If a girl is on her period and goes swimming without a tampon on what happens?
Does she get an infection or what?
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This would not promote infection.
nothing would happen except that some gunk might get in the water and that’s sort of gross if anyone else ever uses the pool but otherwise its fine.
Same thing that would happen any other time: menses everywhere. It’s not very hygienic, considering there’s likely other people in the water.
What if she’s in the ocean? Will she get eaten by a SHARK!??!?! I’m mostly kidding
@toomuchcoffee911 Actually, that’s a legitimate concern. Sharks are ATTRACTED to blood. It doesn’t matter where it comes from; they’ll hone in on it. You DO NOT want to swim in shark infested waters if you’re bleeding from anywhere (remember they can follow the tiniest traces of blood back its source), and you’ll taste as good to them as any other source of food.
Right after I started my period for the first time, someone told me that the period stops in water. I believed that from the jump and have yet to wear any protection at all while swimming on my period. I have been menstruating for over 20 years and I have never had an accident in the pool or the ocean and have never gotten an infection. I have also never been attacked by a shark.
@supermouse LOL, There’s always a first time. I hope your luck holds dear.
Menstrual fluid continues to exit the vagina no matter whether you are in or out of the water. That you might not have seen any evidence is believable as it’s washed away by the water you are in, or splashing about.
But it most certainly does not stop.
This is gross. If you’re bleeding out of your vajayjay or anywhere else for that matter stay out of the pool. That’s nasty. I don’t stand on the edge of the pool and pee into the water. Bodily fluids other than saliva and sweat do not belong in the pool. It’s a given.
@SeventhSense If a woman is wearing a tampon, there’s no reason to stay out of the pool and it’s not your place to tell anyone to stay out.
Nasty!
This is why I hate the public pool.
It’s a seething cauldron of human expulsions.
Shark attack is a real possibility…
Um…you’re going to leave a trail!!! :-(
@snowberry You’re right. Sharks do not turn down a meal based on epithelial cell content in the blood they smell. They smell one part blood to a million parts water. The odds are not favorable that a shark won’t attack because he has a discriminating palate.
I move that we start calling public pools, “People Stew”.
@davidbetterman
I see a new spokesperson:
“I survived a shark attack but didn’t have Kotex. From now on I won’t go in the water without the protection of a name I can trust.”...
@SeventhSense Okay. I guess it’s my place to say that you should stay out of the pool since people might think you’re gross.
@SeventhSense lol…Sad but true. It probably didn’t help that she liked to splash around a lot and that she was wearing a shiny watch on the arm that got bit off.
Are we seriously joking about a 15 year old who survived having her arm severed in a shark attack?
Personally I would hate to think of a woman in a pool (other than her own) while she was menstruating and not using some protection. That doesn’t sound very responsible.
As for swimming in the ocean or one of the Great Lakes, well, there’s a lot of junk in there that isn’t sanitary.
Now if she lost her other arm. Talk about a comedy festival.
There was a documentary a few years ago here in Australia that made note of the fact that far more women are eaten by crocodiles than men. Menstruation was suggested as a possible reason.
I can honestly say that I have never, ever seen a drop of blood in my suit. Those of your who are concerned can rest at ease, there is none of my menstrual blood in your local pool and I won’t be attracting sharks where you are body surfing.
@SeventhSense
You do realize that she is surfing again and winning some tournaments..
@SuperMouse When I started menstruating I was told that young girls shouldn’t use tampons or they wouldn’t be virgins, but I was smart enough not to believe it either. If you’re going to go in a pool, please wear a tampon. Or let me know which pool you frequent.
Assuming you started having a period when you were 12, it’s difficult for me to believe a woman in her 30’s could still believe such a thing. If you don’t believe us, call your gyno’s office & ask to speak to the nurse.
@netgrrl thanks for the heads up, but I have spoken to OB/Gyn’s about it and I have no intention of ever wearing a tampon in the pool, or a pad for that matter. It is my fondest wish that you and I have frequented the same public pool for many years.
FYI Greg Louganis cut his head on a diving board and bled in a pool – he was HIV positive at the time. Not a single person who swam in that pool after has gotten ill.
@davidbetterman
That’s why it would be so funny. Like the Grizzly man who was eaten. That was just poetic justice.—dark but funny
@SuperMouse If your gyno had given you that information, you would have lead with it at first, instead of as a defensive move. So I’m not buying it.
But I’ll agree a pad would certainly be useless.
@netgrrl thank you for clarifying how I would have started my post! How thoughtful of you! Would you like to take a minute to correct the spelling of my name? Out of curiosity, have you discussed this issue with your OB/Gyn?
