tampon alternative?

[grapefruitgirl.livejournal.com]

i have heard/read that mainstream tampons (tampax for example) are bad for us women because they contain bleach, which common says is terrible to have inside of you.

question: does anyone out there know a safe, effective alternative to tampons?

Comments

[mzarmageddon.livejournal.com]

http://www.keeper.com

Re:

[grapefruitgirl.livejournal.com]

do you use it? if so, how do you find it? (good/bad/indifferent)

[mzarmageddon.livejournal.com]

I found about about the keeper here. I don't use it anymore because I went on the Depo-Provera shot and I don't bleed anymore :( But I used it for a long time and I loved it. It is amazing. I also used a blood towel for nights. I just sleep with a red towel underneath me. Those are my suggestions. I loved them. Hopefully my fiance can afford a vasectomy soon so I can have my period again.

Re:

[grapefruitgirl.livejournal.com]

thanks for your feedback, mzarmageddon. i appreciate it =)

[grapefruitgirl.livejournal.com]

thanx for your advice. you are second one to recommend the keeper so i will definately check it out further....

thanks again =)

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

There are unbleached tampons (http://www.pacwestserv.com/healthwomen04_natracare_organicessentials.htm) available. I don't think bleached ones contain enough dioxin (the by-product some people are worried might cause problems) to worry about, and there have been no conclusive medical studies to suggest that it's a problem in tampons. However, the dioxins enter the water systems and other aspects of the ecosystem once it's rinsed out of the cotton, and historically have been an ecological problem there. I think we have at least as much to worry about, if not more, that there are dioxins in the water in our ecosytem.

But unbleached tampons (http://www.pacwestserv.com/healthwomen04_natracare_organicessentials.htm) are available. There are also the Keeper (http://www.keeper.com/), Instead cups (http://www.mum.org/stalling.htm) (I use a mix of these, tampons, and pads), washable cloth menstrual pads (http://www.borntolove.com/catlog10m.html), and sea sponges (http://www.jadeandpearl.com/).

[grapefruitgirl.livejournal.com]

thank you so much for hooking me up with so many links and alternatives...you rock !

i'll look into each one and see which seems the best option for me.

thanks again =)

[mangofandango.livejournal.com]

I use either organic cotton tampons (which can be found in health food stores and the like, they are unbleached and therefore much safer) or sea sponges.

Sea sponges can be found at http://jadeandpearl.com. You moisten them, squeeze them out, and insert them. In a few hours, you take it out, rinse it out well with warm water, and put it back inside you. At night you disinfect it by soaking in in one of a variety of solutions (details on the site). They're much more comfortable than tampons because they are softer and squishier, and i find them less drying. They're also much safer too. Hope this helps!

[grapefruitgirl.livejournal.com]

thanks for your two cents...i heard vaguely about the sponge but never saw one on the shelves at the supermarket or anything so i thought it may be urban myth. alas, it's real! my question with the sponge i guess is, when you are in one of those public stall bathrooms (like at my work) and there are only public sinks you cant very easily just wash out your sponge right there in public...i guess you find ways around it somehow. just thinking out loud...

thanks again =)

[mangofandango.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's when I use my organic cotton tampons, because I'm at school all day and I can't really rinse my sponges out in the bathroom without grossing people out. So I wear the tampons or a pad sometimes during the day, and when I get home I use the sponge for the evening (or on days when I'm not at school).

When you order sponges from that site, they send you two sponges and a little breathable bag to carry them in. They suggest that you can take one out in the middle of the day in a public bathroom and just put it in the bag and use the other one (you can moisten the clean one in the sink without drawing attention to yourself ;)). My only issue with that is that when you take the sponge out, its kind of messy, so I guess you'd have to like, wipe it off with toilet paper and maybe wrap it up in some before putting in the bag to wash out later. But it is supposedly do-able. :)

I have seen the sponges in stores, but only a couple of times , and that was in a health food store type of place too.

Heh heh, now you have at least 4 cents from me. ;)

Re:

[grapefruitgirl.livejournal.com]

ok, now i see how this can work. it is hard socially to use all the time. but if you alternate the sponge with organic tampons its at least a break from tampons all the time. sponges seem more natural to me than tampons. i'll try it out and see.

thanks for the 4 cents ;P

[4hour-ramona.livejournal.com]

tampon alternatives... http://www.vaginapagina.com/mtoz.htm

Re:

[grapefruitgirl.livejournal.com]

wow....what a comprehensive page.

gracias =)

[4hour-ramona.livejournal.com]

it's a fab idea to always check the userinfo first - in many cases, the answer you want will be there, just waiting for you.

Re:

[grapefruitgirl.livejournal.com]

ok, ok. will do next time...