# How Women Managed Periods in the Middle Ages

- Original post: https://www.twitter.com/i/status/2118026749007081860
- Source account: [@Fiftybabanla](https://x.com/Fiftybabanla)
- Source language: English
- Duration: 1:06
- Published: 2026-11-07
- Canonical URL: https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages

## Transcript

[0:00](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages) Do you know how women in the Middle Ages dealt with their period?

[0:03](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=3) There were no pads, no tampons, just a piece of cloth tied around their waist.

[0:07](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=7) It was painful and totally unsanitary. Back then, women didn’t wear underwear.

[0:13](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=13) Yeah, you heard that right—nothing at all.

[0:15](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=15) Their pants had an opening in the middle so they could go to the bathroom without taking them off.

[0:19](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=19) It might sound convenient, but when they had their period, it was a complete mess.

[0:24](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=24) No pads, no tampons, no comfort of any kind.

[0:27](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=27) They had to tie that same piece of cloth around their waist, wash it every single day, and reuse it.

[0:32](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=32) Some women even wrapped cotton around a stick to make a homemade tampon—painful, dangerous, and not hygienic at all.

[0:39](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=39) Others didn’t use anything. That’s why the red dress became their secret weapon.

[0:43](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=43) It didn’t just hide the bloodstains—it also helped them stay looking elegant.

[0:47](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=47) And in ancient tribes, things were even worse.

[0:50](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=50) People believed menstrual blood was toxic, so women were often kicked out, isolated, and treated like they were cursed.

[0:57](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=57) Many women were physically weak, and some even went into menopause before they turned thirty.

[1:02](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/5QNf3lSj3P99/en/how-women-managed-periods-in-the-middle-ages?t=62) But what really made their lives even harder was still yet to come.