There’s a warning in our tampon boxes.
But Kelsey Garlick questions whether
we’ve all stopped paying attention to itI
t wasn’t until US model Lauren
Wasser lost her leg that I remembered
I needed to pay attention to toxic
shock syndrome. In the past year or
so I’d stopped being diligent about my
tampon habits. I slept with a tampon in –
at first getting up at 3am to change it at
the five-hour mark, then pushing it back
to 6am at the exact eight-hour mark, and
eventually just not bothering and pushing
it to a full nine and a half hours. I’d pop
a fresh one in before breakfast and get
caught up in my workday, forgetting it
was there until 4pm. I’d stopped thinking
of toxic shock syndrome as a risk. A quick
poll of my friends revealed they had, too.
The warnings and eight-hour time
limits feel like a relic of a time past – a
precautionary throwback to the ’80s,
when tampons were made with synthetic
materials rather than cotton, included
as a failsafe so the tampon manufacturers
don’t get sued, or an exaggeration to
make us use more and buy more. If youTHE AVERAGE
WOMAN USES OVER
12,000 TAMPONS
IN HER LIFETIME.
TOXIC SHOCK
S YNDROME?
are anything like me, you read all the
information, took note, maybe obsessed
about it during your teen years, then
slowly got more lax about it as years
passed with many periods and no signs
of toxic shock.
But Lauren Wasser wasn’t so
lucky. Three years ago she got toxic
shock syndrome, which led to gangrene,
and today she’s an amputee. Whether
or not the tampon she was wearing was
to blame, it’s a harsh reminder that TSS
still exists. It’s rare, yes, but that doesn’t
mean we should be getting complacent
about it. It’s time for us to stop brushing
off TSS and brush up on the facts.THE FACTS:
DID WE ALL FORGET ABOUT
TSS can affect both sexes and
all ages, but is more common in
women of menstruating age.
TSS is caused by a bacterium
called Staphylococcus aureus,
which can create a toxin.
Staphylococcus aureus is found
on the skin, in the nose, armpit,
groin or vagina of one in every
three people, mostly without issue.
Tampons themselves do not
cause TSS, but research suggests
that tampons can increase the
risk in two ways: () Tampons left
in for a long time may encourage
bacteria to grow; () Tampons may
stick to the vaginal walls (especially
with light flow), causing abrasions
when removed, through which the
toxin can enter the blood stream.
Symptoms of TSS are similar to
the flu – watch for a high fever (
degrees +), dizziness, diarrhoea,
muscle pain, headache, vomiting,
weakness or confusion, and/or a
sunburn-like rash. If you present
with symptoms, remove tampon
at once and inform your GP. #18 COSMOPOLITAN.com.au TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 136 116
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THINKSTOCK