Period Accidents at Work

[oopsees.livejournal.com]

Has anyone had an accident with period blood at work? What did you do about it? Preparing for your period can mean stocking extra pads/tampons in your desk, but it's not like I have an extra pair of all my pants/skirts in my desk, too!

What have you done in the past? I try to be aware of what I'm wearing, maybe bring a jacket or wear a long shirt, but stuff happens. Have any coworkers ever noticed or even, said something? I'm really concerned since it could be viewed as "wow, you have no control over your bodily functions!" when it's really just an accident.

If anyone has any tips they would be greatly appreciated. I'm getting a Paragard IUD soon and while accidents at home may be a nuisance, I want to avoid issues at work as much as possible.

Thanks for any tips!

Comments

[auroracrystal.livejournal.com]

Yay! Another splatterer!!!!! Especially at night I have to cover with two overnight pads. Horray for my fellow splatterer!

[auroracrystal.livejournal.com]

Not only do I manage to get the back of my underwear, but the front too, completely and utterly missing the pad, save for a few drops. UGH!

[wingsoflace.livejournal.com]

I splatter too!! I always get it on the back of my undies, gotta double up on pads during the night.. the works. Oh well :)

[die-in-a-fire.livejournal.com]

When I was a kid, I wore pads at night and the blood would always end up in a big spot behind the pad, on my underwear. I think it traveled up my butt crack. Gross.

[wingsoflace.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's EXACTLY what happens! I guess it makes sense. I always try to lean a little more forward while sitting when I'm on my period to counteract that, but it's the absolute worst while sleeping :(

[lookintomyeyes.livejournal.com]

I found sticking a little square of folded tiny paper between your ass crack fixes the problem of it running "downstream" to your undies. So simple, and it works! (And no wearing two pads!)

[mermaiddrowning.livejournal.com]

I keep extra sea sponges (I don't use tampons or pads) in car as well as an extra shirt and extra pants> I've worked with children and in the food service industry so the extra clothes were really nice to have around.

I agree with changing your pad/tampon as often as needed as well as if you're wearing a tampon and feel as if it will become too full before you can change it wear a panty liner or a thick pad instead.

Also, keep track of your periods so you'll have an idea when they are coming and you can be prepared by bringing pads and tampons with you to work a few days before it begins. And I've never had an accident, if I bled into my panties I just asked a co-worker if they had a pad/tapmon, bought one on my lunch break for wrapped my panties with toilet paper if there were absolutely no other options.

[mermaiddrowning.livejournal.com]

I also want to add (incase some people don't know) that peroxide removes blood stains from clothing.

[frolicnaked.livejournal.com]

Though it kind of depends on how quickly you can apply the peroxide to remove the stain. I've had little luck with peroxide when applied after I've returned home from work. :(

[mermaiddrowning.livejournal.com]

It is better to do it fresh but it will remove dry blood stains too, you just may have to scrub a little and ad more peroxide. I've always had great luck with it.

[frolicnaked.livejournal.com]

I've used an entire bottle (probably either a quart or a liter) and an hour of scrubbing to no avail. I wonder if there's simply a point at which the stain sets, and peroxide won't work anymore?

[toothpaste4life.livejournal.com]

Oh I have had one incident in my life and that was in the middle of school one day. My best friend pointed it out to me. It wasn't so embarassing, I just didn't care at that point. I feel like crap while on my periods all ready.

But I did learn from that experience. Close to my period and when I am on it, I always have a spare pad or what ever in my purse. And I try to always wear dark clothes just so nothing is noticable if something does happen. Just simple stuff like that.

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

I'm lucky to have only had a visible leak once - at high school. I used a jumper around my waist to cover it up.

I used to carry around a little purse thing with pads and tampons in it. Now I use a menstrual cup and all of those problems with having to lug around stuff and leaking have gone.

[zellie-bean.livejournal.com]

I usually wear dark clothes XD when I've had issues I've scrubbed it out as best I can and tie anything extra around my waist.

