h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Tampons - A3835389
Author: Mina - U290

This was rescued from Flea Martket by The Apprentice, who then didn't have time to finish it off. I've added some bits and pieces, let us know what you think.



Any extra info on the TSS from medical-type people, or those just in the know, would be gratefully received.

I hope the title doesn't put anyone off reviewing this...

Hi Mina, Happy Easter! (check to see if either works)
I'll send you some info about TSS shortly. Interestingly, when I spent some time in Russia (Moscow and St Petersberg) things like tampons and toilet paper were diffiocult to get - even amongst the equivalent of our middle classes. So the 'little room' used to contain a pile of newspaper for such purposes. In many ways Russia was just like a 3rd World country!

Great entry!

I like it! Very informative; I had no idea how old the idea of tampons were!

On a random night of website-reading I discovered that porn stars use sea sponges when they have to work during their cycles. Probably not proper info for your article, but I just thought it was interesting.

Good job!

Hi Mina,

I've tried to add a bit about TSS to your Entry. I did it by copying that part of your Entry to a new page and just modifying/adding to what you'd written. I tried to indicate where I'd added things by putting it in UPPER CASE but, to be honest, after a while I couldn't recall what was originally yours and what wasn't.

Anyway, feel free to use whatever is useful to you. When you've done, I'll delete these notes from My Space.

It's at:

A3836423?s_fromedit=1

(Hope that 'hotlink' works).

I noticed one spelling/typing error:

sterialised --> sterilised

Essential bit of Life, I'm thinking. This really belongs in the Guide!

Okay, I'll have a look at this one - I'm not the sort of bloke who's embarrassed by women's *ahem* things

"Tampons are small rolls of pressed cotton and rayon, a synthetic product made from cellulose, which is derived from wood pulp, with a string attached."
The more that sentence goes on, the more convoluted it becomes I've got a couple of suggestions:
'Tampons are small rolls of pressed cotton and rayonA synthetic product made from cellulose, which is in turn derived from wood pulp., with a string attached.'
Or
'Tampons are small rolls of pressed cotton and rayon (a synthetic product made from cellulose, which is in turn derived from wood pulp), with a string attached.'

"A doctor or nurse might be less embarrassing than asking your mum to do it for you"
There's a part of that sentence missing I think - 'Having it removed by a doctor or nurse might be less embarrassing than asking your mum to do it for you'

"They usually come in sizes regular, super and super plus,"
'They usually come in regular, super and super plus sizes'?

BigAl, I appreciate the work that you've done, but I don't really have time to go over your version, picking out all the bits that aren't in my version - especially as capitals are so hard to read (one look at that page and I screaming in terror). Couldn't you just post them to the thread?

echomikeromeo, thanks for that spelling error - I can't make my verson of word stop using American spelling, and I wouldn't let it change that one because it wanted to put in a z - so I didn't realise that it was spelt wrong.

Gosho (easier to spell), thanks for those tweaks, I've changed them.

I'll do that.

I'm not sure whether all the codes will appear when I paste it here, but I've also modified the Entry on my PS so you can copy it from there. Obviously modify it as you wish:

Tampon-related Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) is a serious, systemic illness, meaning that it affects the whole body. Although relatively uncommon, it is life-threatening. There are probably around 40 cases of TSS per year in the UK, and it is believed that 22 deaths occurred in the UK between 1990 and 2000. However, due to the early symptoms of TSS being similar to 'flu, it is believed that many less severe cases go unreported. Since millions of tampons are used in the UK each month, the disease is considered rare.

TSS can be caused by two different microbes microbes (bacteria), Staphylococcus aureusand Streptococcus pyogenes- although the incidence due to Streptococcus is rarer. Certain strains of S. Aureus can produce a toxin known as TSS-T1 when tampons are used. The vagina is a very susceptible place for rapid absorption of toxin. The toxin gets into the bloodstream and circulates around the body, totally overwhelming the body's immune system to produce acute organ damage - especially of the kidneys and lungs. Younger people are particularly at risk, as their immune system is not fully developed, and two-thirds of all cases 9of TSS occur in women under the age of 25.

Symptoms of TSS:

The symptoms of TSS always appear AFTER a period starts, but come on very fast and are often severe.
The early symptoms of TSS are typically described as 'flu-like and usually include some or of all the following:

Sudden high temperature (>38.8 degrees C)
Vomiting and diarrhoea
Dizziness/lightheadedness
Sunburn-like rash
Bright red colouring of the eyes, throat and vagina
Severe muscle aches
Kidney and other organ failure
As the early symptoms are 'flu like, affected women may not react quickly enough as many experience such mild symptoms around the time of their period.

The average time before symptoms appear for TSS is 2 to 3 days after an infection with Staphylococcus or Streptococcus, although this can vary depending on the cause of the infection.

Tampon-related TSS was first identified during the late 1970's when a number of deaths were directly linked to a specific brand of super-absorbent tampon, which were subsequently withdrawn from sale. The deaths occurred in people who had left the tampons in for periods exceeding 12 hours or so.

THEN CARRY ON WITH WHAT YOU'D WRITTEN FROM:

"Research led to better tampons and better habits for using them ..."

Further Information

Toxic Shock Syndrome Information Service

"Gosho (easier to spell), thanks for those tweaks, I've changed them"
And you can call me BV if that's easier than Brantisvogan

Unusual topic for a guide entry, but no less valuable because of it!Looks good to me.

PS. Brantisvogan - why do you keep changing your name, if you don't mind me asking?

It's a great subject. I would never have thought of writing about it.
It's informative and serves an important purpose as well. I, for instance, never heard of Toxic Shock Syndrom!

Mina, if you want to fix Word to use whatever spelling system you feel like, go to Tools and then Customize (which is spelled like that because it's an American piece of software). If you look around at the various buttons - I think it might be under Edit or Tools, you'll find the languages button, which you can then drag onto the toolbar. It's a drop-down menu that you can select any language you want from. That's how I manage to switch back and forth between US, Canada and UK English. Alternatively, to change the settings for the whole computer (and thus affect Word) go into the Windows Control Panel and find the Languages window.

Ye ghods, why didn't I think of that?!? I even took classes in Word - I knew I could change to another language, but it never occured to me to change to another English!!!!

A few thoughts....

Tampons in places is capitalized a proper noun, which it shouldn't be.

There are actually quite a few different types of menstrual cups, so just mentioning "Mooncups" seems a bit odd to me. Not all menstrual cups are reusable, some are disposable.

I would probably have more detail on tampon applicators -- you can get tampons with cardboard or plastic applicators, or with no applicators at all.

I'd probably also add something about the myth that you can't use tampons if you're a virgin, or that using tampons in of itself will automatically "deflower" a girl.

Great entry

Maybe you could add something about the good aspects of tampons - why it is that some women prefer tampons over pads.

There's a lot of stuff here for me to work on. Are people ok with me leaving this in PR while I do it? I should have some time tomorrow, otherwise it might be the weekend before I can get to it.

> Are people ok with me leaving this in PR while I do it?

Yup.

As for the good aspects of tampons, I'd say that they have had a significantly positive impact on women's athletics.