September 17, 2026

How to Ask for Sanitary Pads in a UAE Pharmacy: Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Tagalog, Malayalam and Tamil

There is a particular pause that happens in a Dubai pharmacy. You know exactly what you want. The pharmacist speaks a different first language from yours. The shelf is behind the counter, the shop is busy, and the word you need is not one you have ever had to say out loud in a second language. So you point, or you say "the ladies thing", or you walk out and order online instead.

The UAE is the country where this happens most, because it is the country where almost everyone is speaking someone else's language. Arabic is the official language, English does most of the day-to-day work, and the largest resident communities are Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Filipino, according to the UAE government's own country fact sheet. A period phrasebook is a genuinely useful thing to have here, and nobody has written one.

So here it is. Save it, screenshot it, send it to whoever needs it.

The short answer

In Arabic, a sanitary pad is فوطة صحية, pronounced roughly fowta sehiya, and the plural you will actually use in a shop is فوط صحية, fowat sehiya. The polite word for a period is الدورة الشهرية, ad-dawra ash-shahriya, literally "the monthly cycle". In a UAE pharmacy you almost never need any of this, because English works everywhere, but it helps enormously with an older Emirati or Arab pharmacist, with a taxi driver, in a mosque washroom, or anywhere outside the malls. The single most useful sentence is below, and most of the time you can skip the word for period altogether.

Arabic: the words that matter

English Arabic Roughly pronounced
Sanitary pad فوطة صحية fowta sehiya
Sanitary pads (plural) فوط صحية fowat sehiya
Panty liner فوطة يومية fowta yawmiya
Tampon سدادة قطنية sadada qutniya
Period, monthly cycle (polite) الدورة الشهرية ad-dawra ash-shahriya
Menstruation (formal, religious) الحيض al-hayd
Pain, cramps ألم / مغص alam / maghs
Painkiller مسكن musakkin
Where is...? أين...؟ ayna...?
I need... أحتاج... ahtaaj...
Please من فضلك min fadlik
Thank you شكرا shukran

The one sentence to memorise:

أحتاج فوط صحية من فضلك Ahtaaj fowat sehiya, min fadlik. "I need sanitary pads, please."

That is the whole transaction. You do not have to mention your period at all, and in most shops you will not be asked.

If you want a specific type, add one word:

  • Night, larger: لليل — lil-layl
  • Without perfume: بدون عطر — bidoon 'itr
  • Organic or natural: عضوية — 'udwiya / طبيعية — tabee'iya
  • Large size: كبير — kabeer

So: Ahtaaj fowat sehiya lil-layl, kabeer, bidoon 'itr gets you a large unscented night pad. Our guide to scented versus unscented pads explains why that last phrase is worth learning if your skin reacts.

A note on al-hayd. الحيض is the formal and religious term and the one you will meet in an Islamic context, such as questions about prayer and fasting. It is correct and not rude, but in ordinary conversation الدورة الشهرية is the everyday polite choice. Our guide to periods during Ramadan in the UAE covers that context.

The other languages of the UAE

Language Sanitary pad Period / menstruation
Hindi सैनिटरी पैड / नैपकिन — sanitary pad / napkin माहवारी — maahwaari, or महीना — maheena
Urdu سینیٹری پیڈ — sanitary pad ماہواری — mahwari
Bengali স্যানিটারি প্যাড — sanitary pad মাসিক — mashik
Tagalog pasador, or simply napkin regla, or buwanang dalaw
Malayalam സാനിറ്ററി പാഡ് — sanitary pad ആർത്തവം — aarthavam
Tamil சானிட்டரி நாப்கின் — sanitary napkin மாதவிடாய் — maadhavidaai
Malay / Indonesian pembalut wanita haid, datang bulan
Russian прокладки — prokladki месячные — mesyachnye
Tigrinya / Amharic ሞዴስ — modess ወርሓዊ — monthly

A few practical notes on this table:

"Napkin" is the default word in the UAE. Across the South Asian and Filipino communities, the product is a napkin, not a pad. If you say "pad" and get a blank look, "napkin" usually lands. Our guide to sanitary napkins in Dubai goes through the brands this community actually looks for, and our guide for British expats who call them sanitary towels covers the other direction.

In Tagalog, "pasador" is the dictionary word and is well understood, but in practice Filipino women in the UAE mostly say napkin. Both work.

In Hindi and Urdu, the English loan word wins. Nobody asks for a swachhata napkin in a Karama pharmacy. "Sanitary napkin" said in an Indian or Pakistani accent is the actual working phrase, and mahwari or maheena is what you say to a friend, not to a shopkeeper.

"Modess" is a brand that became a word, the way Hoover did for vacuum cleaners, among East African communities. If someone asks you for modess, they want a pad.

What to say when you do not want to say the word

Sometimes the problem is not the language, it is the room. A shared office, a school corridor, a taxi with your father-in-law in it. Every community has its indirect phrases, and they are useful.

  • English UAE-wide: "Do you have something for ladies?" is understood in every pharmacy in this country. So is holding up a phone with a photo of the packet.
  • Arabic: Ashyaa' nisaa'iya — أشياء نسائية — "women's things".
  • Hindi/Urdu: "Wo cheez" — "that thing" — with a look, is universally understood.
  • Tagalog: "May napkin ba kayo?" — "Do you have napkins?"
  • At a pharmacy counter anywhere: ask the female pharmacist or assistant if there is one. UAE pharmacies are well staffed and this is a completely ordinary request.

