man that's crossing over into dance music handed to me foul house means a vision of the future. what makes the powerhouse its traditions it's firing to this very. example part of our way. through her documentary starts may 8th w. . welcome to in good shape today we're focusing on menstruation. why menstrual cups are becoming more popular. endometriosis when painful monthly cramps are something to worry about. and we meet a young man in uganda who's fighting to overcome to blues about menstruation hello

and welcome to good chick to all you men up there whole often have you bought this for your ladies a temple all this pets and have you ever been embarrassed about it i think it's time to talk about that period. every month a woman's body prepares her uterus womb for a possible pregnancy that's the place where a fertilized egg develops into a baby. each monthly cycle in the lining of the uterus the end of mitri and. if an egg cell released by one of the ovaries is fertilized it implants in the uterus where it gets nutrients for growth. if fertilization does not occur as is usually the case.

the usual lining is shade through the vagina that is the monthly bleeding as the old lining is cleared from the body the cycle starts over again. as we just saw in our report inspiration plays an important role in reproduction but there is still a lot of myths about it. commits number one. menstrual blood contains toxic substances which is why women are unclean during that period. been very mania people often say that if a woman who is menstruating touches flowers and they will soon. and in some areas of nepal women have to leave their homes during that period and are not permitted to touch communal food sources. there's absolutely greek scholars even planning natural histories had indicated that there

were some have a poison that emerged from menstrual blood. science has proved over the last 70 years starting with the 120 s. when there's actual experiments that were created around it that no there's not talk sense in menstrual blood and it's actually just. that need to regenerate themselves. number 2. in pakistan people believe that anything while menstruating can cause cramps. that being in the water will somehow stop the bleeding completely. actually can help to take a bath especially a warm bath to help of the cramps but being completely immersed in water is not dangerous or bad at all for him and straining person.

this number 3. certain dishes cannot be prepared if the cook is menstruating. in italy that day will supposedly fail to rise in france the mayonnaise. and in germany the whipped cream refuses to. most ration does not influence anyone's cooking skills does not make food go bad it does not cause you to rot it does not effect whatsoever you are as an amusing and amusing a cook as you would be leading or not so please cook to your heart's desire. and don't let me be a. great living in the 21st century and we should be at the point that we could see . well that's a natural thing but there still are to do some stigmatization evil here.

and this is why i need to do she found that together with a friend crafts and. doing studied journalism and management. she is also an artist in her own right and since 2017 she's made menstruation a central theme of her work. we make art to spark a conversation about menstrual hell because we think you don't have to love your period but you have to understand it can you give us an update about the blues concerning menstruation. even today or $2900.00 in germany and the to blue about menstruation is all around us i would say. because you see it the 1st thing is like we don't talk about it it's not just a topic that can be discussed it is shameful it is it has to be a secret. there are a lot of action. like shark week for instance like you don't want to say the actual

i have my period or someone has their period. and that while that's on like a societal level also on a personal level still a battle a lot of parents don't even discuss it with their children. which means the kids don't really have the knowledge or the resources to take care of it when they start their periods were told to get the idea to do something against it we started as a personal thing for us i i painted a painting with a lot of different bodies and blot with just water color and it was not a political stand or not i didn't want to make a point it was just something i did and then one of my friends who also menstruates herself was so offended by it and she really yeah i just got really defensive

too she's like well this is just disgusting like why would you do this and i thought wow if even in my. smaller circle or inner circle of friends it's such a huge to boo then maybe it's something we need to talk about more and why do you think that this is so important i mean some people may say that they are more pressing issues in the world yes there are probably a lot of pressing issues in the world but i think that's not how the world works like we don't make a list start with the most important issue and then work our way down we work on a lot of issues to maintain asli it actually is a pretty important topic because 1st of all it concerns 50 percent of the population directly and also this to really has an effect on people so you offer workshops on this topic i'm a man and not menstruating can i visit your trip as well we do a lot of creative. workshops we call it crafty nights but it's. i think it's

