Knowing where your vaginal opening is and how it curves within your body makes insertion easier, but also knowing how your vagina functions helps you understand how tampons effect your vagina and how this can effect vaginal health.
Fairley et al (1994) performed a study to determine if HPV detection or the size of the tampon specimen was effected by the menstrual cycle.
The cellulose exchanger in the composite Hygrobac-S and Hygroster retained saline, producing a 'tampon' effect, associated with bi-directional air flow resistances in excess of the international standard of a 5 cm H2O pressure drop at 60 litre min−1 air flow.
They concluded from their study that the timing of the menstrual cycle effects the size of tampon specimens but not the probability of detecting HPV DNA.
Furthermore, this review did not include studies of HPV testing on self obtained specimens and could not assess the effect of the sampling device (tampon, brush, lavage, or swab) on test accuracy.
"Limited information and incomplete data mean that we don't know precisely which unhealthy chemicals and contaminants could be present or what the effects of long-term, monthly tampon use could be," Maloney wrote.
The researchers found that sex and tampon use, rather than contributing to the backup of menstrual fluid in the pelvic cavity, probably had the reverse effect.
If using disposables switch to all cotton tampons or pads which are free from synthetics such as rayon, chemicals and bleach, all which can negatively effect vaginal health and can increase bacterial growth so in turn cause more odor.
And the tampon at Reading? "The tampon?
A tampon for a pencil, Habara thought.
"Actually," she says, "I lost a tampon.
