What do tampons do that can harm u?

[quietlaborer775]

Tss n the other cations

[Rabbit]

http://www.menstruation.com.au/periodpages/tss.html

voila.

[Tom]

they may stuck in...but they'r not generally harmful..specially the new ones..

[lisa]

As long as you change the tampon every few hours, you should be okay. No toxic shock or anything. We've been using tampons for decades.

[Stephanie]

If you leave it Im to long you can get t s s

[beinggirl experts]

The connection between tampon use and TSS, a rare but serious disease, is not known. You can reduce your risk of getting TSS by using the lowest absorbency tampon for your flow and changing the tampon every 4 to 8 hours. You could also alternate pad use with tampons during your period, maybe when you sleep. Why don't you read the info in
http://www.beinggirl.com/en_US/pages/tss...oo_answers so you will be able to understand what the disease is, how it effects girls/women, and how to reduce your risks.

Your BEINGgirl Expert Panel

[Jay-Jay]

Toxic Shock Syndrome.
Caused when certain bacteria overgrow and produce toxins that get into your bloodstream, according to the leading expert TSS affects 1 in 700 women during their lifetime, but reliable statistics and information is difficult to find because of politics of tampon manufacturing (long story). Tampons account for 70% of all TSS cases - possibly a result of vaginal damage, keeping flow in contact with the vagina, and preventing vaginal cleaning.

Vaginal damage.
This occurs whenever tampons are used and can increase risk of TSS, soreness/discomfort, and potentially increased cramps by 'tugging' on vaginal walls. Tampons absorb vaginal fluids meant to protect vaginal walls, the result is dryness, irritation, splitting and ulceration, we also often see fibres from the tampons which have been lost within the vagina and become embedded in the vaginal walls. Commercial tampons contain rayon which is rougher and more absorbent than cotton so can increase damage, also chemicals which may cause further irritation or allergic reactions.

Vaginal infections.
Tampons commonly cause vaginal infections because they encourage bacteria to multiply within the vagina - giving bacteria a nice warm moist environment, which is filled with nutritious menstrual blood, oxygen and as tampons are sanitary not sterile also bacteria from outside of the body may be present. Tampons keep menstrual blood in contact with the vagina, this blood is a different pH to the vagina and as pH has a lot to do with the vagina's functions to kill off harmful bacteria and keep healthy bacterial balance, so this increases odour and risk of infections. By plugging-up the vagina tampons prevent the vagina from cleaning out this bacteria.

Potential long-term risks.
Some tampon companies use chemicals and bleaching, these may pose long-term risks but as companies refuse to tell customers what is used within tampons we don't know the full risks - if chemicals within tampons are harmful, which is likely, then the vagina is not only a major bodily orifice but easily absorbs toxins that may then collect in the body so pose long-term risks. We do know however that tampons were chlorine bleached resulting in dioxin within tampons, this was linked to infertility, birth defects, endometriosis and cancer. Tampon companies refused to stop using this bleaching method, eventually the government stepped in to ban this however current bleaching methods may still result in dioxin being present within tampons, amongst other things.

Basically tampons go against the vagina's natural self-cleaning and self-defence functions, because of the various political, social and economical issues surrounding tampons the companies are self-regulated and self-tested so we have little reliable information on how safe/unsafe tampons are.

Tampon Health Web Site - http://www.spotsite.org
Tampon Alert - http://www.tamponalert.org.uk
TSS Informaiton Service - http://www.toxicshock.com
Politics of Tampons - http://www.web.net/~willi/uspoltam.htm
Sara Elifritz on TSS - http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id...d=20713767
Tampon Facts that may surprise you - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...8-0090.pdf
Menstruation, Infection and the pH Connection - http://eon.businesswire.com/portal/site/...ewsLang=en
The Trouble with Tampons - http://www.emagazine.com/view/?2022&src=\\\\
Blood Stains - http://cookiepuss.tripod.com/tampons.htm
Tampon Safety - http://www.vaginaverite.com/menstruation...afety.html