The status of the pink stain on your underwear depends on its
shade and size.
You can check yourself if the leniency based on size would apply. If the stain was clearly smaller in area than a
gris (the size of an Israeli shekel or American dime), it would not have made you
niddah. If there was more than one stain on the undergarment, the area of each stain would be evaluated independently.
If the stain was larger than a
gris, determining whether it is a
niddah color would require
evaluation by a halachic authority.
The status of stains on toilet paper depends on many factors, which we detail in our article “
Toilet Paper“. Please read it and get back to us with further questions.
The stains on the pad would not affect your status, since
pads are considered a surface on which stains do not make a woman
niddah.
If you did become
niddah from the staining, the day of the staining would be considered day one of your
five-day minimum. On day five (or later) you would perform a
hefsek taharah prior to halachic sunset, your
clean days would begin that evening, and you would immerse a week later. (E.g., staining on Monday,
hefsek taharah as early as Friday,
immersion as early as the following Friday night.)
Since irregular cycles are very common among women in their
early fifties, we suggest that you take precautions to avoid becoming
niddah from stains. For example, stains on colored underwear do not make a woman
niddah, so we suggest wearing coloreds when you are not in your clean days. (See our article on
stains for more details.) Also, wait a few seconds (ideally 15 seconds) after urinating before you wipe; see our page on
toilet paper for more details.
For the future, we do
not recommend doing a
bedikah just to see what will happen. Even a tiny amount of blood found internally can make you
niddah in a situation where external staining would not have. Conversely, if external staining does make you
niddah, a clean
bedikah will not help.
This is a normal process, but if irregularities persist or if you have difficulty becoming
tehorah, you may wish to consult your physician about the situation.
This response was updated on 13 February, 2024.
