fever, external genital infection, skin itch, ascending infections (such as vaginitis, cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, endometritis etc), leukorrhagia, localized burning sensation or lower abdominal pain, or with fever, nausea; infections of urinary system including urinary tract infection, bladder infection, pyelonephritis, frequent micturition, urgent micturition, dysuria, waist sore and waist pain with fatigue or fever. These may lead to other more serious female genital diseases.

Common mistakes in the use of sanitary napkins

   1.
      Not washing your hands clean before handling a new sanitary napkin. In the process of opening, flattening and putting on a sanitary napkin, the hands may bring many bacteria onto the sanitary napkin.
   2.
      Keeping the sanitary napkins in the wash room. Most of the washrooms are dark and wet and bacteria growth can easily contaminate the sanitary napkins.
   3.
      Not paying attention to the expiry date: In fact, the requirements for hygienic standard of sanitary napkin are very strict and the sanitary napkin is of poorer quality if it is closer to the expiry date.
   4.
      Buying sanitary napkins on promotion: Generally, promotional or gift items are mostly slow moving goods which may have involved raw materials of poorer quality, less stringent test requirements, longer storage periods etc and thus their quality could not be assured.
   5.
      Using products on trial: There are always new brands, new products, new materials and new concepts of sanitary napkins in the market and with aggressive promotion, consumers may be attracted into using them. For example, there is the popular sanitary napkin with dry net surface but many women with sensitive skin have complained of rashes and itchiness after use. Relying on reliable manufacturer, reliable shop, good reputation and one's own experience is still the most basic principle of common sense in choosing appropriate sanitary napkins.
   6.
      Using sanitary napkins with medication or fragrance: Most doctors would not recommend such products because the medication and fragrance may have undesirable effects on the body.
   7.
      Using each sanitary napkin for a longer time: For women in Asia, the number of sanitary napkins used for each menstruation is apparently lower as compared with women in Europe and America. Saving money in this way at the expense of one's own health is definitely not wise. It is best to change sanitary napkins every two hours.\
   8.
      Preferring to have high absorption: It is wrong to look for sanitary napkins with high absorption in the hope that sanitary napkins need not be changed frequently. This would lead to growth of more bacteria.