Marine Lorphelin is aufeminin’s editor-in-chief for a day. The opportunity for her to deal with subjects that interest her, such as menstruation or menstrual precariousness. The former beauty queen has also been a general practitioner since the beginning of 2022. The subjects of health and especially women’s health are therefore particularly close to his heart. If we talk more and more about periods and we try to lift the taboo that surrounds them, many prejudices remain around this natural phenomenon. “Thanks to my job, I deconstructed all the prejudices concerning menstruation”, explains Marine Lorphelin. But not everyone knows everything! For aufeminine, she dismantles six common misconceptions about periods.
“The rules are essential”
“I was talking about periods on my social networks and I said that it was not useful to have your period, it is not essential. A woman sent me a message asking me how dare I say that”explains the doctor. Having your period is useless, except in certain cases : “If you’re trying to conceive, you do indeed need to have a regular, efficient cycle.” But having irregular cycles is okay. “We think that periods always come at the same time, but having an irregular cycle at 16 is not serious in itself, because it takes time to regulate itself. In addition, if the person has very intense menstrual pain, the goal is to stop it by taking continuous hormonal contraception. “That’s one of the things we’re proposing to block the rules.”
“I can’t wear a tampon if I’m a virgin”
This received idea still circulates… Wrongly. “You have to decorrelate virginity, that is to say never having had sexual intercourse with penetration, with the hymen. There is no closed or unclosed conduit history, these are old ideas. There are many girls who no longer have a membrane that closes in the vagina because they dance, go horseback riding… Physically, it’s impossible to know whether a woman is a virgin or not. Virginity is just a life event for yourself.” Whatever type of sanitary protection you choose, it should be the one that seems most suitable for you: tampons, sanitary napkins or menstrual panties.
“I can only have an IUD if I have children”
This received idea can be explained. “At the time, there was only one model of copper IUD which was a large model. The uterus has different sizes depending on age and whether you have had children or not. The cervix is slightly more open when we had children, suddenly, there were only large IUDs and therefore they only landed on women of a certain age with children. But today there are other models of IUDs suitable for women without children and young. “Today the copper IUD is back on the front of the stage because many young women wish they had fewer hormones.”
“The rules are bound to hurt”
The rules mechanism may cause mild pain : “Feeling a few contractions in the uterus is normal before or during the first days of menstruation because the body is pushing out the uterine lining.” But contrary to popular belief, having severe pain is not normal. “If the pain prevents you from getting up, from working, from going to school… Or if they are not relieved despite taking painkillers, then this should give you a clue.” It is not normal. At that point, you have to go see a doctor for a check-up. “It is important to find solutions and not live with your pain, there are many ways to relieve it.” The very painful periods can be a symptom of endometriosisor PCOS.
“Protections can be dangerous”
At the moment we hear a lot about toxic shock, dangers related to protections such as tampons or sanitary napkins. “It’s great menstrual panties, cups .. But do not demonize tampons. Me, they save me every day for sport.” It can be handy. “It is not dangerous. What is dangerous is if you do not respect the hygiene rules related to the use of sanitary protection, the maximum wearing time for example. You should also wash your hands well before and after. As for menstrual panties, you have to wash them well, dry them to avoid inconveniences such as fungal infections.”
“We are in a bad mood during the period”
“This reflection is very sexist”, says Marine Lorphelin. “The mood changes of course, but it’s not for everyone the same, it depends on so many things… On can not reduce bad mood to menstruation it is very reductive for women this type of reflections.