Health & Wellbeing

Adventurous Periods

SportsShoes x Montane ambassador, Hero, speaks openly about the taboo subject that is periods and how to cope with them in the outdoors.

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This piece is a little more revealing than I am usually comfortable with but it makes me sad that people often still feel the need to hide when it’s that time of the month! I want to be more open about managing my period on the hill. There are times I dread getting it and have thought no wonder it used to be called the curse!

I’ve lost count of the situations when I’ve been with a group; either on a mountain, halfway up a climb or on a trail run when suddenly I get that ‘oh no’ feeling. I become aware that blood isn’t just dripping down my leg it’s coming at a rate that is swiftly going to expose itself through my trousers.  I am not one of those lucky people (do they actually exist) that knows when their time of the month will occur. My periods have no rhyme or reason and might come a week after the last one or be over only to return in a nanosecond with a vengeance. This unpredictability means it’s easy to get caught out while on adventures either because my period has started when I wasn’t expecting it or I’m in the midst of it but have bled through a tampon or pad in lightening speed. This is partially bad luck but also because intense activity pushes the blood out of the uterus faster meaning mountain days can be a trigger for making it worse. 

Periods are hard enough to deal with at home when everything is at hand and you can have an admin day. It’s a whole different scenario when on mountains like Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) which are crowded and have very little discreet cover to manage the situation. It becomes especially tricky to sort out. On numerous occasions I have been caught out and ended up tying a top around my waist to cover up, or have tried to nip discreetly ahead or behind to use some tissue as a makeshift pad whilst hoping no one notices. Oh the joys of periods. I know some women working in the outdoors that use the contraception pill without a break, not for birth control, but solely to stop periods. This is totally understandable, but the stubborn part of me doesn’t want to take a medicine everyday of the year purely for ease of work.

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So now I’m trying to improve how to manage the situation and have a mountain period kit (just another thing for my already heavy pack) which includes tampons, sanitary pads, resealable sanitary bags, tissues and pain relief. I also wear predominantly dark coloured trousers as these disguise accidental leaks. I pack a spare jacket or top that is comfortable to tie around my waist should I need to hide that area. I am also experimenting with period underwear that come in varying absorbency to suit your flow. They are moisture wicking so are comfortable-ish and are a definite barrier but don’t work 100%. I’ve tried the moon cup and it’s great at home or for wild camping trips but is difficult to do discreetly. One time emptying it behind a rock I accidentally splashed the blood over myself and looked like I’d massacred a sheep. MORTIFYING. I pray to this day I got all the blood off by the time I went back to my group but I’ll never know… It’s also not suitable for Yr Wyddfa as there is nowhere discreet to empty and replace. At least a tampon or pad can be changed without taking your trousers down if needs must!

However, it’s not just the period flow that women have to contend with. There is often a day or two of quite debilitating pain, headaches and emotions making you feel a bit all over the place. Recently, I was on an assessment training weekend with a heavy period. I felt much less sure of both myself and my decisions and then became emotional. It was embarrassing and I am sure would have gone much better had it been a different time of the month!

Another tricky weekend this summer was when I had ML (Mountain Leader) work doing event safety for the UTS series of ultra-races in Eryri (Snowdonia) which involved spending two nights on the summits. The day before the job my period started and I got a migraine for the first time in my life. I ended up unable to tolerate daylight and was sick for 16 hours. The decline in oestrogen means migraines are more likely to occur in the lead up to a period or in the first few days. They are also more acute. I was completely debilitated and very stressed that I wouldn’t be fit for work and would let everyone down. As a freelancer you imagine if you call in sick you’ll never be employed by that company again. The whole time I was ill I was stressing about how much of a failure I was. Luckily, I got better in the nick of time and was on the top of the Siabod by 5pm to take up my post. However, the idea that I might have had to say I can’t work due to a ‘girl problem’ felt like a cop out even though it wouldn’t have been. 

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Another issue I find is I can be clumsy during my period and more likely to slip when scrambling or running. Even things like carrying heavy loads become harder and this is because strength and endurance plummet due to the decrease in oestrogen levels. I also flip from feeling fragile to furious, so I’m either wanting to weep or stab someone with my ice axe but of course those emotions are kept hidden (the BF gets the brunt of it all)! However, PMS is a medical condition that 90% of women experience and although symptoms vary for most women they include; abdominal cramps, bloating, anxiety, upset tummy, fatigue, headaches, feeling irritable, anger and sadness. Sometimes I wish I had the option to wear a little ribbon in my hair to signify it’s that time of the month - a bit like horses have on their tails if they might kick. 

It would be good if there was a bit more discussion in ML training about managing periods not only as an ML but also within groups that we take out. I feel that as part of a group's morning briefing we should say; if anyone has their period and needs assistance to mention this and we will try to help arrange the best places to stop and also have supplies if needed. I think this is especially important with DofE and teenage groups. If tampons aren’t regularly changed then there is a risk that bacteria can grow and this in rare cases can cause toxic shock syndrome which can be fatal.

I think it’s really important we start discussing how to manage periods when having adventures in the outdoors.

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Hero is an all-round outdoor adventurer, a member of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team and a qualified Mountain Leader.

You can follow all of her wild adventures here.

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