Your period doesn’t get to cancel summer (and we’re done pretending it does)

Let’s get real for a sec.

Summer is sold to us as beach days, golden skin, floaty dresses and long lunches with zero plans except to vibe.

But for a lot of Aussie women – especially mums juggling kids, sunscreen, and sanity – summer also looks like:

• Cramps in 40-degree heat
  

• Cancelling beach dayas
  

• Dodging white shorts
  

• Whispering “not today” to your netball team
  

• And hugging a lava-level heat pack like it’s a coping mechanism
  

Let’s call it: Your period doesn’t get to cancel summer. Not this year.

When Heat Packs Meet Heatwaves

In Australia, heat packs are one of the most common ways women manage period pain¹. They're familiar, they work – but in January heat? They’re hell.

Try strapping a boiling water bottle to your belly while wrangling toddlers on a 38-degree day. Not exactly the hot girl summer you were promised.

Women’s media even calls it “heat-pack hell” – that sweaty, sticky cycle of reheating, readjusting, and trying to survive through steam.

Let’s just say it: Your pain relief shouldn’t add to the pain.

Benched From Sport, Swimming & Movement

Period pain doesn’t just hurt – it hijacks.

A Medical Journal of Australia study found that 63–72% of Aussie teens with painful periods missed at least one key activity – sport, school, work or social – in a three-month window².

That’s:

• Netball games skipped
  

• Swim meets cancelled
  

• Gym memberships gathering dust
  

• Mums doing everything but the fun part
  

And not because we’re “just tired.” Because our uterus had other plans.

The Pool Party You Didn’t Go To

Swimming on your period is still a mess of fear, shame and misinformation.

Aussie period-care brands openly acknowledge the anxiety around leaks – even though flow typically reduces in water³.

From girls told to “sit it out” unless they use a tampon⁴, to grown women dodging pool invites altogether – the message is still the same:

Periods don’t just hurt. They exclude.

Bloat, Body Heat & Feeling "Not Like Yourself"

Now throw PMS into a heatwave. Suddenly:

• Bloat is worse
  

• Pads chafe
  

• Clothes cling in all the wrong places
  

• Your favourite outfit feels like betrayal
  

Many women avoid swimwear or fitted clothes during their cycle – not out of insecurity, but out of discomfort⁵.

It’s not vanity. It’s biology.

The Real Cost? Plans, Productivity & Peace

Some stats that hit hard:

• 1 in 3 Australians miss work, study or social events because of period pain²
  

• 2 in 5 women with heavy or painful periods miss full days entirely⁶
  

That’s:

• Brunches skipped
  

• Birthdays missed
  

• Holidays reshuffled
  

• And mums holding it all together – while holding a heat pack
  

We’re still told to “push through.” But push where, exactly?

Australia’s “Just Cope” Culture

The usual period pain “support”?

• Heat packs
  

• Painkillers
  

• Lying down in the dark
  

Helpful? Sometimes.
Enough? Not even close.

Why is it always your life that has to bend – instead of the support?

Enter: Relief That Moves With You

At Hey Sister!, we’re flipping the script on summer pain relief.

Our natural, drug-free products are made to:

• Ease cramps without overheating
  

• Support PMS and perimenopause (yep, that too)
  

• Slot into real life – from pool days to playgrounds
  

Because support should fit your body – not force you to sit things out.

This Summer, It’s Your Turn

Your period doesn’t get to decide:

• If you swim
  

• If you move
  

• If you show up
  

• If you feel good in your body
  

And if you’ve spent years quietly reshaping your life around your cycle?

You’re not dramatic.
You’re not weak.
You’ve just never been given the support you actually need.

But now, you can have it.

Let’s Talk

What has your period cancelled for you?
Drop it in the comments.
Share this with a sister who needs to hear it.
And remember, summer is still yours 🧡

References

1. Periods Shouldn’t Bring Any Adolescents’ World to a Full Stop, ScienceDirect.
   

2. Cameron L et al., Menstrual pain in Australian adolescent girls, MJA (2024).
   

3. Knicked Australia – Swimming on Your Period: What You Need to Know.
   

4. One in five girls consider dropping athletics and swimming due to periods, ABC News — Australian survey results on period impact for girls in sport.
   

5. RACGP – Dysmenorrhoea and its impact on young Australian women.

6. Jean Hailes for Women’s Health – Impact of periods on daily life.