The Equinox withheld the writer’s name for privacy purposes.
While abroad a few years ago, I had one of ‘those’ nights where too many drinks led to poor decisions resulting in a one night stand.
The days following the regretful night were concerning. I began to have nasty discharge which I anxiously assumed was a symptom of an STD.
Thanks to Google, I came to the conclusion that I had some sort of bacterial infection which should be treated with antibiotics.
Luckily, before I traveled, my doctor prescribed me antibiotics to avoid going through the hassle of getting medicine in a foreign country, if I ever needed it.
A week later, still having symptoms from the infection and still taking the antibiotics, I was shocked when a tampon fell out while I was on toilet one morning.
To my surprise my initial reaction was nothing but pure shock. I was utterly disgusted knowing that a wad of bacteria was sitting inside of me for well over a week.
Realizing this was causing my infection, I could only feel extremely lucky. I am thankful that I had antibiotics to take while I was abroad, otherwise this one mistake could have cost me my life.
TSS had rarely crossed my mind when using tampons. Through word of mouth and common knowledge I learned the severity of what can happen by leaving a tampon in for too long or using a tampon with too high of an absorbency.
Yet, it was never something I worried about until I had to worry about it, because it nearly happened to me. I know others have had similar experiences when excess drinking takes place and you forget to change or remove your tampon.
However uncomfortable this may be to talk about, it needs to be discussed. The education and awareness need to be presented to females. The warning labels should be doing a better job at warning the public.
Larger warnings of TSS should appear on all tampon boxes. This isn’t something to be taken lightly.
According to Tampax.com, TSS is a rare disease associated with tampon use and staphylococcus aureus bacterium. This bacteria can be found on the skin, nose, armpit, groin and vagina. What’s even more alarming is that about one-third of the population carry this without any problem.
However for few, the likelihood that this strain of bacteria could cause TSS are presented. What is not presented is clear preventive measurements. This bacteria can be carried on unwashed hands and result infection anywhere on the body. Wash your hands, be cautious and aware because TSS is stoppable.