a very open concept it's not a very intense workshop where it's like a french over anything it's more networking well actually getting crafty being creative and so we're creating an atmosphere you know where you can create and learn about stuff and there are men and people who don't mince or is there but really our target group is people that mystery and so we focus on that like you to communicate on the bleeding and what you think about free bleeding those who mistreating i'm not using it is going to tarry products contributing free believing can be seen as a political stand that you say well actually this is normal and just everybody deal with this but also it can be just a very pragmatic things. like for instance to run again he was a marathon she ran where she was on her period but didn't use any product so she was just bleeding through it and the pictures went around the world. i think that

was not a political stand per se is she was there as an athlete and she was there to give her best at this marathon which she trained for a very long and then she got her period and she decided well there's not a really good option for me right now because i cannot just stop in the marathon and i've done to you know exchange my couple my temple or whatever so she just decided to run with it and i think that's actually a pretty good x. ample that. periods are not really plentiful so we should really you know lower the to blue so that i don't know it doesn't hold people back like imagine she wouldn't have run them as a marathon because of her period we'll continue talking just a moment but 1st if you've got any questions i'm sure too broad community. in good shape if your weekly health show on d w that covers many aspects of health care. we look at what's new in medical

treatment nutrition fitness and beauty we just does these topics in depth with specialists and offer you opportunities to pose your own questions so get in touch with. millions of men as well what are using the temple during the period it's inserted into the vagina and you should be able to feel it at all but that's not true for everybody sometimes it's painful but there is the true. start of women's monthly hygiene the menstrual cup it's made of medical grade silicon and that's why gynecologist tallon a props is all. mine to follow on more and more women are getting allergies like to food or pollen you can have an allergic reaction in the vaginal area as well to tampons for example but i've never seen a reaction to a menstrual cup having. a woman uses around 3 and

a half 1000 tampons or pads in 10 years alternatively she could use one reusable menstrual cup. but we stick to what the main advantage is that we produce far less waste. it's also better for your body because tampons dry you out. and they contain substances we should be wary of as do some atry parts. those arguments convinced miriam more yet to switch from tampons to a menstrual cup she's been using it for 3 years now bought some women don't like the idea. of oh feel we're putting a thing like that inside me. i think it's not so hygenic walking around all day with this huge thing inside me sounds uncomfortable that's because we must to ensure comfort menstrual cups come in various shapes and sizes with different mechanisms for removing them

a few simple questions will help women find the right type for them. it is a world are you is your hymen intact or not and have you been pregnant or had a child. and it also depends a bit on your pelvic floor muscles. to ensure a good fit the cup is folded before insertion. the 2 most common fall types of the c fold also called the hot fold and there's also the punch down or shell fold. once the cup has been folded it's hardly larger than a tampon and can be easily inserted once it's in place inside the vagina it unfolds forming a sealed by pressing against the vaginal wall and is ready to collect menstrual blood it's held in place by the pelvic muscles and fallon is then going to remove it please remember to not just pull on the cup. but 1st release the suction.

and then carefully jiggle a cut out you're probably in a slightly squatting position on the toilet so that you have the cup and comports out. a cup like this can stay in the vagina for up to 12 hours after every cycle it should be boiled in water for 5 or 10 minutes then it's ready for use the next month. nowadays menstrual cups can be bought in drugstores and not just on the internet. advocates say using a cup gives a woman better control over her body and her health. when you see changes when your flow is stronger or weaker is a form of biofeedback and that's a good thing. but does the cup sill securely enough to prevent lakes. with a cup i have no problem during exercise i wore it to the spot i go swimming with

and feel completely free and it's never leaked. not all women are familiar with the menstrual cup but this simple device has the potential to replace conventional pads and tampons. abdominal cramps and women are often underestimated because it's the way of life it's a natural thing it's biology and so on so even doctors sometimes miss important diagnosis like. not every woman is able to have a baby for many reasons for a long time to years ago no didn't know if she could she'd always suffered from abnormally painful periods. many of the time i started menstruating at 15 it was awful i couldn't stand it without painkillers. each month was a torment the abdominal pains put her completely out of action and there seemed to be nothing she could do about it. says michelle even with painkillers i could

