On a particularly long and crowded Sunday ride on the LIRR, I decided to indulge myself in a few of the articles posted to the 'trending feed' on Facebook.  While navigating through the myriad of write ups on various Kardashians, I noticed a shared post by one of my friends entitled 'Why This Woman Is Suing a Tampon Company After Losing Her Leg.'  I followed the link, cynically expecting an overhyped story of a woman bringing suit to a major company blaming them for something completely unrelated to their product.  Before reading, I ran through possible scenarios in which a tampon could have played a part in this woman’s leg being removed, and I came up short.

The page began to load and immediately I knew that this wasn’t just a click-bait article.  Staring directly back at me from my screen was Lauren Wasser, a stunning 24-year-old model, and her prosthetic leg.  I read on as the article traced the events leading up to the amputation of her right leg, due to gangrene.  This all may seem unrelated to tampons until you understood that the gangrene was a result of Wasser contracting Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).  ‘Toxic shock syndrome is a rare, life-threatening complication of certain types of bacterial infections,' defined by the Mayo Clinic.  Although it's noted in the article that tampons alone cannot cause TSS, at least 20% of the population carries the staph bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) that flourishes in the environment created by the synthetic fibers used in many tampons.  

11.10.TW

Purchase LOLA 100% cotton tampons here and have them delivered to your door.

I was instantly taken aback, who the hell gets TSS?  It was like hearing that someone had polio or rickets, or some other disease that was practically extinct.  I thought back to the 4th grade when we were taught how to use tampons by the school nurse.  Most of us giggled, save for the few early developers who keenly watched on, desperate to stop using pads.  The presentation concluded with a few notes like: 'No, using a tampon doesn’t mean you're not a virgin' and 'It’s not going to get lost inside of you and float into your stomach.'  We barely even touched on TSS, all I remember learning about it was that it's something that was really bad in the 80’s, but they don't make tampons like that anymore, so it’s fine just change it every 8 hours.  Again, in 8th-grade health class, or as my all-girls private school formally called it 'Life Issues Class,' we skimmed over TSS.  The information we heard was more or less the same as three years prior.

Hearing Wasser’s story made me realize, not only how uneducated many women are about TSS, but how trusting we are with the tampon and women health industry as a whole.  We're led to believe that anything produced by these so called 'female empowerment brands' is made in our best interest.  What we so often forget is behind these gynocentric facades are big corporations who have a higher priority interest than the safety of their consumers.  Most tampon companies use rayon (a synthetic material known to create the optimal environment for TSS) either combined with cotton or completely on its own.  If tampons were made entirely of cotton, the cases of TSS would likely dwindle to zero.  Yet these manufacturers are still selling products made of materials that are scientifically proven to cause harm, and increase the risk of TSS.

As a woman who menstruates semi-regularly, I decided to do some research.  I wanted to see what other options were available.  I already knew about pads, and you can check that off my list.  As someone who didn't get her period until 10th grade there wasn't a lot of experimenting needed.  I tried a pad on the first day of my first period, and that also happened to be the last day of my last pad. 

Another option is to use a diva cup, a soft silicone device that is inserted and collects the blood until you're ready to empty it in the nearest toilet.  From my peers who use it I've heard high praise, ranging from its environmental friendliness to its surprising ease of use.  I so badly want to like the diva cup and in principle I do.  It’s just all the responsibility that comes along with it, not to mention the washing and reusing aspect, it's simply not my cup of-tea, or cup-of-blood if you will.  

I'll be the first to admit it, all dangers aside, tampons are extremely convenient.  You use them and you lose them, so to speak.  

Grey.Line.7

We need to question the safety of what we put into our bodies.

Grey.Line.7

After some research and a few very well placed paid advertisements, I found myself reading about a new company called Lola.  Lola sells 100% cotton tampons, shipped to your door monthly.  The boxes come with 18 tampons in an assortment of light, regular, and heavy; the amount of each is chosen by the individual based on their preferences.  The mission behind these tampons, according to Co-founder Alexandra Friedman, is '…to get these micro-communities talking about their cycles, and the products they use, the same way they talk about putting healthy food in their bodies.' I think that message, more than anything, struck a chord with me; the idea that we need to question the safety of what we put into our bodies.  Just because we are not ingesting these products doesn't mean that their chemicals aren't being absorbed by our bodies.  Not to mention, at the very affordable price of $10 dollars per box and that you don't have to do the awkward song and dance of buying tampons from the young (and maybe kind of hot) cashier at your pharmacy, there's really no excuse not to.

In closing, I will impart you with my own opinion of Lola’s Tampons, from a consumer’s point of view.  Overall, I was very satisfied with the superficial aspects: chic minimalist design, lack of cartoon flowers, and subdued blue tones to indicate the level of absorbency.  The tampons themselves proved successful in their abilities and I experienced no leakage.  My only criticisms would be that the compact applicator is a little finicky, and the string seemed a little long.  The latter of my qualms being a personal issue as we all have differing bodies, so ‘long’ for some may be ‘short’ for others.  To answer the follow-up email I received from Lola, yes I would absolutely recommend Lola to a friend – and I already have to several co-workers, family members, and a woman sitting next to me on the subway who got way more than she bargained for when asking about directions.

 

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