The truth about panty liners

Contrary to a persistent belief

I'm an obstetrician-gynaecologist, and today I'm going to talk about daily panty liners. Contrary to a persistent belief, and probably because of what these liners are called, many people think they're meant to be used daily, all the time. But in fact, they were created to make life easier in various non-standard situations.

In various non-standard situations

These can be:

• long journeys;
• various treatment situations, for example when you're using vaginal tablets or suppositories, which tend to leak out of the vagina quite actively;
• during and at the end of your menstrual cycle, for example when there's spotting or blood-tinged discharge;
• during pregnancy or ovulation, because that's exactly when normal day-to-day discharge can become more abundant or more watery.

I don't recommend using them every day

But in fact, I strongly advise against using panty liners every day, because it's precisely the liners that cause an increase in normal, physiological discharge. You should never try to get rid of that discharge completely, because it's an indicator of our health. Normally, when everything is fine, this discharge has no unpleasant smell of the kind the adverts talk about, and it doesn't cause any irritation or itching.

A paradise for bacteria

The panty liner itself, on the other hand, is a paradise for all kinds of bacteria to multiply. Naturally, this can lead to recurrences of bacterial vaginosis and candidiasis, various disturbances of the microflora, irritation, burning, itching and other problems such as dermatitis and allergies. So, despite what these liners are called, I strongly recommend not using them every day, routinely and constantly.