Did you know that tampons and pads had not been accurately tested until THIS YEAR?

[Smashingdoozy]

Up until this year tampons and pads absorbency rates have NEVER been tested with actual blood. They used water/ saline to test how much they absorb... Which I don't think I need to tell you that blood is thicker than water...

https://srh.bmj.com/content/early/2023/07/03/bmjsrh-2023-201895.full

Nearly 1 and a half CENTURIES and they never tested them with actual blood 🥲

[ShesRad80]

not shocked, to be honest.

as a healthcare worker,-- very simple to see how much blood is being lost while on menstruation. a simple blood test by your pcp or obgyn, will check red blood cell count. before period and after sometimes. the blood count, then in conjunction with pelvic exam tells the obgyn or pcp what you are losing in means of blood volume monthly and how much iron cells you actually store.

excessive bleeders normally are anemic, and it shows up in blood test or depleted just above that level so take or are give iron supplement, sometimes just for a few days sometimes more iron therapy is needed.

[Smashingdoozy]

That's not what my dr did 😬 I wasn't taken seriously until I was in the emergency room and had to be given something to make the bleeding stop

[ShesRad80]

that sucks, and a problem in the ER/healthcare not everyone is always taken at face value. i disagree with Drs. a lot and push for my patients. you know your body better then anyone and what you say should be taken seriously. hope you are doing better

[Smashingdoozy]

I am, was diagnosed with PCOS

[RoseySarah]

Lmao id so kinda be worried now but I use my cup and I so hope it got tested before!

But so test them myself on heavy flow days! So wish we got a period pain killer just for us! Like no pain below my neck please 🥺😭

Other womenly products are not tested either like razors or soup for us!

[Smashingdoozy]

Cups are better as you can visually see how much is in them

[RoseySarah]

So true and no lost or red string!

[rigmarole]

What were you hoping to absorb with tampons and pads, the liquids or the solids? Because the liquid portion of blood is plasma and plasma is 91-92% water. About 55% of whole blood is plasma. Even red blood cells which make up pretty much the other 45% are 55-80% water depending on osmolarity. Using water is a pretty adequate test because you are attempting to absorb liquid...

[Smashingdoozy]

Yet it wasn't accurate at all...

[rigmarole]

Sure it wasn't... Keep dreaming. When 92% of plasma is water, at least 92% of that plasma is going to be absorbed in the same way as water because it is water. You playing make believe, doesn't change the chemistry.

[Smashingdoozy]

It's literally in the study. On the packet a super tampon says it can hold up to 12ml of fluids (water). Yet in the study they found it actually varies between 20ml and 50ml of blood. 8-38ml difference is A LOT when talking about blood loss in under 8hrs.

(Bare in mind the average person is only supposed to lose 60ml through an entire period)

[rigmarole]

A sucker is born every day. Congratulations, you're a sucker. Chemistry doesn't change, marketing does though...

[AviatorTom]

A valid test must be repeatable, and it's pretty easy to get the same kind of water (temperature and density) to test with... over and over. Blood, on the other hand, varies widely, and is difficult to do a standard repeatable test.

I see no problem with testing with water. Blood is mostly water anyway.

[Smashingdoozy]

There's a huge difference actually.

[exitseven]

I expect that human blood is mostly water so that is a good indication of absorbancy. I suppose it would be a good idea to have tested the product under realistic conditions just to see how it will perform in a real environment

[MementoMori777]

I would believe it's cause blood is biohazard waste and they probably have more restrictions on it, that or because they were like "if it absorbs water easily then it will absorb blood easy cause water is thinner " half ass shit... you know

[Smashingdoozy]

On a box of tampons typically they say a super tampon absorbs 10-15ml. This study found that they actually absorb 20-50ml depending on the brand... Which means women who have heavy periods are actually losing up to twice as much blood as they thought they were.

[MementoMori777]

Your brain probably taste better to zombies

[Anonymous]

No, But i never made the connection why the liquid the used in those pad and tampon commercials was always blue till a episode of family guy recently😆😆😆

https://www.youtube.com/embed/1p0A0aEaJRI

[Smashingdoozy]

Some companies started using red liquid and there was an uproar over it

[RealMarek]

Did you know most drug studies in the US are conducted by the manufacturers. Remember how well they tested tampons when being lectured about how safe a medical treatment is due to “the Science” and “Peer Review Process.”

