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opossumparable · 6 years ago

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Uterus Owners

I just gave my friend some advice on managing very heavy and painful periods, and I figure it might be useful to some of y’all as well. I have endometriosis, which makes my periods very heavy, and my cramps can get so bad that they make me vomit and go in and out of consciousness, so anything that I find that works for me is a godsend.

Pain Management:

Get an electrotherapy device. I can not recommend this enough. As someone who usually can’t keep down painkillers on bad cramping days, they are a life saver. They work by administering small, painless electric shocks to your muscles, relieving pain and reducing cramps. You can buy little handheld ones that recharge with multiple sticky pads for like $30 bucks on amazon. The relief is instant, and over an hour or so it can diminish cramps entirely. There have been days where my cramps are so bad I literally can not stand and within 15 minutes of turning this on I am completely pain free and able to do everything like normal. This is the one I have, one charge lasts about a week of near constant use.

Take your painkillers as early as possible. About thirty minutes before your cramps start is ideal, they are not as effective if you wait for the pain to already be unbearable before you use them. Never mix drugs, and always follow the instructions on the label for your age and body type unless explicitly informed otherwise by a medical professional.

Heating pads are hyped up for a good reason. Heat relaxes muscles, which is why heating pads help relieve cramps. I always put one on my lower back as well as my front, I don’t know why this helps so much more but it does. They are also super easy to make, just toss some rice in a sock and microwave it. You can even put a drop or two of a scented oil you enjoy to make it smell nice.

Raspberry leaf tea is a minor anti inflammatory and muscle relaxer, which makes it good for cramps.

Heavy Flow:

Diva cups are great. I am of the humble opinion that tampons suck ass, they leak, they dry out the vagina, and their spongy nature makes them a breeding ground for bacteria, which is not ideal. Diva cups hold more blood, leak less when used properly, are reusable, and are made of medical grade silicone, which means they do not dry out the vagina and do not provide a surface for bacteria to grow at unnatural rates. Plus, there are disposable ones that you can try before deciding that is what you want. You can also have sex with the disposable ones in without the mess of period blood if that is something you want to do. However, they are not a contraception, nor do they prevent STIs.

Postpartum pads are made for people who have recently given birth, and so are designed to be the most absorbant pads possible. If you are like me in that even the thickest nighttime pads can still end up leaking, these are the pads for you.

Cloth pads, while they initially can be rather pricy, are superior in every way shape and form to disposable pads, and since they are indefinitely reusable (just wash them after use and they are good to go again) you ultimately spend less on them over time. Postpartum cloth pads go all the way up the back and all the way up the front, providing more coverage that any nighttime disposable pads I have yet to encounter, and since they are made of cotton they are incredibly absorbant and let your groin area breathe, which is fantastic because disposable pads leave me feeling like I am wearing a diaper with a swamp inside it. You can also use cloth inserts, which allow you to have even more absorbancy. I have never needed to use more than two inserts, and in the year that I have been using cloth pads, they have never leaked. GladRags has a very good and extensive FAQ about cloth pads. You can also subscribe to them to get one pad a month at a lower cost than buying a bunch at once, they have postpartem pads, day pads, night pads, panty liners, and they have a variety pack you can get to figure out which pads are right for you. They also sell diva cups there.

Periods fucking suck, and for those of us whose uterus’ decide to put us through a special kind of hell they can be completely debilitating. I hope that sharing my methods of management can help some of y’all. Feel free to add your own tips, or to ask me any questions you might have, keeping in mind that I am not a medical professional and can only offer advice based on my personal experience as a person with a uterus. Have a lovely day!

