They are the preferred feminine hygiene product for women who have periods, studies show.
But according to a video shared on social media that has so far racked up 20 million views, women may be making a critical mistake when getting a sanitary pad.
The clip, posted by someone called Hot girl teeh on X, shows a woman gluing the product to a pair of underwear using an intriguing trick.
Instead of discarding the rectangle of paper that holds the adhesive “wings” in place, as is common practice, the woman uses it to keep the towel firmly adhered to the material of the panties.
It does this by turning the underwear over and placing the paper over the backing, before gluing the wings, rather than directly onto the fabric.
This is said to prevent the wings from sticking and damaging underwear.
Thousands of X users have commented on the clip, with many claiming they’ve been “doing it wrong” their entire lives.
One woman said, ‘Wait, that’s how I was supposed to wear it?’ And here I had to deal with it not sticking or the wings sticking to my legs.’
It is estimated that around 15 million women in the UK are of menstrual age, with most girls starting their periods at 12.5 years old.
According to Australian researcher Dr. Lauren Rosewarne, about 62 percent of women use sanitary pads during their time of the month, while 42 percent use tampons.
Dr Rosewarne, who lectures on sexuality, gender, feminism and popular culture at the University of Melbourne, says there are many reasons to prefer sanitary pads to tampons.
She believes women are averse to “getting close to the lining of the uterus,” which explains why devices like Mooncups “haven’t gone mainstream yet,” she said.
Another reason why tampon use is low is fearmongering around toxic shock syndrome, a rare but life-threatening condition caused by a bacterial infection.
Writing in The Conversation, Dr Rosewarne said: “Dramatically exaggerated fears of TSS still make some women reluctant to use tampons.”
‘Although it is a medical illness that is easily avoided (by not treating a tampon as a permanent resident, for example), the specter of death by tampon still haunts us.
‘An extension of this is vaguer fears that tampons will make you sick.
US consumer watchdog group Mamavation and the Environmental Working Group suggested that tampons, along with other hygiene products, could contain harmful perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Dubbed “forever chemicals,” they can remain in the environment for hundreds of years and have been linked to everything from cancer to infertility.
“One version, popularized by the source of all quality urban legends: the Internet, claims that they are full of asbestos, which makes you bleed more, so you need to buy more tampons.”
In July, a team of US researchers discovered that tampons sold in the UK could contain toxic metals.
Tests by scientists at several American universities on 30 products purchased in New York, Athens and London found that some contained dangerous levels of arsenic, chromium and even lead.
And all 16 metals analyzed were detected in at least one buffer.
Experts said there were several different ways metals could have gotten into tampons, including contamination in cotton plants used to make tampons.
They can also potentially be added during manufacturing processes as bleaches, antibacterial agents, or through cross-contamination from other factory processes.
However, British experts stated that the study results do not prove that metals can leak into the vagina and have harmful effects on the body.
Professor Atholl Johnston, emeritus professor of clinical pharmacology at Queen Mary University of London, told MailOnline: “Before analysis, the buffers were cut and then the researchers added 2ml of 67-70 per cent nitric acid (HNO3). to each sample and predigested the buffers at room temperature overnight before microwave-assisted acid digestion.
“It’s hardly an environment similar to that of the average vagina.”
She added: “If I were a woman who used tampons, I wouldn’t be panicking right now.” There is no evidence that metals can leach into menstrual blood and be absorbed by the body.’
