How many tampons does a woman use during an average period?

Question

I'm just curious since I was buying tampons for my girlfriend the other day and they had all different sizes of boxes. Is this a completely ridiculous question? (ie. does it totally depend on all kinds of other factors that make an average an impossible thing to consider?)

Answer 1

Totally depends on the woman, but the average is 5 tampons or pads a day, the average period is 7 days, so that would be around 35 per period.

Then you have to take into account that tampons shouldn't be used at night so women who use tampons would/should alternate between tampons and another option, take into account some women bleed very little while some bleed a lot, the sort of tampons you are looking at – i.e. commercial, organic, sponge, soft tampons or homemade, absorbency or brand, tampons are dangerous to health so when used the more often they are changed the better, what their typical menstrual cycle is, and so on.

That equates to around 12,000 disposable tampons per woman, per lifetime, one of the many reasons why commercial tampons are the most expensive and most environmentally harmful out of over twenty different menstrual options.

Answer 2

It is going to depend a LOT on how heavy the flow is vs. what absorbency she uses. I personally use only regulars, so on a heavy day, I will use maybe 4 or 5, whereas on a light day, I might only use 3.

If you're assuming a 5 day cycle, at 4 tampons per day, the most that might be used is 20, but I'm guessing it may be closer to 15 for the entire period. Panty-liners are extremely useful toward the end, because spotting is more likely than a full-on flow.

Answer 3

Tampons come in different sizes because there are different times when there is more or less blood meaning you don't need as strong or as weak of a tampon. The average person should change their tampon atleast every 6 hours or every time they use the restroom to avoid TSS. Estimating here, I guess someone would use about 15-30 tampons. Not a stupid question, I'm proud to see a guy curious about their girlfriend's life and personal stuff. :]

Answer 4

Every woman's body is different. Tampons should be changed frequently whether they are soiled or not because of Toxic Shock Syndrome. Some women may change them every hour just for safety reasons.

Answer 5

it depends on how heavy the flow is, how long it goes for. it varies ffrom person to person really.

Answer 6

They should be changed at least every hour, if humanly possible. Otherwise, the lady could get some problems, which none of us want.