How to Insert a Tampon
Menstruation can be excruciating and uncomfortable, but if you have the right hygienic products, like tampons, it becomes more tolerable. Tampons work great to absorb menstrual flow, but if you’re a first-timer, using it might be a task you’ll find challenging and cumbersome. Not to worry, because here how to insert a tampon properly.
What You’ll Need:
Tampons
Soap and water
Mirror
Procedure:
Purchase a package of tampons. If it’s your first time to use one, pick out the smallest size. It’s best to use a tampon during the day when your flow is heaviest. Wash your hands thoroughly before you proceed.
Relax. You’ll have a harder time inserting the tampon if you’re nervous or tense.
Find a comfortable sitting or standing position. Some women prefer to squat, while others prop one leg up on the toilet seat. With your dominant hand (the hand you use more often) hold the tampon like a pencil. You should be holding it at the middle, on the spot where the smaller and inner tube goes into the larger outer tube. The string must also be visible, pointing away from your body.
Using your other hand, open your vagina’s labia, which are the folds of skin found around the opening. Afterwards, Position the tampon into your vagina’s opening.
Push the tampon very gently into the opening. You should be aiming for the small of your back. Keep pushing, and only stop when the outer tube or the applicator is completely inside the vagina, and your fingers can already touch your body.
Once the outer tube is inside all the way, use your middle finger and thumb to push the inner tube, or the tube where the removal string can be found, through the outer one. This will push the tampon further in the vagina.
If the inner tube is completely inside, use the middle finger and thumb to take out the applicator. The strings should still be hanging out of the vagina’s opening. You’ll need this when you remove the tampon later.
If you’ve inserted the tampon correctly, you should not feel it. If it does feel uncomfortable in any way, it might not be placed far into the vagina, or you might have put it in incorrectly.
A Few Tips
Use the right tampon absorbency. If you have lighter menstrual flow, consider smaller-sized tampons.
If you can’t see what you’re doing properly, use a mirror.
Change your tampons frequently, at least every four to eight hours. If a tampon is left for a long time in the vagina, an environment for different kinds of bacteria is created, and might cause a rare infection called Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).
Tampons must not be used other than for menstrual flow.
If inserting a tampon is painful, consult a health care provider. Chances are you’re born with a small hymen opening, and tampon use may not be advisable.
As long as you know how to use them properly, tampons will make your menstruation more comfortable and tolerable. Just follow these insertion tips, and you’ll have a happy period!