#periods #uterus #reusable pads #diva cups #cramps #advice

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jobsearchtips02 · 5 years ago

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Right here’s The way to Decrease A few of the Prices of Elevating College-Aged Youngsters

St. Petersburg Police Officer Michael Yarbrough ties the shoe of 6-year-old Teagan Reese, proper, on the Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg on October 21, 2019. Additionally pictured is Daniel Nicholas, 5, and Janiya Johnson, 6. The fee for PAL is predicated on family earnings and may vary between $25 to $52 per week. Chris Zuppa/The Penny Hoarder

The primary few years of parenthood could be a sleep-deprived, money-sucking blur. You’re consistently counting all the way down to the following stage of child-rearing while you anticipate bills to ease up.

Like while you’re finished with method and diapers, and also you don’t have to purchase a brand new set of garments each three months. Or when your child’s at school and you’ll lastly cease paying for full-time youngster care.

However as you attain what you suppose is the sunshine on the finish of the tunnel, you come to comprehend that elevating a school-aged child doesn’t precisely come low cost both.

These 13 money-saving methods can present some monetary aid with regards to your youngsters’s bills.

1. Don’t Overspend Throughout Again-to-College Season

In accordance with the Nationwide Retail Federation, purchasing for college bills is the second-highest annual shopper occasion (solely falling behind winter vacation spending). Get monetary savings by evaluating costs, buying at low cost shops, shopping for in bulk and profiting from back-to-school gross sales tax holidays.

It’s additionally crucial to price range for back-to-school bills forward of time. Take stock of what you have got, make an inventory of the necessities and worth gadgets to ascertain a spending restrict.

Professional Tip

Arrange a sinking fund to economize over a number of months. Non permanent aspect gigs, selecting up further shifts or taking part in a no-spend problem can assist you pad your financial savings.

2. Purchase Zero-Waste Alternate options for Disposable Items You Ceaselessly Buy

If you happen to’re shopping for a whole lot of plastic sandwich baggage and juice containers that your children simply throw away on the finish of lunch, attempt going zero-waste. You’ll get monetary savings in the long term buying reusable merchandise — like a few washable containers and a Thermos — as soon as and utilizing all of them yr.

three. Throw Inexpensive Birthday Events

Rejoice your youngster’s birthday on a price range by sending out free digital invitations, selecting an affordable venue like a park and making your individual cake and goodies. Streamlining your visitor checklist will even assist cut back prices.

four. Save Cash on Extracurricular Actions

Dantaisha Bellamy, 13, left, performs basketball with Officer Michael Yarbrough on the Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg. Chris Zuppa/The Penny Hoarder

Your child may need to join piano classes, gymnastics and basketball, however the price of after-school actions can take a bit out of a dad or mum’s price range.

Nail down your youngster’s pursuits to at least one or two actions and see if any native authorities or nonprofit businesses — like your college system or the Police Athletic League — provide applications at a decrease fee than personal organizations. See if you will get reductions for enrolling multiple youngster or referring your neighbors to enroll their children. Minimize journey prices by carpooling and gear bills by shopping for secondhand.

5. Get Swim Classes for Much less

Over 1,000 YMCA places throughout the nation provide a program referred to as Security Round Water, which teaches children about water security and fundamental swimming instruction. Many branches have been capable of provide these YMCA swim classes program without spending a dime or lowered value as a consequence of funding from the nationwide group or group fundraising efforts. Contact your native YMCA department for extra data.

6. DIY Your Child’s Summer time Camp Expertise

Paying weekly summer season camp prices could be brutal. An alternate possibility? Kind your individual summer season camp co-op.

Collect a bunch of fogeys collectively who can take turns enjoying camp counselor and watching the youngsters every week. Brainstorm low-cost actions to replenish the day, and collectively chip in for snacks and lunches.

7. Save Cash on Your Subsequent Journey to Disney

For a lot of dad and mom, Disney is the massive trip mecca, however visiting Mickey and Minnie isn’t low cost. To get monetary savings at Disney World or go to Disneyland on a price range, discover lodging not related to the park, make your individual meals and arrive on the park no less than 30 minutes earlier than gates open to keep away from lengthy traces and benefit from your day.

