Key Points
Menstrual discs might be a better option than tampons or pads for those with heavy periods, the first study to test the absorption of menstrual products with human blood suggests...
The study, published on Monday in BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health, compared 21 period products, including sanitary towels and tampons, as well as menstrual discs, cups, and period pants, which have become more widely used in recent years, and found that discs held more blood than any other product...
Unlike a cup, it does not create a suction effect.. Products tested using expired packed red blood cells in a lab included two pads from the same brand with different reported absorbencies and two more from a second brand with different absorbencies, a postpartum pad, a perineal cold pack, tampons of different sizes from the same brand, and menstrual cups from the same brand with different sizes..
The aim of the study was to help consumers make better-informed decisions about sanitary products and to help doctors assess whether heavy menstrual bleeding could be a sign of underlying health problems, such as a bleeding disorder or fibroids, or could be causing anemia...
Clinicians typically measure menstrual blood loss using the type, number, and fullness of period products per hour or day, and all medically-validated assessment tools are based on pads and tampons use, the study's authors noted..
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