# To flush or not to flush... your tampons **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915 "2010-08-29T20:54:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/181 "2010-09-02T21:03:56Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Fuck you guys, how did this thread turn into eating tampons? And some guy actually legitimately answered it, just in case SFG was currently stuffing her face with her used tampon? I am glad the office is empty because I can’t stifle my laughter. Ask your local vet how often they see animals that eat tampons. It happens. I don’t know what SFG snacks on, but they do get eaten sometimes. I raised the issue waaaaay upthread, it went unnoticed until SFG suddenly got thinskinned. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/182 "2010-09-02T21:11:31Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > Again, I repeat my offer for a local tutor. I said this doctor had thousands of patients. If you want to amuse us with how you got from that to “Most people in Bakersfield were patients of that doctor”, have at it 🙂 > > But if you really want to argue Bakersfield has the best, most infallible collection of doctors anywhere, and it is not a struggle to attract them compared to other places, have at it. > > However, there is little doubt that as a whole, Bakersfield has among the least informed people in the state, maybe the world, about sexuality. I would love a tutor! Thank you. After all, I got my shoddy college education here in Bakersfield, so you know what that means. . . Actually, you may want to get that tutor yourself- surely with reading comprehension as wonderful as you’re shooting for you would 1: know it’s against the rules to call someone names like a “bitch” outside of the Pit and 2: know that I never said anything about Bakersfield having the bestest most perfectest omg doctors in teh whole wide world. Feel free to Pit me, though, if you’d like to keep calling me an ignorant bitch. Oh! Or maybe you can Pit Bakersfield- none of us are going to defend it, since we can’t afford fancy computers and internet access. I’m actually posting this from a rigged up tin can! As far as your last, completely warantless claim, you go ahead and keep believing that. BTW: I’m not the one whose dog died from ingesting a bunch of tampons. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/183 "2010-09-02T21:16:22Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > I can refer you to an English teacher in Bakersfield who can help you with your reading comprehension if you’d like. Dude, I’m on the “don’t flush tampons” side, but I’m literally laughing out loud at home reading this. The guy who _seriously responded to a fucking post about **EATING TAMPONS AS A WAY OF DISPOSAL** _ suggests someone else needs to improve their reading comprehension? That is the biggest basket of LOLs I’ve been given today! ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/184 "2010-09-02T21:18:37Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Haha. Why do people puff up so big and defensive when they think someone disagrees with them? I am genuinely asking questions to gain insight about the situation. I really only wanted clarification. I will be completely frank…I kinda trust a lot of what is on my packaging. If a soda says it is ‘the best ever’ I will go ahead and ignore that, but if it says it’s 170 calories, I believe it. > > If the the bathroom cleaner says “safe for all surfaces” or something, I go ahead and use it on all the surfaces. I have no idea if that is just a marketing. I guess I’m just an idiot until the internet enlightens me with their dueling cites and pretty pictures. Well come on now. it’s frustrating as hell imparting real world experiences, photographs, and quotes from city agencies and have it ignored over the sage advice of a box. It’s like arguing about gravity. Lets focus on packaging for a moment. Many products say “sugar free” in bold print on the front. When you look at the federally mandated ingredient list you see 170 calories. The difference is product marketing versus mandated information. look at the number of lawsuits involving false advertising. Tampons are designed to swell and absorb fluid. they do this with fibrous material. They will continue to do this in a drain line. Even if they are designed to physically break down over time the damage is done when they are flushed. We’ve already gone over the problems inherent with drain lines. I wish I’d taken a picture of my old drain lines versus new so you could see the difference between something done correctly and an accident waiting to happen. It was nothing but hard right angle bends with corroded piping. The inside of the pipes looked exactly like the picture that was posted earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/185 "2010-09-02T21:26:59Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > [Well come on now. it’s frustrating as hell imparting real world experiences, photographs, and quotes from city agencies and have it ignored over the sage advice of a box. It’s like arguing about gravity. > > Lets focus on packaging for a moment. Many products say “sugar free” in bold print on the front. When you look at the federally mandated ingredient list you see 170 calories. The difference is product marketing versus mandated information. look at the number of lawsuits involving false advertising. > > Tampons are designed to swell and absorb fluid. they do this with fibrous material. They will continue to do this in a drain line. Even if they are designed to physically break down over time the damage is done when they are flushed. We’ve already gone over the problems inherent with drain lines. I wish I’d taken a picture of my old drain lines versus new so you could see the difference between something done correctly and an accident waiting to happen. It was nothing but hard right angle bends with corroded piping. The inside of the pipes looked exactly like the picture that was posted earlier. No need for pics. Your posts have been clear, thanks for responding with a teensy bit less distain exhasperation. For real. **Robby** , thanks for those cites. I found it fascinating, seriously. I always wanted a garbage disposal. Now I find they are not ok. And it goes without saying that all the people who don’t flush tampons also don’t use garbage disposals. That’s a given, right? