Photo credit: Retna Karunia
Priyanka Sharma* was writhing in pain. The 20-year-old was on the second day of her period, and the cramps were getting unbearable. But instead of handing her the usual painkiller, her mother reached for a packet, pulled out a strip that looked like tape, and stuck it across her lower abdomen.
A few minutes later, the pain eased. What was this? Magic?
Girls and women who go through the agony of severe menstrual cramps every month may find it hard to believe that such a simple, non-intrusive, non-oral, and non-chemical remedy can exist. But that’s exactly what the Sirona Feminine Pain Relief Patch is attempting.
It comes from the same bootstrapped startup that has been trying to solve “intimate hygiene issues” faced by women in India – First Step Digital.
The period pain relief patch is herbal, based on ayurvedic formulations, and was launched under the company’s Sirona product line around two months ago. “We did an exclusive launch on Purplle.com. Within a week, we’d sold 1,000 packs,” founder Deep Bajaj tells Tech in Asia.
Tech in Asia earlier wrote about Pee-Buddy, the device that lets women stand and pee when a toilet is too dirty to sit on. Even today I don’t step out for weekend trips from Delhi without Pee-Buddy (the company claims to have sold over 100,000 packs last year).
A promo image created by PeeBuddy.
“Women have a lot on their plates, they manage work, social life, and personal commitments and while they are at it, they face multiple challenges, most of which men don’t understand as it doesn’t affect them,” says Deep.
Evidently Deep and his brother Mohit – the two founders – do. The two were joined by co-founder Deepak Thareja a few months ago. “We are growing at 5 to 7 percent month-on-month across categories,” says Deep.
It happened one night
The Sirona range of the Delhi-based startup came up in mid-2016. It includes underarm sweat pads that keep clothes odor-free and stain-free (why didn’t anyone come up with that earlier in my hot and humid country?).
They also offer plastic applicator tampons. Deep says they focused on applicator tampons as digital tampons – which are inserted with fingers – were already available in India.
Biodegradable sanitary disposal bags are among the company’s top sellers. That’s because Indian women typically wrap used sanitary pads in old newspapers for disposal. What’s more, these bags are biodegradable – one would take about two years to turn into powder.
“In our case, all product inspiration – and criticism – comes from observing the women in our life!” says Deep, who studied management at Australian National University.
Founders Mohit and Deep Bajaj (on the right).
The idea of a pain relief patch was born one night when he saw his wife in agony. “She has a tormenting day one, and I had to go midnight to get a painkiller. That night we spoke about it at length, and she explained how pills are not only harmful but also don’t last that long.”
The next day, he reached out to a few experts, among them gynecologists. “We realized we could solve the issue using mother nature’s remedies,” says Deep. The patch uses menthol and eucalyptus oil, which can help relax the muscles. “These have great medicinal properties and can ease cramps.”
Clinical trials show that one patch can be effective for 8 to 12 hours at a stretch, the company claims. Priyanka, the college student I spoke to, however, said the effect wears off after about five to six hours, and works locally – that is, only under the applied area on the lower abdomen and not around it.
You can try it for pain in the lower back or calf muscles too. It certainly sounds like a good alternative to popping pills, using sprays, or hot and cold therapy.
Meena Guha, a gynecologist who consults at several clinics in Kolkata, says, “Such remedies do work, though they may not be equally effective for everyone. The good thing is, they do not create gastric side effects in patients.”
Will millennials pay the price?
Photo credit: First Step Digital.
The patch is available on the First Step Digital and Pee-Buddy websites, and at major ecommerce outlets like Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal. The average transaction value of their online sales is US$5.80, says Deep.
The patch is also available offline at stores like Le Marche, Twenty Four Seven, and Religare in Delhi, and Health & Glow in Bangalore.
But I wonder if the pricing isn’t a little steep at US$4 for a pack of five.
Women often suffer from acute pain for a couple of days, which means they would need more than one pack every month. Can teenagers and college-going girls – who are the most likely to need it (women with children usually don’t get menstrual cramps) – afford it?
Deep thinks it’s not a problem. “For the millennial population, the fact that our range is solving their intimate issues is a big enough reason for them to buy the products again and again. I am sure prices will come down as we scale.”
While the startup often gets called a social enterprise, he would rather avoid getting slotted. “We are just trying to make life easier for women!”
*Name changed to protect privacy.
This post A patch for period pain – from the startup that makes Pee-Buddy appeared first on Tech in Asia.