Tampons have been around since the 1930s, and women have largely taken their safety for granted. But over the past three decades there has been a staggering increase in illnesses that were once thought of as rare, including endometriosis, fibroids (growths in the uterus), pelvic inflammatory disease, PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), and cancer,
causing some to take another look at those ubiquitous products.
First off it is a logical fallacy to assume that correlation equals causation. That is to say just because two things occur at the same time/related scenario does not mean that a=b. For example if I walked into my kitchen and my banana's that I had washed off in the sink last night with soap and water were suddenly rotten, that the soap and water had caused the rot. This seems rational, but cleaning dirt off food does NOT cause it to go bad.
That said, to assume that sense women started to use tampons, there is an increase in endometrosis, pcos, and cancer seems logical, but it really isn't. Is this person taking into consideration that sense the 1930's women live longer and can receive treatment for these disease? Also even just 30-40 years ago i can promise you fewer women were being diagnosed with these disease because they were either unknown or very little was known about them.
I'm also going to now tell you something I tell my students on a regular basis. When considering evidence from written sources you have to consider the source, and weigh if they are bias or credible. When writing an academic paper for example, you do NOT want to cite wikipedia why? because I can make an account, log in to wikipedia and update it with what ever nonsense i cook up, and the moderators might or might NOT catch the errors. I am not an expert at physics for example, but I could make up a theory about black holes, publish it on blogs, wordpress, and wikipeida and pass it off as knowledge.
Now considering that I want you to examine these pages your mother sent you. These people are citing information but not linking you to where the information was obtained so that you can verify that information is correct and the context of in which the statements were made. for example the blog cites: "Viscous rayon can still amplify toxins to some extent, and the lowest risk [for TSS] would be had by using all cotton," says Dr. Philip Tierno of the New York University Medical Center. but provides no link to where this information is posted, no reference material for where this quote was pulled from, and we don't have a place where we can find out how much this risk is upped. It could be .05% it could be 95% we don't know.
That said, i don't KNOW if this information is solid or not. I do know both of these pages are promoting natural products which makes there claims suspect and you should do more investigation from sources with verified credentials to make sure that someone just isn't selling you something.
I have some friends who swear that there cramps are better and they feel healthier when they don't use tampons or natural products like sea sponges. I can promise you any “organic” alternative to tampons like sea sponges are not as well investigated as tampons because they aren't funded by multimilllion dollar corporations who don't want there pants sued off of them for putting out a dangerous product. Also I always questions the validity of “natural” or “organic” companies caring more than big business. Frankly thinking that because they make a natrual product gives them some altruistic goals is extremely naive. They are out to make a profit just like Always is.
That said, if you are uncomfortable with tampons or want to weigh your options do research on both sides of the story, and look into alternatives that you feel are viable for you as a person. Don't let your mother or anyone else bully you into making a choice. If you are curious I have a friend who swears by menstrual cups, like the soft cup. I've been kind of curious about it myself because I do personally find that tampons up my menstrual cramps something awful.
haha thanks *scratches head* I've just been in college long enough i can pick things apart really easily...
I wanted to say one more thing though, then haha i swear i'll shut up.
If your mother is this obsessed with your tampon usage..I'm not saying it's right to lie... but I personally would just tell her I stopped using them so she'd worry less.
since it seems pcos has a genetic basis how does tampon use play into that? I am fairly certain I have always had pcos...even before I ever put in a tampon. In fact, I never needed a tampon because I never got my period...until I was around 18 at least. Just saying.