[Smashingdoozy]

This isn't about the safety of them it's about the absorbency rate.

[RealMarek]

I know, but if they don’t get something like an absorbency rate right, they almost certainly don’t always get safety right.

[petitedollbabee]

Oh wow… you’d think that they would’ve tested that a lot sooner, they should’ve tested it with what it’s actually used for!

[TonyMetal___86]

But you as a girl and other women are testing it for real so i guess you and ither women are qualified to say which brand is the best 🤣🤣
By the way what's the difference between tampons and pads? 🤔

[Smashingdoozy]

Not knowing the accuracy of the amount each absorb makes it harder to diagnose issues with excessive bleeding.

Difference? One absorbs from the inside and the other from the outside. Or do you mean difference in absorbency? In that case they are about the same

[TonyMetal___86]

You know such factories cares a lot more about money and earnings than their products efficiency...
Don't believe everything you see from brand's commercials, in the end you're the one testing it to see if their claims are real or fake!

The war between industries in who's going to be the top seller...

I believe that tampons, pads and razor blades should be for free paid by the government or at least make discounts on these products, you can't believe that in some countries a lot of women cannot even afford to buy tampons or pads... etc

[Smashingdoozy]

This has nothing to do with the brands being dishonest. It's more like why in the almost 1 and half centuries has this only just now been done. There are so many people who suffer from excessive bleeding during periods myself included and drs can't accurately assess how much blood you are losing unless you are using an alternative product. When I first had issues I was told that my periods are on the normal side because I was using what my dr considered an average amount of tampons and pads.
But when I switched to a menstrual cup which holds 40mls and I was filling that multiple times a day, they got quite concerned.

[TonyMetal___86]

That's because they were being dishonest 😄 you said it: "why in the almost 1 and half centuries has this only just now been done?"
When you have a problem such as an excess bleeding, you have to see a doctor in my opinion, usually the factories products are made as standard for like what the majority of women's periods are, when it comes to unusual cases such as excessive bleeding which makes you worried than you have to see a doctor, also it doesn't have to be something with a big deal cause some women do have excess bleeding, yet it still normal...

I believe that the more you lose blood the more you must drink fluids like water and better if it's natural juices to replace that big amount of lost blood...

[Smashingdoozy]

You're not reading what I'm saying...

[TonyMetal___86]

Nope i read what you have said about the 40mls cup, i'm not quite sure how can a doctor say that you're using the right amount of tampons and that's normal while it's not and for sure the cup is a lot more accurate cause it has precision and shows how much bleeding there is...

[Smashingdoozy]

"When I first had issues I was told that my periods are on the normal side because I was using what my dr considered an average amount of tampons and pads." it wasn't until I switched to a menstrual cup when my dr realised how much I was actually bleeding plus a hospitalization.

[TonyMetal___86]

Yes i read this, also said that this cup showed that your bleeding ain't natural cause it's too much, so the question is what was the problem, why were you bleeding a lot of blood, what was the case and now are things back to normal with you?

[NathanDavis]

where did they get the blood from?

was it actual, period blood?

[Smashingdoozy]

If you read the study it says they used old blood bags

[NathanDavis]

is the blood from a period discharge... the same as the blood used for transfusions?

[Smashingdoozy]

Yes and no. Period blood contains clots and tissue so it's not quite the same but far more accurate than water.

[ventustalks]

I'm not surprised, to be honest. They do as less as they can when it comes to helping women.

[stratford]

Testing doesn't make money - just like pharma.

[HeartFullOfGlue]

I feel like they should have done that earlier

[msc545]

Women have been live testing them for years...

[Smashingdoozy]

Yes problem is when it comes to excessive bleeding. A dr asking how many tampons you go through a day , when tampons have a variation of 20 -50 ml. There's a big difference between going through 5 20 ml tampons and 5 50 ml tampons a day.

[msc545]

I have a feeling the companies that make these things have tested them

[Smashingdoozy]

They tested them with water.

[msc545]

evidence?

[Smashingdoozy]

www.choice.com.au/.../how-we-test-sanitary-pads

www.newsweek.com/period-products-tested-using-blood-first-time-1819895