I've had my period for a few years now, but I have a few questions and my mom isn't home.

I have a heavy period, so right after I turn the water off when I'm done showering blood starts running down my legs, so I have to use a ton of towels and then put them in the wash right away. I hate tampons.. so is there any way to help the blood not get everywhere before I put my underwear/pad back on?

Other question.. can other people notice the odor of your period? I shower every day and change my pad regularly, but sometimes I notice a small odor just from the blood and stuff, so can other people notice that?

Dude, if you're bleeding to the point that there's literally blood running down the insides of your legs, and you're soaking through multiple towels, you need to get checked up. That's far too much blood loss.

Shower: Well, not really. If you don't have something there to absorb or catch it (tampon or menstrual cup) then it's going to follow gravity. If you are really against tampons or cups, then you may have to change your routine. I used to have a "shower cup"-- a plastic cup that I would fill with water right before turning the water off. Then, you can use the water in the cup to wash away any straggling discoloration before toweling the area and putting on your preferred period stopper.

Smell: Sorry, but yes. Best you can do is keep yourself clean, change pads regularly, and try not to freak out. Some people are more sensitive to it than others, but yes, some people can smell it.

I think the blood diluting with water makes it seem like there's so much blood.

I usually just use the wet face cloth (ugh i feel like that sounds nasty) that I had in the shower with my and place it between my legs to catch any dripping until I get all supplied up and then give the face cloth a quick rinse so it doesn't stain and throw it in the wash.

The best thing to do is buy a pack of baby wipes and use these to catch and then clean yourself right after your shower.

As for the smell, I have heard that women are more sensitive to the smell, so more likely women will pick up on it alot sooner then men (of course I dunno how true that is)
Pads unfortunately fail miserably at covering the smell, which is why tampons or cups would probably work better because it's working within (hiding the smell)

But, if you prefer pads best solution would be to change them often, and use those baby wipes every time you change it to freshen up.

As for the towels... ugh horrible idea. I would hate to have to do your laundry. no offense but even toilet paper is a better idea then towels... even face cloths that can be rinsed after then thrown in the laundry.

Good luck!

I read somewhere once that the smell is created with menstrual blood touches air. So make sure when you're on your period that you are wearing tight fitting underwear, and that you change your pads every time you go to the bathroom.

I do sometimes notice the smell on other women. It's usually women I have a close level of contact with, not like, women that walked past me while I was waiting for my pizza, or anything.

Also, keep in mind that many menstrual products, particularly pads, are heavily scented. I don't know if you use scented ones or not, but when I used to use pads and tampons I couldn't help but notice that there is a distinct smell. All of the manufacturers seem to use the same scent, or at least a similar one. So be aware that what you're smelling could possibly be a combination of hot blood and artificial floral scent. Yummy, right? You might find that there's less smell if you use unscented things. It depends on your preference...just a thought.

The blood doesn't actually soak the towels, but I don't like drying my hair with the same towel that has some blood on it, so I use two towels and then put them in the wash and have to get more clean towels etc. and I just don't like doing that, lol and I always do my own bloody laundry! I feel silly now for not thinking about the toilet paper or baby wipe idea..

The smell isn't terrible, I only notice it when I pull my pants down and all that.. but I could never smell it just when I was walking around and stuff so I didn't know if other people could. I never noticed a smell on other people though!

Periods smell because when the blood comes in contact with the air, it lets off an odor.