My Period Vol.012 - I had been avoiding the nurse's office, but with the encouragement of my friends, I visited and discovered its warmth for the first time.

MT 22 years old, 4th year university student Menarche: 3rd year of elementary school (9 years old)
Current average number of menstrual days: 6 days Current average menstrual cycle: 33 days Current sanitary products used: disposable napkins, absorbent underwear


-What day is your period?

Girls' Day (No Minus or Plus)


-What image comes to mind when you hear the word "menstruation"?

cloud


- From here on, I'd like to look back on half of my life, focusing on menstruation. When was your first period? How do you remember it?

In the summer of my third year of elementary school, while I was out with my parents, we stopped in a convenience store toilet and noticed something darker than menstrual blood on my shorts. I remember panicking, thinking I might be sick, as we hadn't yet learned about menstruation in class. I thought something serious had happened, so I didn't tell my parents at the time, but my mother noticed when I was in the bath and said, "Oh, so you've got your period," and taught me how to use a napkin.

I never had period pain or PMS, but I remember one winter in my fourth or fifth year of elementary school when I was hit with such severe period pain that I felt like my upper and lower body would split open. It was so painful that I clung to the heater. My mother then bought me some painkillers for period pain, and after taking them, I was cured immediately, and I remember thinking how amazing medicine is. However, I have never had the same pain since then, nor have I had to take medicine for period pain, and that was the only time. I don't really remember it causing any inconvenience in my daily life or at school.

However, because I got my first period as early as the third grade of elementary school, I was a little happy to gradually find out that other girls around me were getting their periods too. It made me feel like I wasn't the only one. I was too embarrassed to tell people that I was having my period, so I found out by hearing my friends talking about it. I was also happy to have someone I could talk to during gym and swimming classes.

This is a bit off topic, but I remember when I was in the first grade of elementary school, I started to get really sore breasts and my body started to change a little. I think I was growing faster than usual. My breasts didn't get that big, but my parents noticed and prepared me for sports bras.


-How did things change when you became a junior high school student?

I was in the table tennis club, but it's a sport that requires a lot of movement, and there's no time to change your pads, so I thought it was inevitable that my shorts would get dirty. I didn't talk about it with my friends, so the solution I chose to use was to wear night pads from morning until the end of the day.


-How did you change when you became a high school student?

Just like in middle school, I wore nighttime pads during my period, both during the day and at night. Part of it was because I'm lazy, but I also hated rushing to the bathroom to change my pads between classes, even though I felt like "class is finally over!" and wanted to talk with friends. Plus, the school bathrooms weren't clean enough to relax in, so it wasn't a place I wanted to go. I'd wear nighttime pads at home in the morning and go to school, and it was normal to wear the same pad for about six to eight hours. I did have spare pads, but I never used them. I was lazy, and I didn't experience any skin irritation, stuffiness, or odor, so I didn't feel the need to change them.

I remember one incident from high school. My school uniform was a green sailor suit, and one day, I think it was during a school assembly, I accidentally leaked and got a period stain in a very obvious spot on my skirt. The stain turned a dark green and left a very visible mark. I noticed it myself, but I panicked so I had a friend accompany me to the nurse's office. I'm not the type of person who's used to going to the nurse's office, so I didn't really want to go, but my friend said, "Let's go to the nurse's office for now," so we went. The nurse there was very experienced, and she helped me by showing me, "If you pat the stain like this, it will come off," so there was no stain left. The nurse's skill made me think that there must have been other girls like me.
Even in elementary school, I had many friends who were close with the nurse, but I wasn't that type of person, so I couldn't easily go to the nurse's office. I was always in good health, and I felt bad about going just to chat, and I had no idea how I would be treated, so I never had the opportunity to go. But by going to the nurse's office, I realized that everyone comes there for this kind of reason, and I realized that the nurse knows a lot of things, so I felt a little warm inside.


-How did things change when you became a university student?

The university's restrooms were so clean that even though it takes two and a half hours to get to the university from home, I now prefer to go to the university restrooms whenever I need to use the restroom. From my first to third year of university, I had compulsory and elective classes from the first to fourth period, and the commute was long, so I would leave home around 7am. So, if I didn't change my pads while I was at school, I'd go an entire day without changing them. That was simply not possible, so I started changing them even when I was out. I didn't really like using public restrooms like those at the station, so I try to change them in the university restrooms whenever possible. University restrooms are clean and comfortable, with bright lighting and a sense of security, which is really nice.

I started using absorbent panties around the summer/fall of my second year of college. I'd always been interested in the risks of sexual intercourse, and in high school I couldn't talk to trusted adults about those anxieties. However, I learned from a certain company's initiative that there was a growing trend toward talking openly about these issues, and I wanted to learn more about different products, so I got a part-time job at a shop run by that company. At first, I felt like I was learning about absorbent panties and menstrual cups from scratch, but I'd never even used a tampon, so I thought absorbent panties would be an easier introductory hurdle than a menstrual cup. I bought a pair of inexpensive absorbent panties and tried them out, and I loved how it saved me the hassle of not having to think about when to change my pads.
I decided to study abroad in the Netherlands in the fall of my third year of university, but I didn't want to spend money on buying sanitary napkins there, and since I was using absorbent underwear and it was good, I bought about three extra pairs and brought them with me to the Netherlands. After that, I started to use a combination of smaller sanitary napkins and absorbent underwear, or just the absorbent underwear on some days.
After that, a friend of mine told me that she was concerned about the stuffiness and odor when using absorbent panties, and I realized that I was indeed bothered by it, so from then on, on the second or third day of my period, I would wear a large pad with the absorbent panties, remove the pad after half a day, and then wear only the absorbent panties for the second half of the day.I no longer had to worry about leaks when using the absorbent panties.

Also, since I became a university student, I've started to feel a strange discomfort rather than stomach pain from the second to fourth day of my period. I'd never had period pain before, so it's like, "Oh, this is it." I'm not happy about it, but it's good to feel like I understand how other people feel about their periods.


-Looking back on your period, what do you think?

I never thought I'd had any problems with my period until now, but now that we're talking, I realize there was a time when I was thinking about it.

In my university studies, I had to think about the confusion surrounding menstruation and the ties between men and women and between people of the same sex, but I always felt like it was something that didn't concern me. But I rediscovered that I hadn't completely been free of worries, and I was surprised at how clearly I remembered the first day of my period 13 years ago.
I realized that getting my period was one of the major events that shaped me into who I am.

"My Period" aims to provide an opportunity to think about and talk about menstruation, an issue that is often hidden, by recording and sharing how people of various generations and backgrounds have dealt with it. It does not endorse any specific products, services, or methods of coping. The content posted is based on each person's personal experience, so if you have any symptoms that concern you, please consult a medical institution.