
Tampons are small tubes of cotton wool that you insert into your vagina to soak up the blood before it comes out of your body. Pantyliners are a smaller and thinner type of sanitary pad that can be used on days when your period is very light. Pads come in many sizes, so you can choose one to suit how heavy or light your period is. One side of the pad is made of an absorbent material that soaks up the blood. Sanitary pads are strips of padding that have a sticky side you attach to your underwear to hold them in place. Sanitary products soak up or collect the blood released during your period. Read more about early or delayed puberty. Most girls will be having regular periods by age 16 to 18. Periods usually begin at around the age of 12, although some girls will start them earlier or later.Ī delay in starting periods isn't usually a cause for concern. Read more about heavy periods, period pain, irregular periods and stopped or missed periods. You'll lose about 20 to 90ml (about 1 to 5 tablespoons) of blood during your period, although some women bleed more heavily than this. On lighter days, it may be pink or brown. When your period is at its heaviest, the blood will be red. The bleeding tends to be heaviest in the first 2 days. Your period can last between 2 and 7 days, but it will usually last for about 5 days.

A period is the part of the menstrual cycle when a woman bleeds from her vagina for a few days.įor most women this happens every 28 days or so, but it's common for periods to be more or less frequent than this, ranging from every 23 days to every 35 days.