Professional Tip

Wish to rating an affordable Disney memento? Search for pressed penny machines, which flip your cash into theme-park memorabilia — normally for lower than a greenback.

eight. Don’t Blow Via Money Entertaining the Youngsters

The chorus of “I’m bored” grows outdated quick. This checklist of 100 free issues to do — most of that are household pleasant — is clutch when it’s good to fill time with one thing enjoyable however don’t need to spend a bunch of cash.

Host a sport night time or placed on a expertise present. Attend a neighborhood competition or pitch a tent at a free campsite.

9. Discover Cheap Tutoring

Marianne Shafer, left, and Patricia Wing, center, assist Jacob Witt, 12, throughout coding membership at John Hopkins Center College, whereas Bralen Kaleda, 11, works on his coding train. The membership meets as soon as per week and is a part of the varsity’s prolonged studying program. Chris Zuppa/The Penny Hoarder

Nobody desires their youngster struggling at school, however tutors that cost upwards of $80 an hour could be powerful for households to shoulder financially. Get low-cost or free tutoring on-line by means of websites like Khan Academy or by watching instructional YouTube channels.

Different methods to chop prices are asking your youngster’s trainer for assist, seeing if there’s a peer tutoring program in school, checking for tutoring applications at your library or tapping into your social community for material consultants.

10. Eradicate Publish-Vacation Present-Giving Regret

Heed the four-gift rule. It conveniently rhymes so that you’ll bear in mind: Get one factor they need, one factor they want, one factor they’ll put on and one thing to learn. Different tricks to get monetary savings on Christmas buying are buying on-line, utilizing money-saving apps like Stash or Acorns and snagging offers yr spherical.

Professional Tip

Arrange a Christmas financial savings plan months earlier than Dec. 25. Work out how a lot you propose to spend and divide that quantity by what number of weeks you have got left to buy to provide you with your weekly financial savings purpose.

11. Study The way to Take Skilled-High quality Images

Go the DIY method to keep away from paying for pricy photograph packages. Some skilled photograph ideas one photographer (and mother of two) shared with us are to benefit from the most effective pure mild, discover a good outside location and get a number of photographs.

12. Be Frugal About Shopping for Garments

Host clothes swaps with different households in your neighborhood, repurpose outdated garments as pajamas, store at consignment shops and borrow one-time-use outfits. You too can ask household and pals to present garments moderately than toys as birthday items to get monetary savings on children’ clothes.

13. Simply Say No to Your Youngsters

Typically you’ve obtained to put down the hammer. Perhaps after denying their requests a pair dozen occasions, they’ll cease bugging you to purchase sweet and toys on the register. In accordance with psychologists, saying no to your children can truly profit your youngsters by serving to them develop to be higher cash managers.

Nicole Dow is a senior author at The Penny Hoarder.

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richmegavideo · 6 years ago

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Toilet paper, cotton swabs, tampons, and baby wipes hurt the environment. Here’s how to do better

Toilet paper, tampons, cotton swabs, and baby wipes are all personal care staples that, perhaps surprisingly, come with hefty environmental costs. From upstream problems, like logging crucial boreal forests for wood pulp that becomes toilet paper, to post-use issues like the centuries it can take a tampon to biodegrade, many of these single-use products come with serious environmental costs. There are smarter, more ecologically sound choices to make for almost every item, and some may even be upgrades. Here’s how to choose personal products wisely.

Toilet paper

Problem: Much of the toilet paper in the US is made from virgin-wood pulp sourced from Canadian boreal forests, which are a crucial carbon sink. The Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit, recently released a report finding that the average four-person US household uses more than 100 lbs (45 kg) of toilet paper a year, “far outpacing the rest of the world and driving a dangerous ‘tree-to-toilet pipeline’ whereby trees are converted into pulp, turned into toilet paper, and flushed away.”

