- It is safe to swim while on your period and it does not increase your risk of infection.
- If you swim while on your period without wearing any feminine care products, the water pressure can temporarily slow your flow, but it won’t stop it completely.
- If you choose to wear feminine care products while swimming, experts recommend either tampons or menstrual cups.
- If you wear a tampon while swimming, make sure to change it after you get out of the water.
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It’s every woman’s worst nightmare – your period arrives right at the beginning of your beach vacation. Unless you’re on birth control, there’s no way to avoid it. And it can put a serious damper on your water activities. But the good news is, from a health perspective, it shouldn’t stop you from hopping in the water.
“It is safe to swim on your period,” says Dr. Jacqueline Ho, MD, reproductive endocrinology and infertility expert at Keck Medicine of USC. “It is not going to increase your risk of an infection.”
What if you go swimming on your period without any feminine care products
If you’ve ever tried swimming while on your period without wearing any feminine care products, you’ve likely noticed your period may seem to temporarily stop when you’re in the water. And there’s some legitimate science behind it.
“Blood typically flows out from the uterus into the vagina through the cervix because of gravity, and the water pressure can decrease the flow while swimming,” says Ho.
So it can slow your flow but it doesn't totally stop your flow from happening.
"Water pressure may temporarily stop the flow of your period while in the water, but coughing, sneezing, laughing, big movements may override this," says Dr. Leah Millheiser, MD, OB-GYN and director of the Female Sexual Medicine Program at Stanford Health Care.
How to choose the right feminine care product to wear in the water
So to be safe, you'll likely want to wear some sort of feminine care product. When it comes to the best one to use when swimming, it really comes down to personal preference. Two recommended by experts are tampons and menstrual cups.
"It is perfectly safe to swim with a tampon in," says Jennifer Meyers, CNM, a certified nurse-midwife at the Mayo Clinic Health System. "When a tampon is inserted, it sits very high in the vagina to collect any menstrual flow. The rest of the vagina stays fairly closed during swimming, so there's not a lot of exchange of fluid between what's in the vagina and the water outside of it."
While any type of tampon should work, you may benefit from a high absorbency or one designed for women who do sports. But you should change it once you're done swimming.
"A tampon will absorb the water from the lake, pool, or ocean while you are swimming, so it is important to change the tampon when you get out of the water," says Ho. "Otherwise, the tampon will be saturated and will not absorb the blood from your period."
And if you're not a fan of tampons, menstrual cups work just as well. "The cup should stay well-placed during swimming, and provide a barrier between the menstrual flow and the water," says Meyers.
What if you leak blood into the water anyways
If you're concerned about seeing your blood in the water due to a leak, put your mind at rest - it should be diluted pretty quickly.
"Any small amount of blood that were to get into the water would either be neutralized by chemical treatment of the water (swimming pools) or vastly diluted by a large body of natural water (lake or ocean)," says Meyers.
Another concern that may come to mind when swimming with your period, especially if you're swimming in the ocean or another large body of water, is sharks. If you're concerned that sharks will swarm around you, it likely won't happen.
"There is no data that shark attacks increase while a woman is on her period," says Millheiser.
Your regular flow shouldn't prevent you from swimming. In fact, it can even benefit your body. "Swimming and exercise may be helpful for period cramps as well," says Ho. Just make sure that your cramps aren't too bad when you first get in the water and that you can swim comfortably without much pain.
When you should avoid swimming while on your period
There are a few circumstances when you should avoid swimming.
"It is best to avoid swimming on your period if you have had a procedure recently in the vagina i.e. surgery, D&C for miscarriage, hysteroscopy, egg retrieval," says. Ho. "It is also best to avoid swimming if you have delivered a baby recently, within a couple weeks, or are still bleeding after a miscarriage."
The bottom line is, you are safe to swim during your period, and it may even help with cramps.