how did women in history take care of themselves?

Question

i've wondered how women, back then, take care of themselves. what did they use to clean their bodies and wash their hair with. especially, what they use when they had their periods. they don't have proper pads & tampons like we do today. how do they manage to get through the period cramps and so on...

Answer 1

Well, women back then knew how to use the local plants and herbs to make their own shampoo, soaps and the like. They usually had pieces of absorbant animal skin, or cloth that they would use to soak up the blood from their period and then they would either wash them or throw them away when they became saturated. About cramps, they probably lived through them. I don't usually take any painkillers, it's not hard to just ignore the pain after going through it month after month.

Answer 2

With regards to hair and bathing, it wasn't that big a deal in most cultures, and was often discouraged. Those that did, often bathed in a river. Later, in some cultures, they used sort of a basin, but let's face it, who wants to drag a lot of water back home from the river when you could just jump in.

In many cultures, they were consigned to a tent or a hut during that time of the month. Some of them used a sort of diaper thing.

Afterwards, most of those cultures required that they bathe in living water(creek, river, ocean, etc) and wait one more day before they could return to the community.

As for cramps, they have used a number of different herbal remedies, although cramps have only been around for a few hundred years, due to diet and exercise and sunlight.

Perhaps I could give a better answer if you were more specific in terms of which cultures and which time periods.

Answer 3

if you're referring to wayyyyy back, i'm sure they used flowers or some organic way to make themselves smell good...but remember, that wayyyy back, there weren't any perfumes, so any smell, whether stinky or not, was probably considered normal....plus, the men stunk! they were killing animals, hunting, working in the fields, etc...so, i guess the women would have smelt better to them anyways...regarding the proper pads, tampons, etc...they probably used a cloth or something like that....and women back then were healthier...no ajinomoto!! hahha....so, they might not have cramped as much....i have never heard a story of women in history dying because of too much pain with their cramps....so maybe it might have hurt, but they were able to manage =)

Answer 4

According to my mom (who is 83) and my grandmother before she passed on, periods were an inconvenient time that coined the term, "On the rag", because they were literally on the rag (used torn up old bedsheets or whatever)...............My mom would take the turkey baster (no kidding) and put vinegar and water in it and use it as a douche.......She SWEARS she never basted a turkey with that one.............LOL..........She would (and my grandmother, too) get terrible cramps and either get drunk or smoke a left handed cigarette to quell the pains...........What innovations we have experienced, eh????????? Take care........

Answer 5

it is referred to as the curse for a reason. You ladies are gross.