:00:00. > :00:22.Now it's time for this month's Health Check.
:00:23. > :00:30.Welcome to Health Check, your monthly dose of global health
:00:31. > :00:35.stories. This month, we will be looking at the health of women
:00:36. > :00:38.around the world. Coming up: Should you be worried about the safety of
:00:39. > :00:43.sanitary products? Dangers of an eye opening beauty treatment. And we
:00:44. > :00:48.celebrate the women who are the hidden heroes of health around the
:00:49. > :00:56.world. We look at an innovative device helping more women to
:00:57. > :01:00.breastfeed in Bangladesh. On any given day, millions of women around
:01:01. > :01:04.the world are using tampons and sanitary pads but recently, women's
:01:05. > :01:09.health organisations and an American congresswoman have raised concerns
:01:10. > :01:13.about their safety. For Health Check, we investigate whether you
:01:14. > :01:18.should be worried. US Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has been on a
:01:19. > :01:25.mission for over 15 years. Female hygiene, female health, female
:01:26. > :01:31.reproductive health, female hygiene products. This should not be taboo.
:01:32. > :01:34.We should be talking about it. She believes more academic research
:01:35. > :01:37.should be done into the safety of feminine hygiene and sanitary
:01:38. > :01:44.products. And doctors are seeing women who are suffering from
:01:45. > :01:54.embarrassing conditions. Vulvar I Ching is one of the most common
:01:55. > :01:59.problems I have seen. It can be from eczema or dermatitis. That can be
:02:00. > :02:04.due to exposure or imitation -- irritation. Contact dermatitis
:02:05. > :02:10.caused in part by sanitary pads can be debilitating. It intervenes with
:02:11. > :02:12.many aspects of their lives daily functioning to intimate
:02:13. > :02:17.relationships. The most frustrating part of all is they are not given an
:02:18. > :02:23.absolute diagnosis. How common are cases like this? Well, there is very
:02:24. > :02:27.little data out there, so it is hard to know the extent of the problem,
:02:28. > :02:31.but some believe there are many risks associated with sanitary
:02:32. > :02:35.products. Sanitary products are an integral part of most women's lives
:02:36. > :02:43.and it is estimated that the average woman will use more than 16,800
:02:44. > :02:47.tampons or pads in a lifetime. This can contain synthetic products to
:02:48. > :02:52.make them more absorbent and fragrances, both of which women can
:02:53. > :02:57.have reactions to. So, should women be worried about the safety of these
:02:58. > :03:00.products? There are already many strict guidelines that the
:03:01. > :03:04.manufacturers have to follow. They have to show that the raw materials
:03:05. > :03:07.used to make these products safe for human use but also that the final
:03:08. > :03:13.product does not induce any bad reactions. Manufacturers do follow
:03:14. > :03:17.internationally recognised safety assessment is. This includes skin
:03:18. > :03:23.irritation tests, which can be done on areas like the lower back. But
:03:24. > :03:28.there is very little industry independent research about the
:03:29. > :03:31.safety of these products. Carolyn Maloney has been trying to get a
:03:32. > :03:38.bill passed by Congress that would change this in America. Women need
:03:39. > :03:42.to know what is in hygiene products and fundamentally whether they are
:03:43. > :03:50.safe or not. This bill is to achieve that goal, to call upon our specific
:03:51. > :03:54.agencies, the FDA and MIH, the federal drug administration and
:03:55. > :03:57.National Institutes of Health, to disclose to us what tests if any
:03:58. > :04:00.have been done, what are the conclusions and what have they
:04:01. > :04:04.learned. Apart from the rise in toxic shock syndrome cases in the
:04:05. > :04:08.1980s, sanitary products do have a good safety record, so the women
:04:09. > :04:14.currently experiencing problems today could just be the unlucky few
:04:15. > :04:17.who are sensitive. Although it may only be a small number of women who
:04:18. > :04:22.have bad effects using these products, more academic research in
:04:23. > :04:32.this area can help to conclude definitively that sanitary products
:04:33. > :04:37.are safe. That was Lizzie Crouch reporting. One of the conditions she
:04:38. > :04:40.touched on there was contact dermatitis, which is something I see
:04:41. > :04:44.quite a lot of in my job as a doctor. What isn't? The words
:04:45. > :04:48.dermatitis means inflammation of the skin and there are two types. There
:04:49. > :04:54.is irritant dermatitis and diligent dermatitis. If you look at this
:04:55. > :04:59.picture of that lady's face... That looks very painful. That is almost
:05:00. > :05:03.certainly an irritant dermatitis, caused by soap, oil or make up. And
:05:04. > :05:08.this picture with the genes, that is almost certainly allergic dermatitis
:05:09. > :05:16.to Nicole, because often buttons in jeans and trousers are made of
:05:17. > :05:27.material that contains nickle. Nickle is an often cited material in
:05:28. > :05:31.dermatitis. Latex as well. I used to find I could wear any earrings at
:05:32. > :05:38.all but now if I were certain earrings, my earlobes go pink. Would
:05:39. > :05:42.that be a nickle allergy? Almost certainly. And it is great and
:05:43. > :05:46.satisfying as a doctor because you can feel very clever and say that is
:05:47. > :05:52.a nickle allergy and as soon as you take away the offending item, it all
:05:53. > :05:54.seems to clear up. You can see here is much more severe looking picture
:05:55. > :05:59.of what looks like a couple of dolphins on a henna tattoo. This is
:06:00. > :06:03.an irritant or an allergic dermatitis. This could be a mix of
:06:04. > :06:11.both because often henna is mixed in with other guys and people often get
:06:12. > :06:15.a holiday. I had one my ankle and it looks like a not very nice pink
:06:16. > :06:20.bracelet. The weird thing is people can develop these allergies years
:06:21. > :06:23.later. Yes and there is a theory that the more you come into contact
:06:24. > :06:26.with something the more likely it is that it will trigger a reaction.
