tampons are something i see
misinformation about all the time on the
internet and today we're going through
five tampon myths that you need to know
are not actually true if you're new here
and you'd like to subscribe we would
love to have you i talk about all things
periods pregnancy and everything in
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things tell your friends let's jump into
the video
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number one you can't sleep with a tampon
in this is a total lie a tampon does not
know if you are awake or if you are
asleep the reason this lie has come
about is because of the time limit on
wearing tampons so the longest time that
you should be wearing a tampon is eight
hours and for a lot of people they
aren't even going to be able to wear a
tampon for that long without it leaking
however it's fine to sleep in it if you
change it right before you go to bed
sleep eight hours wake up and change it
immediately when you wake up and that
just lowers the risk of something called
toxic shock syndrome toxic shock
syndrome is where bacteria gets into
your blood and it's not inherent to
tampon use it can be caused by many
things but about 50 percent of cases
which
in general tss is extremely rare but 50
of the cases that do occur occur because
of tampon use so
if you ever have flu-like symptoms while
you have a tampon in or you're using any
kind of menstrual product you need to
remove it immediately and get seen you
always need to get it checked out if you
start feeling suddenly very ill while
you're wearing a tampon or any menstrual
product really other things to do to
reduce your risk of tss are to use the
lowest absorbency that you possibly can
so whatever works for you for the amount
of time you need it you need an ultra
tampon great use it but if you can get
away with just using a regular use that
instead myth number two they can get
lost in there this is a total lie
tampons are not your childhood labrador
if the leash comes off they don't just
go missing forever never to be seen
again you can get them out still usually
by inserting either one or two fingers
feeling around finding the tampon and
pulling it out with your finger now if
you are having trouble getting a tampon
out you know you put one in and you just
can't find it don't wait just come in
and let your doctor or advanced practice
provider help you out by removing it
i've done this for patients a handful of
times when they've had a tampon that was
just really difficult to get out and
it's okay we are there to help and
nothing surprises us this is like a very
benign thing so don't delay it because
you're embarrassed if you've tried a few
times to get it out and it's just not
coming out call your doctor call your
advanced practice provider make an
appointment come in and let us help you
out myth number three you can't pee with
a tampon in i see this one a lot and i
find it really interesting that people
will say oh they're wearing pee soaked
tampon strings and all this stuff and it
blows my mind you should never be in a
situation where you have to wear a
tampon string that's pee soaked so in
order to urinate with your tampon in and
i think this myth comes from people not
fully understanding the anatomy down
there so you have a urethra at the top
it's completely separate from the vagina
and the tampon goes in the vagina so
there's nothing about a tampon being in
that makes it impossible to pee with the
tampon in what happens though is because
the urethra sits in front of the vagina
when the tampon string is hanging out
and the urine stream comes here it has a
tendency to
follow that path and get the tampon
string wet so if you want to move it out
of the way just pull it to the side use
your hand hold it to the side pee and
then it goes back a lot of people prefer
to just change theirs when they're in
the bathroom because they need to change
them that frequently anyway and that's
totally fine too but if you're in a
situation where it's your last tampon
and you're on the way home but you need
to stop and pee somewhere just leave it
in and hold the string out of the way
but don't feel like you need to just pee
and let the urine get all over the
tampon string because that's really
unenjoyable myth number four tampons are
related to virginity i have heard this
one in so many different ways and it
drives me nuts it's used as a way to
scare younger teens out of using tampons
and a lot of times tampons can be really
important for younger teens to learn how
to use because they need to be able to
use them for certain sports if they're
swimming they need to be able to use a
menstrual cup or a tampon although now
there are some really interesting
swimsuits that are like period swimsuits
and they work really well for that so
check that out if you're not into the
inserting a tampon thing but you'd still
like to swim i've never used them i
don't know how well they work but
they're out there and i also have an
entire video on alternative period
products if you want to check that out
but today we're talking about tampons
i'm getting a little bit off track so
despite what you know your great aunt
gertrude told you when you were younger
using a tampon doesn't mean you are not
a virgin which i hate that terminology
anyway but it doesn't mean anything like
that if you're struggling with how to
put it in there's lots of great videos
on youtube i'm not gonna rehash all of
those out but i'll link one in the
description box below it doesn't make
you
sexually active to have used a tampon
and you don't have to be sexually active
in order to use a tampon just get rid of
this myth once and for all myth number
five which thank you to social media is
now a major thing that i hear is that
organic tampons are somehow better for
you and your health there's nothing in
the science in the literature in any
publication anywhere that says organic
tampons are safer for you or better for
you i hate this trope because it's
really classist tampons in general can
be very difficult for some people to
afford but they also are way more
expensive when you need to buy an
organic one so running around telling
people with absolutely no evidence to
support your claim that they will get
sick or that somehow organic tampons are
less likely to cause them harm is
it's detrimental to people's health in
some ways you're making them feel like
they need to afford something that they
may not be able to afford it's hard to
get period products for a lot of people
in general making them feel like they
need to buy the most expensive ones with
nothing to back that up is just silly so
please stop repeating this if you think
organic is better for you that's totally
fine you can use organic but there is
absolutely nothing to indicate that a
regular tampon is going to be harmful to
somebody's health thanks for being here
today y'all i hope that you learned
something if tampons aren't your thing
and you'd rather check out my
alternative period products video you
can check it out right over here i will
link it just for you and if you're new
and you'd like to subscribe we would
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never miss an upload i will see you next
monday
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