Better choice: Single-ply paper made from recycled pulp. The NRDC offers a handy guide to which brands use post-consumer waste to make toilet paper. And don’t think that just because your toilet paper is thin and scratchy it’s good for the environment—even some budget rolls got a D on nonprofit’s sustainability scorecard. NRDC researcher Shelly Vinyard told me that after they published the guide, they heard from more than a few passionate fans of Who Gives a Crap wanting to make sure the company got a shout-out. It offers a toilet paper subscription service featuring rolls made from 100% recycled paper or bamboo (and wrapped in bright prints bearing the cheeky name).

Best choices: There are some very dedicated environmentalists out there who use “family cloth,” essentially rags repurposed into toilet paper, which are laundered after each use. For obvious reasons, this is probably not for most people. Installing a bidet is probably easier than you think, and will radically reduce toilet paper use. Vinyard also recommended giving brands feedback and letting them know that there’s a real demand for toilet paper made from recycled paper, not trees. Note: The same goes for facial tissues. Look for brands that use post-consumer recycled paper. Or go old-school and carry a handkerchief.

Cotton swabs

Problem: Cotton swabs have a disposal issue. They are often flushed down the toilet after use and end up in waterways, in the bellies of birds and other aquatic creatures, and even in the tails of seahorses. Italy has banned swabs with plastic stems, and the UK has proposed a similar ban, with plastic straws and stirrers on the list as well.

Best choice: This one is easy—follow the advice of doctors and stop using cotton swabs altogether. Dr. Peter Svider, an otolaryngology resident at Wayne State University in Michigan, told Time magazine that cotton swab injuries were responsible for a large portion of adult emergency-room visits for ear trauma in the US. And they’re not even that good at cleaning ears. “The way the cotton swab is designed—it’s really not a good tool for removing wax,” he said. “You tend to push more in than you pull out.”

Ear wax cleans the ear canal. Just rinse your ears in the shower with warm water and you should be fine. Can’t give up the satisfaction of the swab? Go for ones with paper stems, but beware of becoming a compulsive Q-tipper.

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It’s a photo that I wish didn’t exist but now that it does I want everyone to see it. What started as an opportunity to photograph a cute little sea horse turned into one of frustration and sadness as the incoming tide brought with it countless pieces of trash and sewage. This sea horse drifts long with the trash day in and day out as it rides the currents that flow along the Indonesian archipelago. This photo serves as an allegory for the current and future state of our oceans. What sort of future are we creating? How can your actions shape our planet? . thanks to @eyosexpeditions for getting me there and to @nhm_wpy and @sea_legacy for getting this photo in front of as many eyes as possible. Go to @sea_legacy to see how you can make a difference. . #plastic #seahorse #wpy53 #wildlifephotography #conservation @nhm_wpy @noaadebris #switchthestick

A post shared by Justin Hofman (@justinhofman) on Sep 12, 2017 at 8:28am PDT

Tampons and sanitary pads

Problem: Periods are already such a drag that adding one more task to the list of proper feminine self-care feels unfair. Still, pads end up in landfills, as do tampons, which also wreak havoc on plumbing.

Better: Go applicator-free with your tampons. In 2017, the nonprofit Clean Ocean Action reported picking up more than 4,000 tampon applicators (pdf) from New Jersey shores during its two annual beach clean-up events.

Best: More absorbent-underwear brands have been hitting the market, among them Knix, Thinx, and Luna. A few drawbacks: They’re fairly pricy, starting at about $25 a pair, and they don’t last forever. Menstrual cups, like the DivaCup and Keeper, have been growing in popularity—so much so that Tampax offers them. They cost around $25 depending on the brand and the medical grade silicone, and can safely last for up to a decade.

Baby wipes

Problem: Baby wipes have all the problems. They’re usually made with cotton—one of the world’s thirstiest, most polluting crops—and woven with plastic polymers for strength. They clog sewers and waste-water treatment plants. They help fatbergs form. They reshape riverbeds. We shouldn’t flush them, but we do. And we’re hellbent on making a wipe for everything from putting on sunscreen to taking off makeup to cleaning kitchen counters, and as an even worse alternative to toilet paper.