:06:27. > :06:29.There is almost a switch on the immune system that suddenly triggers
:06:30. > :06:34.a vast immune response and all of these inflammatory mediators like
:06:35. > :06:36.histamine and other chemicals rushed to the skin and cause that
:06:37. > :06:41.characteristic redness and inflammatory look. It does not
:06:42. > :06:46.really matter at all if I cannot wear nickle earrings but can it get
:06:47. > :06:49.more serious? Yes. Yourselves like a mild dermatitis because it
:06:50. > :06:54.disappears the day after, but it can be much more severe, as some of
:06:55. > :06:56.these images show. If you get dermatitis on your face, that can
:06:57. > :07:03.have a psychological effect, which also affects the people in our next
:07:04. > :07:06.piece. Eyelashes are big business in Japan. You can buy anything there
:07:07. > :07:12.from boutiques, pharmacies and even vending machines. As the craze
:07:13. > :07:14.spreads, the Japanese health authorities are becoming concerned
:07:15. > :07:22.about the increasing number of actions that they cause they say
:07:23. > :07:25.that the eyes of the window to the soul and in Japan, women are paying
:07:26. > :07:34.vast amount of any to open them right up. Eyelashes extensions are
:07:35. > :07:38.the latest craze here and it is an extremely intricate treatment that
:07:39. > :07:42.should take about an hour or so with each hair is laid on a separately
:07:43. > :07:46.with blue. When eyelashes extensions are done properly like this, it is
:07:47. > :07:53.supposed to enhance your natural look. But for women using leaching
:07:54. > :08:01.and the market, the result can be less than flattering. Chiori is one
:08:02. > :08:05.customer who left a cheap parlour with more than she bargained for.
:08:06. > :08:10.TRANSLATION: It was my third time getting eyelashes extensions. It
:08:11. > :08:16.came as a cheap coupon from a beauty salon. Straightaway, it was painful
:08:17. > :08:23.and my eyes started to sing. -- sting. But Chiori is not alone. A
:08:24. > :08:28.government survey has shown that one in four women have experienced some
:08:29. > :08:31.sort of irritation from eyelash extensions and doctors are reported
:08:32. > :08:37.hundreds of cases in their clinics each year. TRANSLATION: Against
:08:38. > :08:41.patients every two to three months coming in to complain about foreign
:08:42. > :08:47.objects in their eyes, puffiness and irritation. The worst-case scenario
:08:48. > :08:51.is caused by changing the service of your eye stop for example, if it
:08:52. > :08:55.reads as damage during the procedure or if the extension is not properly
:08:56. > :08:59.attached. That can result in an infection and is at its worst, you
:09:00. > :09:09.can even lose your eyesight. -- and if that gets worse. Because of
:09:10. > :09:14.potential complications, it is illegal to perform eyelash
:09:15. > :09:17.extensions without a licence. But women on the hunt for bargained
:09:18. > :09:24.treatments don't bother asking for proof and put themselves on -- at
:09:25. > :09:27.risk. Since 2013, the government has started a crackdown on unlawful
:09:28. > :09:33.practices in the hope of protecting consumers. TRANSLATION: We set a
:09:34. > :09:36.rule that only those with hairdressing licence as are allowed
:09:37. > :09:40.to do this treatment for it our union gives the certificates to
:09:41. > :09:43.beauticians to frame and these marks to shops, but from the customer
:09:44. > 0:02:47perspective, there is