Save for the string, an inserted tampon is out of sight and (hopefully) out of thoughts. In any case, you shouldn’t really feel a tampon doing its job. Whereas that’s normally an ideal factor, it may possibly turn out to be an issue if a tampon is so unnoticeable, you neglect in the event you even put one in or can’t bear in mind having taken your final one out.
Gynecologists advocate swapping out your tampon at the least each 4 to eight hours to cut back your threat of irritation, an infection, and a uncommon however harmful situation referred to as poisonous shock syndrome (a complication of an an infection, by which micro organism launch toxins into the bloodstream). So in the event you instantly can’t bear in mind in the event you’ve put in a tampon or suspect you probably did however can’t see or entry the string, it’s solely pure to begin worrying about whether or not that factor is festering inside you.
Properly, right here’s not only one however two items of excellent information: For those who did put a tampon in, it would nonetheless be in your vaginal canal (the place you may probably attain it with a finger), and it’s extremely unlikely {that a} tampon might be forgotten ceaselessly as a result of your physique offers you some warning indicators, Alyssa Dweck, MD, FACOG, a New York-based gynecologist, tells SELF.
Right here, two ob-gyns share precisely what to do the subsequent time you have got tampon amnesia.
What to do in the event you can’t bear in mind in the event you put a tampon in
Your first step is to actually, really not panic, Kameelah Phillips, MD, a New York-based ob-gyn and Organon well being associate, tells SELF. This situation occurs typically, based on the consultants we spoke with, and isn’t usually a serious well being threat.
As soon as you’re taking a deep breath, each Dr. Phillips and Dr. Dweck advocate a easy finger sweep: Trim any sharp nail edges on certainly one of your index fingers and wash your palms completely. Then, sit down on the bathroom, put a little bit of lube on the opening of your vagina, and gently insert that finger, sweeping round to see in the event you really feel something spongy or cellular, or that you may hook your finger round and take away. Observe that in the event you’re touching your cervix—which feels kinda just like the tip of your nostril (it’s additionally product of cartilage)—there’s in all probability no tampon in there, Dr. Dweck says.
For those who’re in any respect squeamish about this, otherwise you really feel one thing in there however you may’t take away it, name the search off and schedule an appointment along with your ob-gyn for that day or the subsequent day (allow them to know what’s occurring to allow them to attempt to squeeze you in). “A couple of additional hours are usually not going to impression your well being to a detriment,” Dr. Phillips says. Within the meantime, Dr. Dweck advises not placing anything in your vagina or having penetrative intercourse.
Your ob-gyn can “use a little bit instrument to fish out a tampon if there’s one, and it actually takes 10 seconds,” Dr. Dweck says.
So…can a tampon ever get misplaced inside you?
Caught or powerful to achieve? Sure. However misplaced? Nope. On the high of your vaginal canal is your cervix, which has a pinpoint opening (a.ok.a. the exterior cervical os) that dilates whenever you’re pregnant and your physique is making ready to provide beginning, Dr. Dweck explains. However in any other case, the exterior os is barely a few millimeters open—not practically large enough to suit a tampon. (And there’s nowhere else inside you a tampon can go.)