Menstruation and Hygiene in Adolescent Girls

Written by: Wahida Sabir

Girls begin menstruation at an average age of 10-15 and continue menstruating until the age of 45-50 and the duration of each monthly period is among 3-7 days. If girls do not pay attention to hygiene during the monthly period, they might face some health problems. AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some girls and physicians about this issue.

Rabia, a resident of Qarabagh district, Kabul province says, “I suffer vomming, stomach ache and body pain and more blood discharged during my monthly period that even I could not go to school.”

Sajia, a resident of Kabul city says, “I suffer from severe body ache during the monthly period that I cannot move and I have been taking medicines for this problem but they do not affect.”

Shamim, a resident of Paghman district, Kabul province says, “I feel back pain and stomach ache a week before my menstruation.”

Doctor Roya Afshar, a Gynecologist at Isteqlal Gynecology Hospital in Kabul city says, “If girls do not pay attention to their hygiene during menstruation, they might face some health problems like uterine pus, gonorrhea, and pain. If pregnant women leave these problems untreated, they might abort their infant and they might not get pregnant anymore.”

What do some people think about the causes of unhygienic during a monthly period?

Rabia says, “As I was using a single observant cloth for several months and I was replacing it once a day during my monthly period, it caused some health problems.”

Shazia, a resident of Kabul city says, “When I began menstruation for the first time, I did not share the issue with my mother for several months. If my young sister was giving me a cloth, I was using it, otherwise, I was using old and unhygienic cloths and it caused me gonorrhea.”

Doctor Afshar talks about this issue, “Lack of awareness and more shame causes girls not to know how to observe their cleanliness. For example, if girls start using unhygienic pieces of cloth from the beginning of menstruation, and if their panties are not cotton; they do not replace the sanitary cloths frequently; do not wash their genitals once or twice a day and do not take the bath of warm water in every two days, the germs might find a way to their body and they might face some health problems.”

How do girls prevent this issue?

Farzana, a resident of Chaharasiab district, Kabul province says, “When I began menstruation for the first time, I shared the issue with mother and she gave me sanitary pads and advised me to wear a cotton panty and replace the pad twice or thrice a day.”

Sharifa, a resident of Shakardara district, Kabul province says, “I use clean cotton cloths during my monthly period and I wash them regularly and after drying them in the sun, after ironing, I use them again.”

Doctor Afshar says, “Mothers and young sisters should help their daughters and sisters from the importance of menstrual hygiene. They should tell them that the monthly period is common in all adolescent girls and women and they should not be ashamed to share this issue with their mothers and sisters, otherwise they might suffer many health problems.”