There are four main kinds — pads, tampons, menstrual cups and period underwear — and none of them is the correct one. What suits you depends on your body, your day, your money and what you feel like using. This page is health information for learning, and a doctor or a trusted adult can help with anything that worries you.

Pads

A pad sticks to the inside of your underwear and soaks up the blood from outside the body.

They are the easiest to start with because nothing goes inside you, they are sold everywhere, and they are often the ones handed out free at school. They come in different lengths and thicknesses, including longer ones for overnight, and some have side flaps that fold under the edges of your underwear.

They need changing every few hours. They are the one product that does not work for swimming.

Tampons

A tampon is a small cylinder of absorbent material that sits inside the vagina and soaks up the blood before it leaves the body. It has a string that stays outside so you can pull it out.

You can swim, do sport and shower with one in. Some come with an applicator, a tube that helps push it into place; some are inserted with a finger. The first few times are usually the fiddliest part, and it gets easier.

Two things matter for safety. Use the lowest absorbency that copes with your flow, and change it as often as the packet says rather than leaving it for a long stretch [FDA]. This is because of a rare but serious illness called toxic shock syndrome, which is linked to leaving tampons in too long [NHS; FDA]. Rare means rare — but the rules are easy to follow, so follow them.

Guidance about tampons for younger teenagers differs between countries. Some national health services say there is no minimum age and that a tampon is fine from your first period if you want one [NHS], while other guidance is more cautious about very young users and suggests starting with pads. There is no single right answer, so use what you are comfortable with, and a pharmacist or a doctor can talk it through with you.

Menstrual cups

A cup is a small, flexible silicone or rubber cup that sits inside the vagina and collects the blood rather than absorbing it. You empty it, rinse it, and put it back in.

It lasts for years, which makes it much cheaper over time, and it can usually stay in longer than a tampon. The trade-offs are real: it takes practice to fold and place, emptying it needs a sink or at least some privacy, and it costs money up front. A shared or school toilet with no basin in the cubicle makes it harder.

Period underwear

These look like ordinary underwear with an absorbent layer built in. Nothing goes inside you. You wear them, then wash them.

They work well on their own for lighter days, and as a backup under a pad or tampon on heavier ones, which is why many people use them mainly for overnight or for PE. They cost more at the start and need washing and drying, so having only one pair is awkward.

How to actually decide

• Just starting? Pads are the simplest first step. Nothing goes inside, and there is nothing to learn.
• Swimming or a lot of sport? A tampon, a cup or period swimwear.
• Money is tight? Pads from school, and period underwear or a cup later if you can, since both are reusable.
• No private bathroom? Pads and period underwear need the least privacy.
• Worried about leaks overnight? A longer pad, or period underwear, or both together.

You can mix them. Most people do, and change what they use from day to day. Femio does not recommend a product or sell one, and nothing here is a brand. Words like vulva and vagina are explained in the glossary, and period myths, checked covers the things people get told that are not true.

When to see a doctor

Choosing a product does not need a doctor. You or a trusted adult can arrange to see one if:

• you cannot get a tampon or cup in, or it hurts every time even when you take your time
• something is uncomfortable, itchy or sore after using a product
• you cannot get a tampon out, or you cannot find the string
• bleeding soaks through the biggest pad or tampon every hour or two

If you feel suddenly very unwell with a high temperature, a rash, being sick or feeling faint while a tampon is in, take it out and get seen the same day [NHS].