Dealing with your period; tampons, sanitary towels or mooncup?

This week there is news about a vaccine for toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a rare but life-threatening infection of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria that enters the bloodstream caused by using tampons.  We have previously reported about a nine year old girl who forgot to take out her tampon and developed TSS and almost died.  TSS is rare – only affecting around 1 in 100,000 women in the US.

The results of a small trial on 46 women have shown that a vaccine for TSS is safe and has no side effects.  But why do we need a vaccine?  Why is using tampons not safe?

To deal with your periods – you can use sanitary towels, tampons or a menstrual cup.

Sanitary towels are still widely used and come in all shapes and sizes but they are not suitable for some physical activities and some women find them uncomfortable.  A pad may show if you are wearing tight clothes.  As with tampons, they may leak.

Tampons are commonly used as they give you the freedom to carry on life as normal but we have previously written about how tampons are made and the cost of using them – which is about £18,000 in a lifetime.

Menstrual cups, such as the mooncup, are a small cup that you insert into your vagina and it collects your menstrual blood.  It may be the safest and cheapest option to deal with periods but you have to get used to using it.

What is your experience with sanitary products?

Read More:

http://europe.newsweek.com/first-vaccine-toxic-shock-syndrome-tss-tampon-safety-471248

What is in a tampon

Cost of using tampons

Mooncup

Image credit – encomium.ng