Better: For parents, wipes may be the convenience that keeps their sanity intact. Don’t throw them in the toilet, and try something reusable like washcloths or burpcloths for grubby hands and faces. All other wipes, avoid. Adults who favor wipes for personal use—treat yourself to a bidet-style toilet seat.

Best: Reusable wipes can be soaked in a mild soap solution and stored in a standard wipes container. If you’ve already switched to cloth diapers, which is easier than it sounds, just throw the dirty ones in the diaper pail. Even better, make them yourself from old t-shirts and towels—anything soft and absorbent.

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greenlifestylemarket · 8 years ago

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Ditch Tampons - Sustainable and Healthy Menstrual Cycle Tips

Let’s be real. No one looks forward to getting their period. In all honesty, the entire process is a messy, unpleasant business that leads to overflowing trash cans and last minute runs to the store to stock up on more panty liners. At the end of every cycle it’s all you can do to let out a sigh of relief while waiting for the next visit to strike in a matter of weeks.

If you think the pain of this disposal will only be felt by your trash can, think again. Your period is more expensive than you know. Spending just $5 a month on disposable period products (a very conservative estimate) will cost you close to $3,000 over the course of your menstruating life. My guess is that there are plenty of ways you’d rather spend your hard earned cash than dumping it in the bin.

The Environment and Your Tampon: A Bad Combination

But there’s more to worry about with your period than staining your favorite pair of underwear. In truth, your easy access to modern period-care products is coming at a sinister cost for the environment. The average woman uses more than 16,000 pads and tampons throughout her lifetime, creating more than 300 pounds of plastic that will never truly go away. Multiply that figure by the 3.5 billion woman on the planet today, and you have roughly 12 billion sanitary pads and 7 billion tampons winding up in landfills every year. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to realize this is a major problem.

The problems with your period products go far beyond their disposal issues. It turns out that many pads contain special chemicals that make them extremely efficient at absorbing fluids, often up to 10 times over their weight. While this is a great way to keep leaks in check, these chemicals come in some crazy combinations, and far too little research has been conducted concerning their effects on the environment, much less your body. Until these chemicals can be thoroughly studied (which is unlikely to happen anytime soon), your best solution is to keep them away from your skin.

Cotton Is Not Your Friend. Here’s Why.

Cotton commercials are amazing, aren’t they? Pretty women dancing in snow-white fields, their cotton skirts twirling in perfect sync with them. Life would certainly be better if this was an accurate depiction of the cotton industry, but the truth couldn’t be more different. Most tampons actually contain rayon, not cotton (a synthetic fiber that is known for drying out the vaginal wall), but the ones made from cotton are hardly better.

In fact, cotton is one of the dirtiest GMO crops on the planet. Four out of the five common pesticides used on cotton have been found to have adverse environmental impacts, and Aldicarb, a common insecticide, is known for being a real nightmare for the natural world when it mixes with wildlife and wetland systems. If these growing conditions aren’t bad enough, commercial cotton goes through some equally damaging post-processing that leaves it chlorinated, bleached, and re-treated with pesticides before you get the pleasure of putting it next to one of the most intimate parts of your body.

Putting Your Body at Risk For No Good Reason

There are an awful lot of weird plastics in pads and tampons, many of which contain chemicals that no one fully understands. Some of these chemicals, like BPA and BPS have been found to change the ways that embryos develop in the womb while also increasing your risk of developing certain types of cancer and even heart disease. Phtalates, a chemical found in many tampons, has been known to affect the way the body expresses genes, and it has occasionally even lead to organ failure.

Take a moment to think about the logic of placing plastic-based, largely untested synthetic products right at the most sensitive part of your body. There’s no way to justify it! The skin around female reproductive organs is extremely thin, meaning your blood vessels run right up against the surface. Skin is surprisingly permeable, which makes it simple for the synthetic chemicals in your pads and tampons to be absorbed into your bloodstream and travel throughout your body. In the same way that a tobacco patch floods your bloodstream with a taste of nicotine, your synthetic pads are slowly leaking a cocktail of chemicals into every corner of your body.

