Mom points out a major flaw in tampons and performs a test to prove it: 'Somebody fix this'

Many women might have struggled with using tampons and still experienced least-expected issues. But contrary to what many believe, the leakage despite wearing a tampon during menstruation is not the fault of a woman's heavy flow. A content creator named Renee Reina, who goes by @thereneereina on TikTok, shared an enlightening video where she pointed out a major flaw in tampons and even performed a test to prove her point. 

Reina called out the tampon manufacturing companies for not doing proper research before making the essential menstrual products that women have to depend on every month. “I’m pretty sure the person that invented the tampon tested it out with water, and they were like, ‘Oh my god, it’s perfect! Oh my god!’” she jokes while holding a tampon under running tap water as the product expands after absorbing the fluid.

“It was a man by the way. Now, little did they know that the consistency of blood, especially period blood, is not water,” Reina remarks. Then she fishes out a face wash tube. The face wash's consistency is closer to that of period blood as Reina squeezes the product on the tampon. As expected, rather than getting absorbed, it drips down from the surface of the tampon. “And, so you see that’s what’s happening inside. Just leaking right on by. All right, can we fix this? Somebody fix this,” she concludes.

The people in her comments section had a lot to say about her little experiment. When some of the ladies suggested Reina switch to menstrual cups or pads, others had a lot of questions and opinions about menstruation itself. @jsscrddll suggested, "I switched to a diva cup. I noticed I do not have that heavy of a flow, and it’s reusable." @ashleykelly340 mentioned, "Fun fact they only started testing menstrual products with blood in 2023."

@greycataustin wrote, "Does anyone else get cramps when they wear tampons? I can't wear them on my heavy days because they make me cramp but when I google them I find nothing." @md_martina joked, "And can we normalize that period blood comes out like giant lumps many times? Sometimes I think I’m losing an entire ovary." @urmomsbestie223 commented, "I use a diva cup and it was the best decision I ever made. I can work my full shift or go to school for a full day and not have to deal with it till I get home."

According to a report published by Scientific American in August 2023 on BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health, many menstrual products have a much lower liquid capacity than advertised when real blood was used instead of a saline solution — a mixture of water, salt, and bicarbonate that is more commonly employed in the product development process. It’s the first known study to test the absorbency of period products with actual period blood, the researchers say.

“The saying ‘blood is thicker than water’ is technically true,” study co-author Samuelson Bannow told Scientific American. “We felt that the absorbency metric needed to be updated.” “Frequent blood shortages in hospitals make it difficult to justify using donations for anything other than transfusions. The fluid is also considered a potential biohazard. Researchers who handle blood in the lab must undergo training and take special precautions to work with it safely,” the study further stated. It's high time to make period products more accessible and practical for women before it is mass manufactured.