# The world's biggest maxi pad?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 18, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412 "2016-03-18T17:05:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/1 "2016-03-18T17:05:17Z")
Was browsing YouTube for videos on Japan, and found this:
[Periods in Japan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKpmvxMwaKs)
Summary: a young woman, probably Canadian, spends five minutes explaining how women in Japan deal with their periods.
Was amused to learn that pads are described (at least in part) by a number referring to their length in millimeters. At around 2:27 into the video, she introduces the “420”, which is - yes - 420 millimeters (16.5 inches) long. Seems like that would pretty much reach from the front waistband to the rear waistband. :eek:
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/2 "2016-03-18T17:52:39Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> Summary: a young woman, probably Canadian, spends five minutes explaining how women in Japan deal with their periods.
I hate it when people do that.
> [@](#):
>
> Was amused to learn that pads are described (at least in part) by a number referring to their length in millimeters. At around 2:27 into the video, she introduces the “420”, which is - yes - 420 millimeters (16.5 inches) long. Seems like that would pretty much reach from the front waistband to the rear waistband. :eek:
The only problem with the 420 size is applying it before you pass out from blood loss.
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/3 "2016-03-18T19:45:18Z")
Women come in different sizes, like different than this little Canadian girl and her pals.
Period flow comes in different amounts for different people, on different days.
Pads shift during the day and at night. You can’t/shouldn’t wear tampons overnight lest you leave it in too long and get toxic shock syndrome. Sometimes it’s better to have a diaper on than wake up with your undies, jammies, sheets and mattress pad soaked through with a stain.
People use pads for things other than period blood. Like after giving birth, after gynecological procedures and for poor bladder control.
But yeah big pad yuk yuk!!
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### Author:  [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/4 "2016-03-18T20:54:41Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#):
>
> You can’t/shouldn’t wear tampons overnight lest you leave it in too long and get toxic shock syndrome.
:dubious:
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/5 "2016-03-18T21:02:09Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#):
>
> :dubious:
What? It says on the box don’t use for more than 8 hours. Some of us are in bed for longer than 8 hours. I wear pads to bed.
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### Author:  [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/6 "2016-03-18T21:22:26Z")
Yeah, the 420 size sounds like an overnight pad.
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### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/7 "2016-03-19T00:04:47Z")
When some women change positions in any way during a heavy-flow day, the blood leaks forward or back (or even sideways ☹ ). I have yet to encounter a pad that was too large.
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### Author:  [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/8 "2016-03-19T02:33:07Z")
Whoa this is too much…give me a sec to absorb this.
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### Author:  [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/9 "2016-03-19T02:41:56Z")
> [@](#):
>
> You can’t/shouldn’t wear tampons overnight lest you leave it in too long and get toxic shock syndrome.
No, it’s perfectly fine to wear tampons overnight. The toxic shock syndrome myth came about because of a particular brand of tampons that was removed from the market in the 1980s and FDA issued new regulations to tampon manufacturers to prevent it from happening again. I didn’t even know anyone still used pads, what on earth for? A tampon should be good for 12 hours, so two a day unless you bleed very heavily in which case I suggest you visit your doctor and/or consider a diva cup you can empty frequently.
The current rate of women developing toxic shock syndrome during menstruation is incredibly low, 1 per 100,000 women, and seems to be linked to an inherent immune system problem in the affected women more than anything else.
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/10 "2016-03-19T02:46:38Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#):
>
> I have yet to encounter a pad that was too large.
Sounds like it’s time for you to visit an import dealer…😃
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### Author:  [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/11 "2016-03-19T02:54:01Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#):
>
> I didn’t even know anyone still used pads, what on earth for? A tampon should be good for 12 hours, so two a day unless you bleed very heavily in which case I suggest you visit your doctor and/or consider a diva cup you can empty frequently.
Confirmation bias, population bias, topic not discussed frequently and in depth with other women.
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### Author:  [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/12 "2016-03-19T03:09:33Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#):
>
> I didn’t even know anyone still used pads, what on earth for?
I apparently have some anatomical quirk that makes it pretty much impossible to install a tampon in such a way that it won’t leak. They’re also highly uncomfortable for me.
Pads have their own downsides, but suit me much better than tampons.
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/13 "2016-03-19T03:23:44Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#):
>
> No, it’s perfectly fine to wear tampons overnight.
The inserts in the boxes really do say “no more than 8 hours.”
> [@](#):
>
> A tampon should be good for 12 hours, so two a day unless you bleed very heavily in which case I suggest you visit your doctor and/or consider a diva cup you can empty frequently.
Empty, rinse, and reinsert, in a public toilet? no thanks. I have an old diaphragm so I can take my son swimming when I have my period. In and out in my own bathroom.
Other than that, pads, and if that’s my choice, it’s no one’s business but mine.
> [@Seanette](#):
>
> I apparently have some anatomical quirk that makes it pretty much impossible to install a tampon in such a way that it won’t leak. They’re also highly uncomfortable for me.
>
> Pads have their own downsides, but suit me much better than tampons.
I must have the same quirk, because I bleed right past them. I have had one in for an hour, bled like crap into my underwear, and then removed the tampon, looking almost pristine.
I swear, it’s like a magic trick.
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### Author:  [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/14 "2016-03-19T04:00:53Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#):
>
> A tampon should be good for 12 hours, so two a day unless you bleed very heavily in which case I suggest you visit your doctor and/or consider a diva cup you can empty frequently.
This bit right here straight up made me laugh out loud. Never in my life, not even as a teen just starting out, would 2 tampons a day have been enough protection.
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/15 "2016-03-19T05:31:14Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#):
>
> Whoa this is too much…give me a sec to absorb this.
Heh. A sec, or an inch?
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/16 "2016-03-19T05:32:18Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#):
>
> This bit right here straight up made me laugh out loud. Never in my life, not even as a teen just starting out, would 2 tampons a day have been enough protection.
Yeah, that’s crazy talk.
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/17 "2016-03-19T14:55:40Z")
Is SpamforBrains a man?
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### Author:  [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/18 "2016-03-19T15:27:06Z")
When I was living in Japan I found that in general their sanitary napkins were _smaller_ front-to-back than American ones, presumably because Japanese women tend to be smaller than American women. I’m not a particularly large woman by American standards – I’m on the tall side, but for much of my time in Japan was bordering on underweight – but I soon learned the hard way that regular Japanese sanitary napkins were small enough that they shifted around a lot while I was wearing them.
I wound up having to buy the longer size overnight pads for daytime use even though they were thicker than what I needed. IIRC a Japanese overnight pad was about the same length as a regular American daytime pad, maybe a little longer. I never encountered one anywhere near as long as 16.5", but that sounds like a great product for overnight use for women who have heavy periods and tend to change positions in their sleep.
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### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/19 "2016-03-19T16:09:45Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#):
>
> This bit right here straight up made me laugh out loud. Never in my life, not even as a teen just starting out, would 2 tampons a day have been enough protection.
> [@gigi](#):
>
> Yeah, that’s crazy talk.
Two a day?! Hahahahahahaha, on my heavy days I go through a tampon every 45 minutes! Two a day…
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-biggest-maxi-pad/749412/20 "2016-03-19T16:18:17Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#):
>
> Is SpamforBrains a man?
Based on other threads, I am betting SFB is female.
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