Choosing Natural Alternatives For Your Period

When you look at the facts, there’s not a lot to like about conventional period products. However, the good news is that companies around the world have woken up to this fact and have created a vast array of alternative products that keep your body safe while reducing your impact on the environment. Best of all, most of these products are reusable for months, even years, meaning that you’ll save gobs of money after your one-time investment to buy them.

Are you ready to ditch your disposables and enjoy some alternative period products? Here are some of the latest options.

Period-Safe Underwear

Sometimes it takes a little out of the box thinking to find the best period solution for you. Thankfully, many clothing companies are doing just that, and innovative new underwear is beginning to change the game for good. THINX underwear is designed to be period safe, and its built with an absorbent layer that keeps leaks in check all day long. Different pairs even have different absorbency levels, meaning it’s possible to wear underwear with the carrying capacity of two tampons. Because they look and feel just like any other pair of underwear, period safe undies are a comfortable, discrete way to keep your cycle in check.

Reusable Pads

The idea might sound gross at first, but hear it out. Reusable pads are as simple as they seem; they are cloth (often organic cotton) pads that can be washed between uses to keep you stocked up for every occasion. Not only are reusable pads often more absorbent than regular ones, they are far more comfortable. In most cases, reusable pads come in three pieces that include a holder and two inserts, making it simple to change up the absorbency depending on how heavy your cycle is. While it costs a lot to buy enough reusable pads to last throughout your entire period, the money you spend is a one-time investment because these pads can be used for years to come without any extra expense.

While these pads are handy to have available, a big disadvantage is that they need to be carefully washed. Before tossing the liners into the washing machine, they need to be soaked in cold water, and if you find yourself putting off laundry, day you might come up short on supplies by the end of your period.

Menstrual Cups

If you haven’t already been introduced into the wonderful world of menstrual cups, be prepared to change the way you deal with your period forever. While they look like a simple substitute for tampons, menstrual cups are actually far more useful. There are plenty of brands of menstrual cups available, but in most cases they are silicone cups that are easy to fold up and insert right at the base of the vagina. When inserted, menstrual cups create a seal that keeps them in place and allows them to collect period blood without leaking for up to twelve hours. When the cup needs to get changed, all you need to do is pull it out, empty it in the toilet, wash it out and stick it right back in. After a few uses, most women find their menstrual cups as simple to use as tampons once were- and far more convenient.

When you use a menstrual cup, your purse will never again be filled with annoying tampons, and you’ll never need to worry about getting caught unprepared. Small, easily packable and simple to wash at the end of your period, you’ll never want to switch back to regular products. Best of all, most cups cost less than $30 and will last a decade or more. Your wallet will be fuller and landfills will stay a little emptier, thanks to the fact that your dirty pads are no longer landing in them.

Softcups Cups

If you’re eager to try out a tampon alternative but aren’t sure you’re ready to commit for the next ten years, a Softcup is a smart option for trying them out. Like most menstrual cups, softcups are flexible menstrual discs that are worn right at the base of your cervix. Rather than absorbing your flow like a tampon does, softcups collect it and can be dumped out when they get full. Unlike other menstrual cups though, softcups are single use.

While you won’t be reducing as much trash as you would from sticking to strictly reusable products, softcups are a great in-between menstrual option that will allow you to experiment with alternatives without investing in pricy products. Also, because they are made from medical grade material made with elastomers, they eliminate any chance of developing toxic shock syndrome. Best of all, softcups can be worn for more than 12 hours, making it effortless to go hours without thinking about your period.

Conclusion

There’s no reason to pollute the planet every month just because you’re on your period. There are plenty of alternatives to conventional menstrual products that are made from natural products, reusable for years, and so comfortable you’ll forget you’re even on your period. If you’re ready to try out some alternatives to your icky pads and dangerous tampons, take the time to give some of these alternatives a try.