Swimming is a fantastic activity, which boosts your wellness and wellbeing and keeps you in shape. Unfortunately, if you’re a woman, there’s a whole week every month when you can’t possible go into the pool – or can you? Whilst many women believe that you cannot go swimming when you are menstruating, it is actually possible to swim all year round. Having a period doesn’t have to be a sexual health issue or even an inconvenience – there are ways to carry on your life as normal even during this time of the month.
Some women may have heard that they shouldn’t go swimming in the sea whilst they are menstruating, because the blood may attract sharks. This is such an old wives’ tale that it is actually quite laughable. Contrary to what you may have seen on ‘Jaws’, Sharks aren’t actually attracted to the smell of human blood, and don’t actually smell humans as different to themselves. Furthermore, the chances of a shark attack on any swimming beach is very, very low indeed.
Many women worry about the ‘leakage’ element of things, but it is quite likely that your flow will stop when you are in the water, or certainly slow down quite a lot. You cannot guarantee that this will happen, however, so should make sure that you have protection in place. Tampons can be worn whilst swimming, and you should make sure that you are comfortable with wearing one before you go swimming. Don’t wear a pad or a liner as these simply won’t be effective in water and will also not be likely to stick to your swimming costume. Make sure that you change your sanitary protection as often as you would on dry land, though, and some women feel more comfortable with changing regularly.