Let’s be real – no one enjoys having their period.
Even when we want it to come, our joy of it arriving is incredibly short lived as cramps take hold.
Even though nine out of ten people who menstruate experience dysmenorrhea (the proper sciencey name for menstrual cramps), there’s very little research on what causes it, let alone how to treat it.
I’ve tried everything to soothe the cramps that destroy my abdomen every single month, but hot water bottles, baths and enough painkillers to take down an elephant have had next to no effect over the years.
So, when I heard about CBD infused tampons from a friend who swore by their cramp annihilating properties, I had to try them out for myself.
Daye, a health research and development company committed to raising the standards in gynae health, released the UK’s first clinically validated CBD tampons in 2020 after almost three years of research – so it’s safe to say that its founder Valentina Milanova and her team know what they’re doing.
‘The majority of women and AFAB individuals struggle with maintaining ownership over their reproductive health and frequently report feeling disempowered when seeking medical help and attention,’ Valentina tells Metro.co.uk. ‘I want to be an agent for change and raise the standards of care in gynaecological health.’
So how do Daye’s CBD tampons work?
According to Daye, their tampons engage with your endocannabinoid system, which is responsible for modulating your body’s response to pain, sleep and inflammation.
The endocannabinoid system has a whole lot of receptors in the vagina – in fact, it has the second highest concentration of cannabinoid receptors in the human body bar the brain – making it an ideal place to apply a CBD compound.
Daye’s CBD tampons have 100mg of high-potency (30%), full-spectrum CBD – but before you get excited that they might give you an added buzz, they’re all made with 0% THC (the part of cannabis that gets you stoned).
Daye also works closely with a team of doctors and experts to carry out research surrounding the effects of using CBD vaginally – you can see more of that information here.
Armed with a selection of Daye’s CBD and ‘Naked’ tampons, it was time to see if they really did what they said on the (very aesthetically pleasing) tin.
First things first – normally, I really, really do not like using tampons.
I find them super uncomfortable regardless of size and that they can make me feel achy, which when I’m already battling period cramps is not something else I want to add to my pain plate.
They also seriously irritate me ‘down there’, so Daye were up for a serious challenge in making me a regular tampon convert, let alone a CBD-infused one.
Even before trying Daye’s CBD tampons, there was a lot I was pleased about.
I’m a sucker for nice aesthetics and the hemp bag my tampons came in was stunning – as was the travel tin I was sent for keeping a handful of tampons safe from the junk that floats around in my tote bag when I’m on the move.
Daye tampons are also 100% organic, plastic-free and come with water-soluble wrappers, sugarcane applicators, and recyclable packaging – so even if my vagina was to hate them, at least I knew the planet loves them.
Fortunately, I had my mind blown within twenty minutes of applying one of Daye’s regular flow CBD tampons – they really did make a massive difference to my discomfort.
It was as though my period pains just vanished into the abyss and wearing the tampon itself was almost unnoticeable with zero irritation – a first for me in my 16 years of menstrual bleeding.
To check that I wasn’t just feeling a placebo effect, I switched to a ‘Naked’ Daye tampon when it was time to change (sans CBD) to see if I could feel a difference – and yup, within half an hour of switching over my cramps were back.
It’s worth noting that the Naked tampons were still comfy, it’s just that my cramps resumed without the added CBD.
Consider me a fully fledged CBD tampon convert (as any of my friends who’ve had to listen to me drone on about how much I love Daye’s products since my last period will tell you) and I’m planning to stock up.
Daye tampons can be purchased as a one off or on a subscription basis – the longer you pick a subscription for, the cheaper the cost. A one-off box of twelve works out as 58p per tampon, while a 12-month subscription of 12 tampons per month works out as 46p instead.
You can buy them for yourself here.
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