Simply take the tampon out and wait a bit before putting another one in to lower the chances of more bacteria growth, suggests Fraser. You’re not automatically going to get TSS, but you are at higher risk. Or at least asked my friends if they were doing it.If you discover you’ve accidentally left a tampon in for more than eight hours, don’t freak out, says Sparks. I should've read the fine print on the tampon instructions a long time ago. I'm a converted tampon sleeper and my life is easier now because of it. Proceed with caution, or don't, I don't care, but rejoice in this revelation with me. I feel maligned, betrayed, bamboozled - all of the words for shocked describe my state the past few weeks! But I've seen the light, and it looks like a swath of soft, cotton undies where a scratchy pad once was. How every single person I know who gets a period has managed to keep this huge secret from me is a mystery. Basically the deal is you can do it, just don't overdo it. And lest I and the tampon box speak out of turn, doctors have said it's probably fine to sleep in a tampon, so long as you change to a fresh one before bed and change it again when you wake up.
Doctors say the same thing.įurther down, the tampon instructions also say it's fine to sleep in a tampon for no more than eight hours. Because of this, each and every tampon box in the United States is printed with the totally non-terrifying warning that tampons are associated with TSS, "a rare but serious disease that may cause death." Instructions that come inside tampon boxes (did you know they came with instructions!?) say to change a tampon every four to eight hours. It can be caused by several things, one being tampons that are left in for too long, or super-absorbent tampons worn on light period days. TSS, or toxic shock syndrome, is a rare complication of a bacterial infection. So I'm led to ask the question that begins all ventures of human discovery: What's the deal? I'm in my twenties! We're idiots! And though I know TSS is rare, and menstrual-related cases are declining, the effects of it are bad enough to warrant heightened levels of precaution. I know lots of people who do unhealthy things all the time. Just because roughly 70 percent of the people I talked to about this sleep in tampons doesn't mean it's fine. But it's more possible that the rumor I've taken deeply to heart my whole life (sleeping in a tampon is bad and will kill you) is meritless, and my menstrual history is a fear-based lie.īig Pantyliner strikes again! Or, not so fast. It's possible I'm an alien or robot or some other non-living thing, and am therefore incapable of being killed by a tampon in my sleep.
I'm typing this now, which means I once again lived through the night. My period came and with great trepidation, I replaced my tampon before bed and slept with it in the whole night long. The edges of my world melted away and a veil lifted from my eyes. The more people I asked, the more I realized sleeping in a tampon was exceedingly normal. is that bad? Period shame is a strong force, and it's even stronger when applied to "right" and "wrong" ways to covertly manage it. When I brought the concept of sleeping in a tampon to other friends, and eventually to my entire office chatroom, people owned up to sleeping in tampons but quickly followed the admission up with. I shouldn't be surprised that so many people around me were managing their periods a certain way, and I just had no idea about it. But then she looked at me like I was a maniac, and that's the precise moment when my entire belief system started to crumble. Didn't she know The RULE?! * Coach Carr from Mean Girls voice*: Don't sleep in a tampon, because you will get toxic shock syndrome and die. So when a friend recently told me she sleeps in a tampon when she's on her period, I laughed and looked at her like she was a maniac. Unless any of my friends have secret careers moonlighting as ob-gyns or nurses, I can confidently say I know more about periods than they do. And so, ever since I started having periods more than ten years ago, I've bought liners, pads, and eventually a menstrual cup to wear while I concurrently slept and menstruated, sans tampon.Įven after I got this job and started reading and writing about periods a lot, I kept on uncorking my vagina before bed.
It always seemed, to me, like one of the cardinal rules of having a vagina. It's something I've just "known" for so long that I can't even remember where I first heard it: Never, under any circumstances, sleep with a tampon in.
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