Toxic Shock Syndrome: Why women using tampons, menstrual cups should watch out

Menstrual cups recently gained popularity among women, but an obstetrics and gynecology doctor has a reminder about proper hygiene.

During Nala Woman's "Let's Talk Women" conference last Friday, Dr. Angelynn Sianghao-Lapada from Kindred Health Philippines said that women who use menstrual cups and tampons are prone to suffer from Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).

TSS is a condition caused by bacteria getting inside the body that, if not prevented, could release harmful toxins that could be life-threatening.

"If you neglect [the tampon or menstrual cup for] more than eight hours, aside from overflowing, what it can do [to your body] is that it can develop a bacterial infection that could be life-threatening such as the TSS," Dr. Lapada told GMA News Online.

Aside from bacterial infection and TSS, your body could also develop pelvic inflammatory disease if you don't practice proper hygiene using tampons and menstrual cups.

"What we do with tampons and [menstrual] cups is we want to catch the blood by plugging it into our vagina. [The blood then] accumulates, and somehow a few pieces of those blood can go on an ascending route," the doctor said.

"[The blood] can go to your tubes or ovaries, and then it can stay dormant, but then when it manifests, it could be a pelvic inflammatory disease," she added.

When asked if she recommends using a menstrual cup, Dr. Lapada said that it depends on women's comfort level in terms of "inserting and removing it in a cycle."

"Like sanitary napkins, you need to change it every four hours, so I guess that's the best [thing] to impart to the ladies. You need to have some comfort wherein you need to insert and remove it [every so often]," she said.

"I'm for it because it saves the environment, but it also depends on the comfort level of the user," she added. —JCB, GMA News