Menstrual talks, tampons/pads the only option?

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let me first say that i am not a nurse of any kind and nor am i a student having just turned 30yrs of age. What i would like to ask is weather school nurses are giving their students all the options when it comes to advice about menstral protection? I have just personally descovered a product called a moon cup and while not wishing to advertise the more i look into it the more other alternatives i find. I now feel cheated that i was not given all the options when i first started to mensturate - has this changed? I think not! I have a friend who is a school nurse herself and while out with her one evening she menstioned that she was to give a talk about periods to a group of young girls the next morning. I told her about the moon cup i had just started to use and to my surprise she had never even heard if the product and was just going to sugest the use of pads / tampons without i suspect even considering the alternatives. I do understand and indeed remember that this is a delicate subject with girls this age but i do also think that with the amount of waste materials which end up in land fill or washed up on beaches the other greener and often cheaper options could do with a quick description. Hope this coment is useful to someone who is a school nurse.

Specializes in home health, dialysis, others.

1. As stated by others, it is not usually the school nurse who gives these talks. However, I was a school nurse for a short time, and one of the girls who was 'too young' ( in a grade below the one getting the info ) started her period at school. Luckily she had older sisters, so was at least aware that she wasn't going to die.

2. I used a cup called the Tassaway many, many, many years ago - after the original TSS scares. The cups don't go over very big here in the US because of the 'ick' factors - both the placement and removal require that you might actually get your hands dirty!!!! And heaven knows, most Americans just don't want to get their hands dirty!

3. The cup devices are probably more difficult to place in woman with intact hymens. Some virgins have difficulty with standard tampons, which is why they invented 'juniors'.

4. I haven't heard anything about TSS in a long time - I believe that most tampon companies changed the compostion of their products to lessen the probability ot its occurence.

5. New products come out all the time. Who can possibly keep up? Who remembers the long-ended napkins that needed belts?? !!!!!

6. Now that my menstrual days are way behind me, I've had to educate myself about bladder-control products!! (sigh - - it never ends!)

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I have to respond to your post about TSS not happening any longer. My daughter just died of TSS just a couple of months ago. This was Playtex regular tampons she was using and she did change them faithfully. You, as a school nurse educating young women, please tell them the reason for using pads overnight. While working with a microbiologist from NYU Dr Philip Tierno, to come up with a program I'm using to educate young women in schools, I learned that the S.aureus bacteria that develops into TSST-1 begins to turn into a GAS within 2 hours of inserting a tampon that contains viscose rayon. This gas can be absorbed into the system within 6 hours so if you are changing every 4 hours it slows the process. But... there is a carryover for a little while so inserting a new tampon right away will start the process again but not from the beginning. IF a pad is worn overnight that GAS will die off to nothing but the s. aureus bacteria only to begin it's poisoning process again. Then you can start off in the morning all over. Young girls don't have the antibodies yet to protect themselves from this ugly bacteria until they are well into their 20's. The only safe tampon is 100% cotton, and even safer would be the moon cup, keeper cup. etc... The UK has a government sponsored tampon warning week the middle of June each year and these cups originated there out of a demand for safety and protection from TSS. TSS is now at 3/4 the level it was during the 1980 Rely tampon scare but this time the US tampon industry is hiding it.

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2. I used a cup called the Tassaway many, many, many years ago - after the original TSS scares. The cups don't go over very big here in the US because of the 'ick' factors - both the placement and removal require that you might actually get your hands dirty!!!! And heaven knows, most Americans just don't want to get their hands dirty!

I tried the Tassaway when it first became available in the US but didn't stick with it -- not because of any "ick factor" (I've been a nurse too long --there's v. little that seriously grosses me out :)), but because of the LEAK factor. While they didn't leak v. often, if they DID, it was like Niagara Falls! Not the "here is a little beginning leak to let you know you need to change me" kind of leaks I get with tampons, but "blood running down my legs onto the floor" kind of leaks. Yeesh! As much as I liked the idea of the cups, that I couldn't deal with.

Oh, and, yes, I also remember the v. long pads with the separate belts with clips -- that was the standard when I started out.

And, the tampons I have used for years (OB) come with a pamphlet about the risks of TSS.

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And, the tampons I have used for years (OB) come with a pamphlet about the risks of TSS.

According to Dr. Patrick Schlievert PhD, OB and tampex are your safest bet if 100% cotton tampons aren't available. (mind you, all of his research dollars come from the tampon industry)
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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

however - i think i'm in menopause so i don't have to worry about it anymore.

steph

be careful!!! my mil hadn't had a period for 18 months, had a daughter in college, and had been told she was menopausal. the entire summer she felt terrible but it was chalked up to her age. she saw a different md, who scheduled her for gall bladder removal right after labor day.

her gall bladder came out but she continued to feel bad and christmas eve, delivered my husband.

she been given a pregnancy test back in august, but the results were disregarded because of her

age and lack of periods.

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