Introduction: Menstruation is the physiological process. However, its physiology and nature have been poorly understood by adolescent girls and women especially in rural areas due to lack of education and multiple socio­cultural factors, leading to poor menstrual Hygiene practices. This study was undertaken with the objectives of exploring the menstrual practices being followed among rural female adolescent girls. 

Methodology: This study was a cross sectional study and carried out in a rural private school among 8th, 9th and 10th standard students in rural field practice area of AJIMS &RC Mangalore, (Dakshin Kannada) Karnataka 

Results: Thestudy comprised of 186 adolescent girls from a rural school in Dakshin Kannada district (Karnataka), studying in 8th, 9th and 10th standards belonging to the age group of 11­19 years, with mean age of 15.4 years. The girls primarily belonged to poor families (69.4% BPL). Although, 44.1% of the mothers and 44.8% of fathers of the respondents were educated up to high school, but only 2.1% mothers and 4.8% of the father were graduate Mother was the prime source of information for 71% of the respondents. Majority of the respondents were aware that a sanitary pad is the ideal menstrual absorbent, but only 57.2% of them practiced it. The main reasons for not using sanitary pads were its high cost (19%) and lack of family support (20%). Figure 2. Out of remaining girls 30.1% used old clothes while 12.3% used new clothes. The sanitary pads were mostly disposed with routine waste in dust bins, flushed or burnt. Majority (55.4%) of the girls changed their absorbents within 8 hours while a small percentage (14.5%) changed their absorbents after more than 10 Hours.

Conclusion: Present study reveals that menstrual hygiene Management (MHM) is often sub optimal among adolescent girls in rural areas. Ignorance, various myths and taboos, lack of affordability of good quality menstrual absorbent material i.e. sanitary pads, unsafe menstrual practices and reluctance on part of the mothers to educate their children about menarche and menstruation, are some of the grey areas which require to be addressed. 

Keywords: Menstruation; Sanitary Pads; Taboos; MHM.