I have PCOS and I have never used a tampon in my whole life. BUT I do believe they are bad for you and who knows, they MIGHT be causing other problems. I don't think there is enough research yet to tell. I will say this, I have never had a yeast infection and I have never used tampons or douches. My SIL, however, uses both and she has a chronic yeast infection at ALL TIMES!
honestly i do wear tampons once in a while - but i do belive there is truth to this of coarse the jump in illness in women im sure also has to do with enviroment, genes ect but i mean think about it your putting something fpriegn in your body all i know is that my doctor told me i should avoid them and douching -
in the workd of my dorky hubby im just keepin it natural lol
but i will also say if you are comfortable with tampons its your choice and you body! unless you start noticing being sick or pain when wearing or after wearing one i wouldnt worry after all you have been wearing tampons this long
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That said, if you are uncomfortable with tampons or want to weigh your options do research on both sides of the story, and look into alternatives that you feel are viable for you as a person. Don't let your mother or anyone else bully you into making a choice. If you are curious I have a friend who swears by menstrual cups, like the soft cup. I've been kind of curious about it myself because I do personally find that tampons up my menstrual cramps something awful.
I agree completely that if you feel uncomfortable with tampons, do some research. I would try different brands of tampons, alternatives to tampons, whatever it takes to find something you feel comfortable with. I use tampons, not that much, but I find that they increase my cramps too. I don't think there's anything wrong with trying new products/brands because I noticed that for me some maxi pads give me a skin reaction, I have eczema, so I've tried a bunch of different brands until I found a brand that works for me.
I did read a book however, which said that women tend to use the same brand of feminine hygiene products that their mothers used, mostly because their moms are the ones to introduce them to feminine products. I wonder if maybe that bias goes the other way too. Maybe moms worry about their daughters using feminine products that they themselves haven't tried. I definitely get that feeling from my mom. Hopefully we'll all eventually find something that works for us.
__________________ No PCOS diagnosis yet...
Feel free to ask me about hyperprolactinemia though, just had my prolactinoma removed through brain surgery. Happier and healthier already... To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I didn't start using tampons until I was 20 years old (I was an Always user, but I started having allergic reactions to their pads) and I got my first period at 13 years old. I started noticing my PCOS symptoms getting more prominent around age 16 so trust me there's no link between tampons and PCOS.
Someone is just speculating and trying to point the finger at what may cause PCOS, but the simple truth is doctors just don't know.
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-Diagnosed with PCOS on May 29, 2009 -Diagnosed as possibly pre-diabetic on July 31, 2009
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(I was an Always user, but I started having allergic reactions to their pads)
That's so funny. I used to use Always pads all the time too, until I had reactions to their pads. I wonder if there's something in their pads that aren't in other brands. I thought I was the only one. Weird.
__________________ No PCOS diagnosis yet...
Feel free to ask me about hyperprolactinemia though, just had my prolactinoma removed through brain surgery. Happier and healthier already... To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I found pads would sometimes weirdly dry out my skin along the sides of where my panties were (the wing kind anyways) so i try not to use those... I have another friend that swears by natural cloth pads, she says she bleeds less and has a more manageable period with it..so that's another thing some of you could try if you don't like having weird chemically made absorbent products next to your skin.
I personally have an allergy to pads so I have no choice but to use tampons. But even before the allegy appeared I prefered tampons. They are so much cleaner and lessen the chance of leakage. I have learned I can use most inconsisance underwear which is nice for sleeping on those really heavy days.
I've had more trouble with pads than tampons.
__________________ Holly~31
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No, I don't think PCOS is caused by tampons, BUT I don't think that is what the articles are stating either. I think they're basically saying that tampons may contain some harmful chemicals (or other) that MAY eventually harm our bodies LEADING to things LIKE PCOS, endometriosis, etc, etc. Not necessarily causing it the minute you put in the tampon.
Now I use tampons and I dislike pads (although I often times end up needing both for the first 3 days since AF is SOOO heavy), so I'm probably not going to stop using them, but I do strongly believe that they can't be good for us either.
I think that aside from tampons there are probably a lot of other things that are leading to increased illness and diagnoses of diseases and syndromes such as PCOS Things found in and on the foods we eat, chemicals we expose ourselves to, and our largly sedentary lifestyles... I think everything is really playing a role.
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Tampons & PCOS 
