Controlling Menstruation While Homeless

(Newswire.net — July 8, 2018) Cheyenne, Wyoming — So many women living on the streets or dependent on shelters are faced with the predicament of menstruation without access to basic sanitary applications that the average female takes for granted. It is one thing to deal with a heavy period, an everlasting period and agonizing cramps, but it’s a totally different situation to face it without any feminine hygiene products at all. 

“There are 50,000 women living on the streets nationwide, and with limited access to pads and tampons, and no steady, comfortable place to shower, they are forced to get creative with ways to keep clean when they have their periods,” explains Bustle. “Some use socks, paper towels, plastic bags, toilet paper, towels, cotton balls, or clothing in place of hygiene products.” 

Unfortunately, some women have found themselves so desperate that they end up stealing pads and tampons, which is a crazy thought to imagine yourself squeezed into a position of stealing due to the flow of your period. Everything is a struggle for homeless people but being a homeless woman comes with the inevitable added stress of bleeding a number of days each month and scrambling for ways to stay clean.  

It is universally agreed that stealing is wrong but unfortunately, that’s what some homeless women feel forced to do while others would rather risk health complications over choosing to steal in pursuit of controlling the menstruation mess. In fact, some desperate women have become quite ingenious about addressing the situation as previously highlighted. One woman has even taken to deconstructing a single pad for materials to dole out multiple improvised tampons. As unhygienic as creating one’s own makeshift menstruation implements may sound, it’s the only hygienic option available to most homeless women.  

The obvious sanitary and health concerns emerging from such circumstances are mindblowing. This isn’t a coffee or ketchup stain being spoken about, they’re dealing with blood, stale blood resting against one’s body for many, many days at a time. Hemoglobin, bacteria, microorganisms and all that comes with blood left resting on the skin unaddressed at length. 

“Not only is it terrible, but it’s also embarrassing,” says Kailah Willcuts, a homeless woman who’s been living on the streets around a decade now. “Not to mention that now you have this stain on your pants. I only have the clothes that I’m wearing, so I’m standing there half naked, bloodied, you know, washing my clothes out.” 

Issues such as these are starting to become a concern for those in a position to help homeless women. Charity groups, shelters and even state councils are starting to really focus on the menstrual issues faced by women who are homeless. In Johnston, Iowa there’s a special seven year old girl named Brenlyn Kuntson who learned of her mother’s involvement in charity work and upon hearing that the homeless would buy food but not other stuff they needed, she immediately thought of women in need of sanitary products and thus, created a Christmas wish movement she calls “Pagina Covers.” 

In such an innocent style as only a child can execute, “Pagina Covers” has become an instant hit with cash and donations of hygienic products flowing in from across America for delivery to women in homeless shelters. Alongside pads and tampons, vaginal suppositories which combat yeast and other fungal infections are important applications too.  

The HealthyWiser™ Femme-Fresh™ vaginal suppository has a boric acid formula which is medically-approved and gynecologist recommended for relieving discomforts and alleviating irritation. The Femme-Fresh™ vaginal suppository is available on Amazon so to donate it and any other feminine hygiene products, Brenlyn’s mom, Melissa Kuntson, may be connected on Facebook to arrange delivery/collection.