Facts, people. There’s more piss and shit in public pools than there ever will be blood, even if every woman in the pool was bleeding and not using a tampon. Public pools are gross in general. If you like using them, just fucking get over it or buy your own pool and be happy knowing that you’re only swimming in your own juices.
I have nothing constructive to say whatsoever. Instead:
“This weekend I learned there is a very small but important difference between peeing in the pool and peeing into the pool.”
”Location, location, location”
Goodnight everyone. Tip your waitresses.
@SuperMouse No. I was taught to wear a tampon. I didn’t tell you how you should have started it, I said the fact you didn’t lead with that first was suspicious. Other than that, I don’t care. If I
misspelled your name, I will apologize but no, I’m not going to bother going back to correct it.
People there are a lot worse things out there than swimming in water with a woman that has her period such as, MRSA at the gym or TB from hospitals.
Yo dawgs, I’ve got a question
Why is it that you can so carelessly handle money, touch railways and hold onto handles in public transport – attracting billions of germs – and then inadvertently touch your face and mouth… yet a little cooter blood that is diluted in gallons and gallons of chlorine and other such chemicals gives you the willies?
sup with that
@Grisaille GA well or GQ! Since I have started working at the hospital I sanitize everything and carry it with me at all times. Also, I try to avoid public railing as much as possible just think of what could be on there…eck!
@SeventhSense Speaking of, man, you must cook steak til it’s a goddamn ashy brick, huh?
No I said I like it rare… just not gushing.
@Grisaille
New look huh? Moonlighting in Hell’s Kitchen?
Don’t be an asshole.
I started to work night shifts with Dr. C down in South Tijuana. All-male donkey show.
I have heard the same thing before. That your period stops when you are in the water, I never believed it because it doesn’t make sense to me so I wear tampons. I am sure what @Grisaille said is correct though, and it doesn’t seem like it would be noticeable if a woman was on her period and not wearing a tampon in the pool.
@Grisaille
Well as long as there’s a doctor. No disrespect of course…
except to the poor donkey :P
@SuperMouse I was told that too, but I’m too scared to actually do it. But, I’ve gotten baths while on my period, and do not bleed into the tub. I’m just too worried it’ll be the one time I have a major flow lol
@SuperMouse Pools, especially for the Olympics, are maintained by chemicals specifically designed to neutralize bacteria and viruses (spirochetes, etc.) from fecal matter and other things. Chlorine does a nice job of this, as well. The HIV virus, while potent enough to cause the eventual deaths of those who contracted it, is highly vulnerable when intermingled with those pool chemicals. The same goes for the herpes virus. 90% of Earth’s population has been exposed to the virus, but the virus is very fragile outside a viable host.
Ok, I just have to debunk the whole “your period stops once you’re in the water”. When my dd was 9 mos old I had her in a water babies class. As I got out of the pool I noticed, to my immense horror and embarrassment, that I had started my period after a 9 month post baby hiatus of it. And I most definitely bled in that pool.
To all the people in that pool I am VASTLY sorry
Does anyone else think that Fluther should introduce a “Squick” warning system as many other forums do? Part of normal life or not – women having periods while swimming in a social pool is “squick” to me.
@tranquilsea I agree. I’ve never heard of this thought process. I can guarantee you one thing! If I was in a pool with no tampon, you’d have been able to track me everywhere. Basically, I just find this idea very big on the ICK factor.
@jbfletcherfan This is really not something I ever thought I would share as it was deeply embarrassing. But I would hate to have any girl/woman read this thread and think, “Really! maybe I’ll try that sometime” with embarrassing and gross results. Ick indeed.
Many years ago – I was still in my teens, I was about to go for a swim at a local pool when I saw a harried mother dragging two small children toward the water. The little boy said “Mummy, I need to pee!”. The mother responded “Just hold it until you get into the water”.
I have never swum in a public pool since that day. Today I have learned of another reason why that was a wise decision.
LOL..I was helping my friend take care of her children at a public pool and he let loose from the other end! there was a brown trail all over the pool from where we went in to where we exited.
I actually enjoyed it immensely as most of the members there were stick in the mud snooty aholes and they all got to share in my little friend’s gift to them that day.
(They had to empty the pool and re-fill it during the next week!)
Urine is sterile, folks. You aren’t required to enjoy swimming in it, but if you’re worried about germs, urine doesn’t have any.
I deal with plenty of baby poop, thanks. The poop of my own child and/or puppy is bad enough. I don’t need to be chest-deep in your kid’s feces as well.
I knew nothing good could come from his thread. We’ve gone from blood to sharks to death to equine phallus and we’ve ended up in a pile of poop.
Of course you can always take the plunge however you want. And if the water around you suddenly looks like Kool Aid just nonchalantly back towards the nearest pool jet.
The Tampax gets water logged and she sinks like a rock.
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