[frolicnaked.livejournal.com]

Yes. I am a huge fan of dark clothing when I'm on my period! Even if I leak, it's not glaringly obvious to others. (I might wonder about the people who stare at my butt looking for bloodstains, but I think maybe they have bigger issues going on than do me and my bloody butt.) ;)

[zellie-bean.livejournal.com]

Exactly! If I end up wearing something light and 'accident' on it I usually notice before it's anything noticible unless someone is SPECIFICALLY looking for it XDD although I've had no issues since starting divacup. It iis aweeesome. Tampons always leaked for me and then leaked on leaky pads x_x;

[frolicnaked.livejournal.com]

I even had issues with my Diva Cup, though generally not enough to go through panties onto pants, but tampons and pads have been nightmares for me. During times when I couldn't use a cup (either before I got one or for the occasional other reason once I started using), I've become reeeeaaaallly good at making the stain as unnoticeable as possible.

[oopsees.livejournal.com]

This definitely seems to be the best preparation. One day I wore khakis for some reason, didn't notice any issues, and then walked up the stairs right in front of someone, aghhhh *trying to block out the memory*.

I usually wear dark or thick clothes, summer can complicate that sometimes though.

[xochiquetzl]

Back when I was wearing commercial pads, I once stood up at work and ended up soaked from crotch to knee. I went to the female boss and told her I was going home and why.

I've never had that problem with cloth pads or my new diva cup. But the commercial pads seemed to cause a waterproof seal sometimes... that only lasted until I stood up.

And no one noticed until I pointed it out! Go figure.

[zellie-bean.livejournal.com]

But the commercial pads seemed to cause a waterproof seal sometimes... that only lasted until I stood up. <- HA! Me too! And I'm loving how if I sit wrong on a cloth pad I don't end up bleeding down the plastic part of the pad, it just absorbs around the cloth.

[xochiquetzl]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one!

[xdreamsofdramax.livejournal.com]

I had a problem like that in high school...it was AWFUL! I got made fun of for days afterwards because we wore uniforms(khaki skirts) so it was all over my skirt and all over me because I didn't even have pants to help soak it up. It ended up on the chair and the floor and they had to call a janitor to clean it up. And to make things worse it was the day that my mother went into labor with my sister so she was in the hospital and couldn't bring me any clothes. So I had to call a neighbor and get them to go buy a pair of underwear that would fit me and pay them back, which meant admitting to even more people that I had had a problem. And I had to borrow a skirt from the guidance office and it didn't fit right so I had to pin it on...Oh man it was awful. Since then I don't use pads...and I'm still TERRIFIED to use them...

[xochiquetzl]

:( Wow, that really sucks. I was surrounded by unobservant male computer nerds with thick glasses, so...

[hopingforrain.livejournal.com]

I've been lucky. My period starts off too light for that to happen. Then I wear black for 3 days.

You could keep an extra pair of pants at work. why not?

[oopsees.livejournal.com]

Oh, I usually have extra stuff at work, but I meant an extra copy of anything I might be wearing. I'm sure people don't really pay attention, but if I was wearing a skirt and then appeared in jeans or something it just seems like it would be really noticeable.

I'm also a little concerned about clothing choices because right now I have a very laid back job so I can wear jeans or basically anything when I am uncomfy and/or accident prone, but it seems like an office with a stricter dress code wouldn't be as forgiving.

Thanks for the tip though.

[destynnee.livejournal.com]

i actually use to carry extra clothes with me cause mine were so bad.. even with a overnight pad and tampon i was going through like each an hour... and soaking through like crazy..... so.. i just carried extra clothes with me at all times... and sadly just didnt leave the house sometimes :(

[briar-witch.livejournal.com]

I've had to wash my pants at the sink before, fortunately it was a one-room bathroom, not one of those stall bathrooms. I can usually tell when I'm due to start, but sometimes I'm still caught unawares, or without enough supplies. I'm lucky in working right down the street from where they sell tampons and pads (grocery store in one instance, drug store in the other), so I've been able to run out for supplies at the last minute when I realized that I'd be leaking all over if I waited. I try to wear darker colored clothing my first day or two, just in case, but like I said, sometimes it catches me unawares.

When I was younger my periods were really irregular, and sometimes I'd have no supplies on me when I started. I didn't have my license and I was dating an A--hole who would refuse to bring me anywhere that had supplies, so I ended up having to use a sock pinned to my underwear with safety pins on more than one occasion. Not something I'd recommend except in case of emergencies!

[sinisterf.livejournal.com]

My boss is female, so the few times it has happened I just told her what her what was up and she let me go home to change. We then would discuss how crappy periods can be sometimes and be closer for the whole thing.

On my last job my boss was a man... that was less easy but I still basically did the same thing. What can they say? It is not your fault, and things happen. Truthfully my bosses have always been understanding and I would hope that most people would be.