Have you ever ever puzzled why even once you’re carrying a tremendous jumbo tampon, you by some means nonetheless leak whereas in your interval? Yeah, it’s completely annoying. Seems, there’s most likely a purpose for why this occurs, and it has completely nothing to do with you or your heavy circulation.
Content material creator and TikTok mother Renee Reina went viral after she referred to as out tampon firms for his or her complete lack of thought or analysis with regards to the absorbency of tampons. And she or he’s proper, like, each single tampon or pad business reveals blue liquid being poured onto the product. Who has interval blood the consistency of water? Reply: nobody.
Reina, who hosts a podcast referred to as The Mother Room, declared that whoever invented the tampon and performed analysis on their effectiveness must be a person.
“I’m fairly positive the person who invented the tampon examined it out with water, they usually had been like, ‘Oh my god, it’s good! Oh my god!’” she jokes, impersonating tampon inventors whereas working her sink faucet on a tampon. The tampon expands immediately, absorbing the water.
“It was a person by the best way. Now little did they know that the consistency of blood, particularly interval blood, isn’t water.”
She then takes a face wash bottle, extra the consistency of thick interval blood, and pours it on the tampon. Unsurprisingly, nothing occurs to the tampon and the shampoo drips proper on down.
“And, so that you see that’s what’s taking place inside. Simply leaking proper on by. All proper, can we repair this? Any person repair this,” she concludes.
Seems, she’s proper. Tampons had been invented and examined by males. The tampon was invented by a person named Earl Haas in 1931. Later, Gertrude Tendrich produced the primary business tampon model, Tampax, utilizing Haas’ patented design.
Whereas the tampon was invented over 90 years in the past, it wasn’t till this 12 months that menstrual merchandise had been examined with something apart from water.
How onerous is it to design issues for what they’re truly used for? Apparently very tough with regards to issues nearly completely utilized by girls.
Based on a latest paper revealed in August 2023 in BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Well being, many menstrual merchandise have a a lot decrease or greater liquid capability than marketed when actual blood was used as an alternative of a saline answer — a mix of water, salt, and bicarbonate that’s extra generally employed within the product growth course of.
It’s the primary recognized examine to check the absorbency of interval merchandise with precise interval blood, the researchers say.
Anybody with an elementary faculty stage training is aware of that blood and saline answer have very completely different thicknesses and viscosities — and that implies that they’re absorbed otherwise.
“The saying ‘blood is thicker than water’ is technically true,” examine co-author Samuelson Bannow advised Scientific American. “We actually felt that [the absorbency metric] wanted to be up to date.”
A bunch of male scientists pondering that saline answer is a good various to interval blood are actually placing girls’s lives in danger as a result of this examine means that docs could also be under-diagnosing heavy menstrual bleeding, which could be a signal of sure medical situations.
It’s necessary to catch this sort of extreme bleeding, Bannow added, as a result of this could be a signal of extra critical situations, together with bleeding problems, sure kinds of most cancers and fibroids — clean muscle tumors within the lining of the uterus. It might probably additionally result in anemia.
Within the protection of tampon analysis labs, blood is tough to return by. Interval product producers can’t get their arms on the substance.
“Frequent blood shortages in hospitals make it tough to justify utilizing donations for something apart from transfusions. The fluid can also be thought-about a possible biohazard. Researchers who deal with blood within the lab should endure coaching and take particular precautions to work with it safely,” Scientific American said.
Plus, blood (and synthetic blood) is pricey.
A ten-milliliter vial of research-quality human blood prices round $100. In the meantime 200 milliliters of high-quality artificial blood —a lab-made combination of amino acids and hemoglobin — can run upward of $150. In distinction, labs should purchase a full liter of saline answer for $45.
And regardless of this one analysis journal paper calling out this gross negligence with regards to menstrual product analysis, saline options are nonetheless predominantly employed to check menstrual merchandise in the present day.
Some TikTok customers ion Reina’s remark part really helpful individuals with intervals swap over to different alternate options like menstrual cups or interval underwear.
“Strive a menstrual cup, I’ll by no means get again to tampons after them!” one person wrote.
One other wrote, “Since switching to a cup I’ve had no cramps, and my interval solely lasts 2-3 days.”
In a follow-up video, Reina shared some eyeroll-worthy feedback she obtained on her viral video from males.
“In case you’re a girl on the market combating menstrual points, simply ask a person, as a result of they know,” she says sarcastically earlier than studying among the ridiculous feedback.
“In case your circulation is that thick, it is advisable to eat water,” one remark mentioned, to which Reina replied, “Um, we’re speaking intervals, sir? Not reducing your finger.”
“No, they examined it with wholesome girls. Time to go to your physician. There’s something mistaken along with your mind,” one other remark learn.
Is there something extra “mansplainy” than a person explaining how intervals work to a girl? Cue “The Man” by Taylor Swift!