Tampons or Pads?

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there is a general correlation, but that doesn't mean it will always be the case, according to the largest study ever compiled. the resuts were self-reported, but random measurements were 'confirmed'. of course, lots of people may lie, but since men of all statures would be lying equally, the correlation is probably still accurate.



http://www.sizesurvey.com/result.html

You aren't supposed to leave it in for longer than 12 hours at a time, but that's at least double the time for a tampon. The Instead Cup is probably around the same size as a tampon when folded up for insertion, maybe a little bigger, but once it is inserted it rests in a completely different place where you shouldn't be able to feel it, no matter what size you are. I suppose if you are super small insertion could be a problem, but if you experiment with different positions while putting it in (sitting on the toilet, one leg up, etc.) you might find it isn't that bad. Only way to know is to try.

I guess. Since my flow is really light, I'll just stick with pads. I like the familliar.

hyperlexian- Interesting. Even though my ex was 5'6" and had a 7 incher. I guess he's just special. XD

Tampons for me, with the nice little plastic applicators (tried some cardboard-applicator cheapies once, and it was like trying to impale myself on a telephone pole). I wore nothing but pads till around a year ago, actually (I'm 23 in a few days), because I would almost faint whenever I tried to insert a tampon. Finally, I managed to get one in, and despite the fact that I still feel a little discomfort upon insertion, I find them so much more convenient and comfortable than having a bloody pad under me all the time. My flow gets pretty heavy sometimes, and it was just unpleasant. Plus, with tampons, I don't have to switch from my comfie thong underwear to something that can hold a pad.

(Once they're in, you shouldn't be able to feel tampons. If you can, you're probably just not pushing them in far enough. That's happened to me a few times; you just gotta take it out and put a new one in correctly.)

I'd like to try the little cups, though. I feel bad putting so much waste in the environment from tampons, esp. the plastic ones I use.

Pads.

No way am I sticking something up there. Yuck! The very thought of both putting it in and removing it grosses me out. Not to mention if the string breaks!

Even the pads I remove carefully using toilet paper so my fingers won't touch it.

I have used pads most of my life because I was really scared of tampons! I was really afraid of getting TSS and besides the thought of inserting something like that up my body was scary! I mean, most people cringe at the thought of getting a thermometer inserted into their butt so why would tampons be any different? And oh, how I hated those stupid ads for teen girls on TV that told you pads "feel like diapers" and that you should be ashamed to use them. I have only recently tried using tampons so I can go swimming during my period but I'm having a hard time. The first tampons I used were horrible, they burned and itched so badly! Then just the other week I bought some better-quality tampons but I wasted several of them because I kept accidentally dropping them into the toilet! So that's it. No one else has to know if I'm using pads and it's
nothing to be ashamed of, anyway.

i knew someone who this happened to. but it was 25 years ago - the strings are more carefully knotted now. the tampon was slippery, obviously, and hard to get a grip on... so she had to have a doctor remove it. quite traumatising for her!

I used to use a mix of pads and tampons. I hated having to change anything so often, so I looked into other options.

Now I use the Diva Cup. And it is AWESOME. As someone with a super-heavy flow, I had to get the gigantic tampons, which then dried me out like nobody's business, and were just a pain, and gross, and then there's always the issue of where to put them when they're used up, and blah blah blah.

The Diva Cup took a lot of getting used to. I am not a very patient person, and when PMSing I have even less patience. So when I bought it, I tried it out before I got my period. That's one of the great things, too. Using it will not hurt you, as long as you follow the directions of course, no matter what you do. You can't get TSS from leaving it in too long. You won't get dryness issues ever. You're not risking leaving bits of cotton sticking up there. And it's made my periods more bearable.. I don't know how, but it has.

Pretty much, it's a silicone cup, and you stick it up there (fold to insert, then it pops open painlessly), then you can leave it up to 12 hours - probably more if you felt like it, but I prefer to wash it at least that often. When it's full or it's been 12 hours, you remove it, empty it in the toilet, rinse/wash it in the sink, and re-insert. Then you put it in boiling water for 10 minutes between each cycle, which sanitizes it.

Admittedly, dealing with a cup of blood is a little weird. But this is an event I will have to deal with for the next few decades - I may as well get used to it. It is your own blood, you can't contract anything from it, and you can always wash your hands.

As for the pad situation, I've switched to fabric, reusable Luna Pads. I have one full maxi-pad sized one (with insertable liners for added absorption) so if there's ever a time I don't want to use my cup, I have a back up. Along with that I also have 8 panty-liner type pads. I am the type of person that needs a panty-liner every day, and these are absolutely awesome. They also work as back up for when I wear the cup, if I've put it in wrong or don't empty it in time. I just put them in with my laundry once a week.

Sorry that was sort of long - I just love my new period accessories, hah.

I think that pads are unsanitary and I haven't used them since I was 14. I never participated in gym class until I started using tampons because I had a very heavy flow and it always felt disgusting down there. When my mom introduced me to tampons, I was AMAZED.

As a general rule of thumb, if it hurts, it's not in right. Guaranteed. The only way it would hurt and be in right is if you couldn't have sex, either, because the tampon doesn't stretch the vaginal canal enough to make it hurt when it's sitting in the right place. It's *annoying* if it sits too low, but again, that just means it isn't in far enough.