hardly bear it normally. life was out of the question during my period as i always knew that something wasn't normal. she 1st heard about it and by chance everything she read about it much test symptoms. in this condition the underneath trim the layer tissue that usually lines the uterus graze outside the womb it can settle on the ovaries the philippian cheaps or even the intestine the bladder or the lining of the abdomen these lesions follow the menstrual cycle so when the period starts the lesions also plead and cause extreme pain. today isn't insisted on having a lot be done the best imaging technique to find the endometriosis grades but the results were negative monthly pains persisted. from our doctor kept saying it was normal and some women have pain some don't you just have to live with that then so it's most wanted i would leave. dr stephanie is familiar with those kinds of

statements but he knows that such extreme period pains are not normal usually the course is undetected and dimitrios us. my probably one problem is that we may have trouble diagnosing it you see nothing in an ultrasound scam everything looks normal and another problem is that we doctors don't take the patient seriously enough because pains during menstruation are considered normal. the amount of is constant . if the cause is endometriosis it's important to recognize it because the condition can often cause infertility but if the endometriosis has damage organs like the fallopian tubes the transport mechanism then the egg cell can pass through and these women can't become pregnant for anatomical reasons but there are lots of women with endometriosis where everything still seems quite normal. to there's no one to consult the specialist did she have endometriosis. have

a child. the initial examination showed signs of the condition but want isn't diagnosis mean for patients. we tell the women about ways of removing the lesions maybe removing a small piece of the intestine if the end of the trio says only on the abdominal wall then that lesion can be cut out that's the simplest procedure and the quickest to recover from. this is today is a 2nd operation it's only now that the extent of her and it's becoming visible it's a severe case they're relations all over her abdomen all wall luckily her reproductive organs are not affected the surgeons will now try to remove all the endometrial tissue but surgery alone doesn't always solve the problem. after the operation we always recommend hormone therapy to keep the end of mitri osis in check as long as possible to reduce the discomfort and prevent it from occurring

but. today so was given a long term birth control pill but she didn't tolerate it well and started having pain again so for 7 months she was on a different treatment that but her body in a kind of menopausal state but it disrupted her hormonal balance. even though when i had massive side effects at age 17 i felt like a woman in many of whom was like an over 50 year old i had hot flash. attacks of sweating headaches my mood was terrible i didn't feel like a teenager and the pain came back not as badly as before but it was never good as nick would. again she consulted the specialist soon it was clear that she would need more surgery today is ahead for operations in total before she could breathe a sigh of relief and then she got another piece of advice. that's

for thoughts of chronic pain also leads to tension and poor posture so even if the cause has been eliminated the pains may remain but doesn't mean the operation wasn't a success but the pain stimulus has led to a chronic pain syndrome which can be cured or improved with other methods. the young woman did everything to get rid of the pain permanently physiotherapy nature up with say she invested a lot of time in her disease and ultimately it led to a new profession that of an alternative health practitioner that speciality is going to a logical disorders she founded an endometrial says self-help group today 3 women have come for a talk all of them having trouble getting pregnant then when you have to how would it be to really never be able to have children i always tried not to think about that but somehow you do end up worrying. today as i was lucky after

she stopped taking hormones she became pregnant in 2013 her 1st son was born and 4 years later her 2nd at 28 she is now free of pain. so let's be cruel to thing let's do some art yay let's do it what i really was into that time and still jordan now is hand embroidery. this is like just explained like the simple stitches. but then i started actually with hand and rotary to connected with many. well health and well this is i don't know you may be are familiar familiar with the original well you've got a print of the picture right here and it's a lady with white trousers and here you have the red trousers and they're spotted exactly and what happened here is this picture was hanging here and i was really like seeing it all the time and everybody that menstruates has probably been in the situation where you were at and on the bus in school in the doctor's office

