Feminine Hygiene
Feminine hygiene is a euphemism to describe personal care products used by women during menstruation, vaginal discharge, and other bodily functions such as post partum or after miscarriage. Sanitary napkins (American English) or Sanitary Towels (British English), pantiliners, tampons, menstrual cups, and feminine wipes are the major categories of feminine hygiene products.
In areas where tampons and towels are not available, or are too expensive to afford, many women will use rags or old strips of cloth or towelling to soak up the blood. "Menstrual cups" (small latex or silicone cups that are inserted into the vagina to collect the blood) are also available from chemists in some countries, and most can be washed and reused many times.
When a girl has her period she can use sanitary towels or tampons to soak up the blood. Most girls start by using sanitary towels. Virgins who wish to maintain the integrity of their hymen will avoid tampons.
The average woman may use as many as 11,000 tampons and feminine hygiene
products in her lifetime.
In the UK, feminine hygiene products are subject to VAT.
UK legislation requires that all female washrooms must have a suitable means of
sanitary waste disposal.
Sanitary Towels
Sanitary towels are thin pads made of a soft cotton-like material. They are worn inside panties.
Some towels have a sticky strip on them to help keep them in place.
Tampons
A tampon is a mass of cotton or rayon or a mixture of the two inserted into a body cavity or wound to absorb bodily fluid.
The most common type in daily use is disposable and designed to be inserted into the vagina during menstruation to absorb the flow of blood during periods. Several countries regulate tampons as medical devices.
History of vaginal tampons
The ancient Egyptians invented the first disposable tampons made from
softened papyrus. The ancient Greeks created tampons made from lint wrapped
around a small piece of wood.
The applicator tampon with removal cord was invented in 1929 and submitted for
patent in 1931 by Dr. Earle Haas, an American man from Denver, Colorado. Dr.
Hass later sold the patent of the applicator tampon to Gertrude Tendrich, who
founded the Tampax Company fwhich embarked on mass production.
The role of tampons in modern feminine hygiene.
Tampons have become popular from about 1980 and there are many suitable products.
Tampons come in different sizes, absorbency ratings and packaging.
The outward appearance of a tampon is similar for all brands, but once inserted into the vagina they will perform differently.
The two main differences are in the way the tampon expands when in use;
- applicator tampons such as Tampax tampons and Natracare tampons will expand lengthways
- OB, Natracare and Lil-lets digital tampons will expand width-ways.
All modern tampons have a cord for removal and some have an additional outer cover to aid insertion and withdrawal.
Some women prefer tampons which are contained within an applicator to further aid insertion.
Tampons are popular because they can't be felt once inserted and they allow the wearer to go swimming or bathe without the embarrassment of leaking blood.
Tampon manufacturers conduct a battery of safety studies, and in the USA they must pass through FDA review and clearance before they can be marketed.
Tampons are disposable, so you only use them once before throwing them away. As they are worn internally, they provide natural odour protection. Tahey should be changed every 4-8 hours or more frequently if flow is heavy.
Tampons are sold individually wrapped to keep them clean. As the vagina is not a sterile body-cavity, and for the vast majority of women contains “good bacteria", there is no need for any menstrual device to be sterilized.
Vaginal Tampons - Potential Problems
There is no evidence that a a lactic acid-buffered gel lubricated tampon product investigated by a group in Edinburgh controls vaginal pH but women preferred them to tampons without lubrication.0801
Elevated vaginal pH (reduced acidity - a natural occurrence during and shortly after menstruation) is associated with bacterial vaginosis and it has been suggested that maintaining a low pH in the vagina might reduce the incidence of troublesome symptoms and infection of the genital tract. They assigned 98 women to use regular tampons with either a lactic acid-buffered gel (pH 3.8-4.2) or a standard lubricating gel (pH 5.1). The women used tampons without gel in the preceding cycle. No significant difference was observed between tampons with the standard gel formulation, the pH-balanced gel and nonlubricated tampons in terms of vaginal pH, microbiological evidence of candida or bacterial vaginosis.
Women reported higher mean satisfaction scores for lubricated tampons than for nonlubricated tampons.
Although the study did not demonstrate any major benefits of tampon lubrication with a pH-balanced gel, it does provide reassuring data on the safety and the acceptability of lubricated tampons and adds to the limited volume of published literature on the effects of tampons on the vaginal milieu," the researchers concluded.
Tampons have been shown to have a connection to toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a rare but potentially most serious illness caused by bacterial infection when a tampon is accidentally retained for a few days or more.