And the genuinely simplest option, which works in every language including ones nobody at the counter speaks: show a picture. Screenshot the packet you want. Point. Done. There is nothing undignified about it, and it is faster than the conversation.

Talking to a school nurse, a teacher or a maid

Three UAE-specific situations where language gets in the way more than the pharmacy does.

A daughter at school. UAE school clinics are well equipped and school nurses deal with first periods routinely, but a girl who cannot find the word will say nothing at all and sit through the afternoon. Teach the sentence in whatever language she is most comfortable in, and teach her that "I need to see the nurse" is enough on its own. Our first period guide for UAE parents and our guide to pads for teenagers cover the rest of that conversation, and our guide for school nurses and teachers is written for the other side of it.

Household help. A great many households in the UAE employ live-in help who may not share a language with the family and may not feel able to ask for something personal. Keeping a supply in a shared cupboard and showing where it is, once, removes the need for anyone to ask at all. It is a small kindness that costs nothing.

Older family members visiting. A grandmother visiting from India or Egypt is exactly the person who will not ask. The pack in the guest bathroom answers the question before it is asked.

Why the word matters more than it should

The WHO's position on menstrual health and UNICEF's work on menstrual hygiene both make the same point from different angles: the practical barriers to managing a period are usually about information and access, and shame is the thing that turns a small problem into a missed school day.

In the UAE, language sits on top of that. A woman who can name the thing she needs gets it in thirty seconds. A woman who cannot either goes without or pays a delivery fee. Learning six words is a very cheap fix.

And for the record, in every pharmacy in this country, this request is the most ordinary thing the pharmacist will hear that hour.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say sanitary pad in Arabic? A sanitary pad is فوطة صحية, pronounced roughly fowta sehiya, and the plural used in shops is فوط صحية, fowat sehiya. The full sentence "I need sanitary pads, please" is أحتاج فوط صحية من فضلك, ahtaaj fowat sehiya min fadlik.

How do you say period in Arabic? The everyday polite term is الدورة الشهرية, ad-dawra ash-shahriya, meaning "the monthly cycle". The formal and religious term is الحيض, al-hayd, which you will meet in questions about prayer and fasting. Both are correct; the first is the ordinary conversational choice.

Do I need Arabic to buy pads in Dubai? No. English works in every pharmacy, supermarket and shop in the UAE, and most pharmacy staff speak several languages. Arabic helps with older Arab pharmacists, in smaller neighbourhood shops, and outside the main cities, and a few words are useful anywhere.

What is the word for sanitary pad in Hindi, Urdu and Tagalog? In Hindi and Urdu, the English term "sanitary napkin" or "sanitary pad" is what people actually say, with माहवारी maahwaari or ماہواری mahwari used for the period itself. In Tagalog, the dictionary word is pasador, though most Filipino women in the UAE simply say napkin, and the period is regla or buwanang dalaw.

What if I cannot say it at all? Show a photo of the packet, or ask for "something for ladies", which every pharmacy in the UAE understands. Asking a female pharmacist or assistant if one is on shift is also completely ordinary. Or order online and skip the counter entirely.

The bottom line

Six words in Arabic, one sentence, and a photo on your phone cover every situation this country will put you in. The rest is knowing that the request is unremarkable, that the pharmacist has heard it fifty times today, and that nobody in a Dubai pharmacy is paying the slightest attention to what you are buying.

If you would rather skip the conversation altogether, LiZZOM's organic ultrathin pads, thick night pads and daily liners are bamboo and corn fibre, unscented and individually wrapped, and arrive in plain unmarked packaging. Rated 4.9 stars across 176 reviews, delivered in two to three working days in Dubai and four to ten across the other emirates, free above AED 50. Every purchase also donates a pad to a girl in need.

Last reviewed: September 2026. General information, not medical advice.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say sanitary pad in Arabic?

A sanitary pad is fowta sehiya, and the plural used in shops is fowat sehiya. The full sentence 'I need sanitary pads, please' is ahtaaj fowat sehiya min fadlik.

How do you say period in Arabic?

The everyday polite term is ad-dawra ash-shahriya, meaning 'the monthly cycle'. The formal and religious term is al-hayd, which you will meet in questions about prayer and fasting. Both are correct; the first is the ordinary conversational choice.

Do I need Arabic to buy pads in Dubai?

No. English works in every pharmacy, supermarket and shop in the UAE, and most pharmacy staff speak several languages. Arabic helps with older Arab pharmacists, in smaller neighbourhood shops, and outside the main cities, and a few words are useful anywhere.

What is the word for sanitary pad in Hindi, Urdu and Tagalog?

In Hindi and Urdu, the English term 'sanitary napkin' or 'sanitary pad' is what people actually say, with maahwaari or mahwari used for the period itself. In Tagalog the dictionary word is pasador, though most Filipino women in the UAE simply say napkin, and the period is regla or buwanang dalaw.

What if I cannot say it at all?

Show a photo of the packet, or ask for 'something for ladies', which every pharmacy in the UAE understands. Asking a female pharmacist or assistant if one is on shift is also completely ordinary. Or order online and skip the counter entirely.

Sources

Related reading

About LiZZOM

LiZZOM is a Dubai-based, women-owned period care brand. We make organic bamboo sanitary pads and liners with a corn-starch backing, no fragrance and no chlorine bleaching, publish every ingredient we use, and supply homes, offices and schools across the UAE. Our guides are written by the LiZZOM team from the questions customers ask us and are checked against the public health sources listed above. They are general information, not a substitute for advice from a licensed doctor. Read the LiZZOM story or ask us a question.