An official of WHO indicated that 50% of women in the world suffering from gynecological diseases have used poor quality sanitary towels.
Every woman will need to use sanitary towels for about 30 to 40 years.
When estimated, this simply means that every female shall use roughly 15,000 pieces in her lifetime.
Statistics further indicate that most women who use poor quality towels suffer from serious gynecological diseases such as causalgia, cauterization, skin pruritus, fever, headache and bellyache.
A sanitary towel is a very intimate product going to a very sensitive part of the body.
When chosen with little consideration, it could end up posing great health risks.
The complications that arise from poor choice of these delicate items can be seen instantly or after some period of continued use of poor quality sanitary towels.
Then what should women look for when choosing safe towels? 1.
Packaging - Are your sanitary towels safely packed? When we talk about packaging we don't mean the colors on the package.
Yes, they could be colorful but if they are not protecting your health then it becomes meaningless.
Your towels should be safely packed to prevent secondary pollution, mildew and bacteria.
The air is full of dust, moisture and chemicals amongst other pollutants.
When moisture is absorbed on your towels, mildew tends to develop.
When your towels are not well sealed, they could absorb all these pollutants posing a great risk when you wear them.
A good towel should therefore be resealable in that when you remove one towel, you should be able to reseal it so as to protect the other towels.
The individual towels should also be completely sealed so that in case you throw one in your bag for 'those emergency cases' it doesn't get contaminated while in your bag.
Good brands of towels are using foil paper as their packaging material.
Foil paper effectively protects your towels from secondary contamination no wonder it is used for food packaging.
2.
Cotton top layer - What is the top layer of your sanitary made of? The top layer of a towel is very important because it comes into contact with your skin.
Most sanitary towel top layers are made of plastic material, no wonder the skin irritations, rushes, inflammation and heat.
Cotton is actually the best material for your sanitary towels.
It feels comfortable and it is a natural fiber.
If the label doesn't specify cotton, then probably it is not cotton.
3.
Breathability of the bottom layer - Are your towels permeable? This is very vital for your towels.
Sanitary towels that do not have a breathable bottom layer will encourage bacteria bombs simply because bacteria that tend to cause gynecological diseases are anaerobic and multiply very fast when there is no free flow of oxygen.
When these bacteria are exposed to oxygen, they die within one second.
To know if your towels are breathing, pour boiling water into a glass, and then cover it with the bottom layer peeled from the towel and then press with another clear empty glass upside down.
After a moment, if the obvious mist can be seen on the inside of the upper glass, it proves that bottom layer is well breathable.
4.
Perfume free - Are your sanitary towels perfumed? Most towels in the market are perfumed.
As trendy as it may seem, this is a very dangerous thing for a woman's delicate private area.
Perfume distorts the PH of your private area and could cause thrush and bellyache amongst other infections.
5.
Expiry date - Is the expiry date indicated on your sanitary towels? A good towel should indicate the date of production and expiry date.
This goes unmentioned.
Just like most products, sanitary towels too have a shelf-life.
Always check on the expiry date to avoid using towels that have expired.