Menstrual Hygiene Day 2024: Every year, Menstrual Hygiene Day is observed on May 28 to create awareness about the importance of good menstrual hygiene, reinstate the significance of access of menstrual products to all and break stigmas associated with menstruation. Girls, women, transgender men and non-binary persons go through menstruation every month and yet they face stigmas associated with this natural biological process. Every year, Menstrual Hygiene Day is observed on May 28 because a menstrual cycle is of 28 days on average, and a person usually menstruates for five days – hence 28th day of the fifth month of the year is chosen as Menstrual Hygiene Day.

Menstrual Hygiene Day aims to busts the myths and urge people to maintain hygiene to stay healthy. Poor menstrual hygiene can cause lot of health issues. As we gear up to celebrate Menstrual Hygiene Day for this year, here are a few reasons why we should always maintain good menstrual hygiene.

Poor menstrual hygiene can be harmful; here's why:

Unclean sanitary pads: Sanitary pads come in multiple covers because unclean sanitary napkins can lead to urinary infections, fungal infections and reproductive tract infections. It can also make women prone to infertility.

Wearing one pad for too long: The body becomes prone to rashes and vaginal yeast infections when women do not change their sanitary napkins every 6-8 hours. Wearing a pad for too long can be harmful.

Not washing hands: When we do not wash our hands with soap after changing sanitary napkins, it can lead to yeast infections or Hepatitis B. Simultaneously, it is important to wash hands before changing sanitary napkins as well.

Washing from back to front: When we are menstruating, we often may wash ourselves from back to front in a hurry. This is extremely harmful as it leads to the bacteria from the bowel moving to the vagina, leading to infections. We should always be careful to wash from front to back.