wherever and you're like are i hope i'm not bleeding through my pence right now and most times it maybe even feels like it but it's not really happening and so what we started then is to create our own stamps or rubber stamps this is a uterus just a stamp so you can stand but somewhere where to have some ball the stems. you know different things that we create in those creative workshops and people create beck's one stand us well this is a screen print actually i don't know if you why use toilet paper free in public restrooms but tempo means and pads are so this is a political statement it is yeah and it's a well like it shouldn't be a political statement but it is because you know it actually raises the question yeah why is said like i mean in really any public space where there's a public toilet or a place where you need to be there i think should be accessible menstrual products

yeah and other books here like yeah right this is actually like we call it bloody back and it really is like provocative like it is blood but then on the other hand it's not like it's just paint it's textile paint on the back there's nothing. really. bloody about it in that sense and i think it really raises the question why is blocked offending you so much or not you bet. i like this kid too you can see a man sitting in front of her tell him he's watching a horror movie fight movie with blots all over and he's really enjoying it is eating popcorn we're doing this and then this commercial breaks in the pet and some spots of blood on it and say i can see my eyes so is this reality i think that really sums it up because it shows you're not offended by black you're offended by periods and that's yeah really i think what this question is all about like why are you so offended even

a lot of people that that do menstruate just hate their period and that's totally fine like you don't have to love it if you don't have your period you don't have to be interested in it but people that do menstruate need the knowledge they need the resources to take care of the to understand what's happening well so i do my 1st print right so this is a stamp we carved out are. we this is a stamp we cuffed out it's. time punks here you have to probably was read to you because it's very good practice the color was actually and we have this true. is it in their just. it's ok that just president here right and then you put pressure on it sure like this perfect like your 1st menstrual project oh yeah it is oh it's not that bad actually good job it's a good job it's a print of 10 pounds and and 10 pounds actually changed the history of menstruation

10 pounds and pads all the sanitary products but they are not accessible worldwide because they're quite expensive but in uganda it was a man who had a great idea. lessons are over in this school income but the students aren't going home yes they're turning cold fabric into washable environmentally friendly sanitary pads many girls in uganda can't afford to buy disposable pads so they stay home from school during their periods for fear of ridicule when you intervene. so you feel sure you. may not come back to school and that has been missed. because disposable sanitarium products are so expensive many young women are forced to use rags or even leaves neither are very reliable ways of absorbing menstrual bleeding. here are ones to put an end to that. he's helping the girls to sow

their only usable cloth menstrual parents yes 3 sisters so he knows what a problem appearing it's can be. if you want i do the same pay. my sister. if my sister gets a problem i'll be also responsible in one way or another. thanks to said and do here is project these young women can now attend school every day. and they sell the pads they make to other women generating income. so they come into stewing in their communities on the gun know how kind of mending blow this is i know it's but it's another way of teaching god's how to fight make their own job. not everyone in uganda approves. projects but he's determined to

continue his work and help girls stay in school. that's it for today see you next week and i'm so then let's all try to stay in good shape whew.

hew. others give up. natalia keeps on fighting. many russian mothers are in similar situations. their sons have run afoul of the country's arbitrary justice her only hope these protests. and she's not on the.

sickest of the bad guys in 30 minutes on d w. we're all set. to go beyond the obvious. to live. as we take on the world. we're all about the stories that matter to you country or what ever is. money now for. w. made for mines. but on what it. is you know i mean in your monotonous he. goes oh no there's

syndicate media. us all up with that about our. vision of getting. it on what it. this you know i mean when you're not in a scene crying you know. because one among women out. what empathy is going to miss you know what i'm with what an organizer i know what is it sort of. this you know i mean in your mind not a single minute. but all morning. i mean i'm going to end unanimous. the show could go because as you prayed yes it said. i should. point out i've only said what i thought of the number 13 fun to. see it because as if to say i said. what.

this new news live from berlin the full impact of the broader virus pandemic on china is beginning to become clear the economy is hit hard but the 1st drop an alp puts it in 3 decades and the city of bull connor where it all started is forced to admit that the death toll is far higher than average and only purported. also coming up u.s. president donald.