I've heard of those cups and those would probably be my second option, because they're more organic. But probably before that I would invest in organic tampons that don't use bleach or chemical treating because it can cause toxic shock syndrome.

actually, quite a few women do find tampons painful, for various reasons... just because you don't doesn't mean other women don't. people have discussed those reasons earlier in th thread, if you care to go back and read it... here are some of the reasons compiled on a website as well:

http://www.vaginismus-awareness-network ... mpons.html

and pads are sanitary - as sanitary as any tampon or cup or sphagnum moss or whatever.

also, bleach and chemicals do not cause toxic shock syndrome. a toxic bacteria does (well, one of several).

Cups are certainly more sanitary than pads and tampons. They just collect blood, they don't absorb it.

hmmm it looks like you are right... no cases of TSS from cups. now, if only my fingers were longer (too short to get it out).

Same. I has short fingers too. That and I don't know if I cup would fit at this point. D:

Oh well, my flow isn't really heavy so I guess pads will be okay for now. ^_^

A little TMI here: I'm fat. I'm a chunky girl. So it's a little hard for me to reach up there. But the cup (that I use) has a stem that makes it much easier. There are other cups, like one from Germany called MeLuna, that have alternate stems - one of theirs is a loop. It looks to me like it would be so much easier to use. Also, the cup sits fairly low. If you can reach to the base of a tampon, you can reach a cup.

As for the size, if you have had sex before, you can absolutely fit it. Even if you haven't, you almost certainly can still fit one - the vaginal canal is designed to fit babies, after all, and this thing isn't nearly that big. MeLuna and a few other companies also make smaller options.

Of course, that does not mean that a cup is for you. I just think it's a fantastic option. It's also so much cheaper - though it's more money up front, you only have to replace your cup every 5 years or so. And no more running to the store for a last-minute tampon pickup.

yes, i agree with you - you almost have me sold on them.

one concern i have is that (warning: serious TMI coming up) i get chronic UTIs, which might be aggravated by a cup. the UTIs are mostly under control now, but obviously i want to do everything possible to avoid them again.

my other concern is the mess of removal. for example if i ever needed to take it out at work or someone else's house, i would be afraid of the spillage. i have poor dexterity and tend to make a great deal of mess in general. the potential for an accident scares the crap out of me.

Haha, I really don't care what anyone says---- sitting in my own blood is the most disgusting feeling I've ever had and, like I said, kept me from doing gym because I was constantly wet down there. I absolutely needed tampons when I had a period because I had a VERY heavy seven day flow and had to change a pad every thirty minutes. I'm sure it works for girls with very light, very short periods, but I don't think pads are a good option for the average, on the go woman. Like I said, I was interested in using the cup when I had a period because it was the same idea as a tampon (no blood outside the vagina) without the TSS risk, but luckily I don't have a period at all anymore. Best thing I've ever used for a period is Mirena. Haha.

As far as pain? I said that if you were inserting it right, it shouldn't hurt. That goes with most women. The site you linked me to pretty much says the same thing. All the things they list have to do with either phobias people can't control, Vaginismus (muscle clenching problems-- which is treatable) or inserting it the wrong way (i.e.: using the wrong absorbancy, getting manual tampons instead of applicator tampons, picking a tampon with an applicator that's too wide). Although there are some exceptions in the matter of phobias of touching oneself or TSS, or having that particular problem with the vagina, or (as it lists along with it) not being able to find the opening of your vagina (which . . . is a fixable problem that doesn't reduce the effectiveness of tampons, it just means you aren't looking hard enough, obviously), most women can wear a tampon comfortably if they're *doing it properly*. Again, the site says as much: most of the reasons listed have to do with either fear or not inserting it correctly or finding one small enough for you.

TSS occurs more with traditional tampons because it dries the vagina out. This typically occurs in women using absorbancies that are too high and with women using cardboard applicators (cardboard applicators always caused me discomfort and felt like they were scraping against the vaginal wall, where rounded plastic applicators did not). Obviously, if you have only light bloodflow, you should probably wear a panty-liner. Otherwise, Junior absorbancy tampons should have a much lower rate of TSS because they are very small, the applicators are thin, tend not to scrape against the vagina, and they should not be removed until they are saturated to some degree. If the tampon has been in a while and it's still too dry and hasn't absorbed enough blood, you're using too high of an absorbancy, because the tampon should be saturated after about just two or three hours (and should be changed that frequently to avoid streptococcus bacteria from accumulating--- wearing tampons too long, using cardboard applicators that scrape along the vagina, or pulling tampons out when theyr'e still dry (which pulls layers of skin with it) are big causes of why TSS is linked to tampons. However, I must note that only HALF of the TSS cases are linked to tampons (and I imagine, as I've said, it's most rampant with misuse of them), and TSS can affect women who have never touched a tampon in their life, so I don't think it's necessarily a rational fear if you know how to use a tampon and don't wear above the absorbancy you absolutely need. As a rule of thumb, juniors and regulars are what should be used the most frequently. But I know girls who wear super absorbancy all the time. I also know girls who try to have sex with tampons in, or wear two tampons at once, so I know that a lot of tampon pain is linked to not knowing how to insert them properly.