The average woman spends the equivalent of 10 years of her life menstruating

Yeah. We can't quite believe it either

Periods
(Image credit: Snap Stills/REX/Shutterstock)

Yeah. We can't quite believe it either

Despite the fact that most women get their periods around once a month, we've never stopped to think just how much time that actually adds up to. Or how much effort and money that means. We thought we knew everything to know about periods but they continue to surprise us.

Period product subscription company DAME have added up all the numbers for us and it seems that the average woman uses 11,000-15,000 sanitary products in her life.

Yes, that's a course of 3,500 menstrual days. Three thousand, five hundred! Which, yup, adds up to 10 years.

We were also like 'wtf' when we first read this stat, so we feel you.

You may have spotted DAME on Dragons' Den last night, as they're all about delivering everything that a woman might need for her period every month.

But, sadly, even though women have had periods since the dawn of time, it seems that talking about menstruation is still not a 'normal' thing.

If you watched the episode last night, you'll have noticed that the male judges were a little too transfixed on how 'freaky' a mooncup is and too busy giggling at the mention of a tampon to actually see the point. It's no surprise that they didn't go for the idea after that reaction.

The thought of not having access to a bed, hot water bottle and hours of Netflix when period pains can be as bad as a heart attack (yes, actually) gives us tangible anxiety because let's be real, periods are no laughing matter.

Your whole life changes, from how to sleep when you're on your period to the foods you suddenly need to avoid so you don't get that period bloat when you're 'on'.

So the fact that a mainstream TV show like Dragons' Den still has people (ahem, men) who will joke about periods is pretty insulting, we'd say.

Delphine Chui