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/186 "2010-09-02T21:28:50Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > BTW: I’m not the one whose dog died from ingesting a bunch of tampons. Just sayin’. Getting away from the heightened emotions this thread seems to be generating, did your vet say this is a common fatality. I know it’s a common behavior of dogs. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/187 "2010-09-02T21:29:33Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Actually, you may want to get that tutor yourself- surely with reading comprehension as wonderful as you’re shooting for you would 1: know it’s against the rules to call someone names like a “bitch” outside of the Pit That’s the funniest thing I have read in a long time. I just searched the relevant part of the thread, and the person calling others “bitch”, including yourself, was you. If you think I said something in response that deserves reporting to the mods, that is your decision to make. But they will probably read the thread and see the truth. > [@](#): > > and 2: know that I never said anything about Bakersfield having the bestest most perfectest omg doctors in teh whole wide world. No one said you did. > [@](#): > > Feel free to Pit me, though, if you’d like to keep calling me an ignorant bitch. I think you called yourself that. I haven’t attached any name to what kind of bitch you are. > [@](#): > > Oh! Or maybe you can Pit Bakersfield- none of us are going to defend it, since we can’t afford fancy computers and internet access. I’m actually posting this from a rigged up tin can! LOL that might be true in some parts of the “hill country”. Note the recent press release about $40M project to bring high speed bandwidth to Kern and Tulare (and Kings I think) counties. [QUOTE] BTW: I’m not the one whose dog died from ingesting a bunch of tampons. Just sayin’. [QUOTE] Yeah my dog died to save the local plumbing, a totally worthy cause. But like I said, check out to see how often it happens. It does, and the solution is not always flushing, is it? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/188 "2010-09-02T21:35:15Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > > > BTW: I’m not the one whose dog died from ingesting a bunch of tampons. Just sayin’. > > Getting away from the heightened emotions this thread seems to be generating, did your vet say this is a common fatality. I know it’s a common behavior of dogs. I don’t deny that it’s probably a common problem. The point is that the guy lecturing us adult women to not eat tampons is the same guy whose dog died because the females in his home didn’t properly dispose of their waste. Just because his dog (and certainly other people’s dogs as well) actually ate tampons does not mean a single one of the grown, human women in this thread was seriously considering such a thing. I. . . can’t believe I just had to type that. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/189 "2010-09-02T21:35:22Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > > > BTW: I’m not the one whose dog died from ingesting a bunch of tampons. Just sayin’. > > Getting away from the heightened emotions this thread seems to be generating, did your vet say this is a common fatality. I know it’s a common behavior of dogs. Yes, my vet said he sees this about once a month. FWIW, part of the issue when it happens is that the tampons themselves are not visible on xrays. But the health effects of a blockage are immediate even if you can’t see what is happening. If surgery is needed, it is major, and you can’t know where or what you are looking for until you can see some other indirect evidence of something getting caught behind the blockage - if you ever get that chance. In the meantime, your dog is going to fade fast, and the longer you wait, the worse the ability to survive the surgery. Don’t flush, but do wrap and keep out of the dog’s ability to get it out of the trash. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/190 "2010-09-02T21:37:47Z")
Unlike a tampon in a pipe…this thread is tearing us apart. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/191 "2010-09-02T21:38:18Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > > [@not\_alice](#): > > > > I can refer you to an English teacher in Bakersfield who can help you with your reading comprehension if you’d like. > > Dude, I’m on the “don’t flush tampons” side, but I’m literally laughing out loud at home reading this. The guy who _seriously responded to a fucking post about **EATING TAMPONS AS A WAY OF DISPOSAL** _ suggests someone else needs to improve their reading comprehension? > > That is the biggest basket of LOLs I’ve been given today! Maybe you can get some help too, because I clearly demonstrated that tampons DO get eaten. I never suggested that humans are eating them or should eat them. If you care to demonstrate that tampons don’t get eaten in the way I described, be my guest. But you won’t be able to do it seriously. Maybe as an exercise in fiction writing you can. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/192 "2010-09-02T21:42:34Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > The point is that the guy lecturing us adult women to not eat tampons Maybe you will point to the sum total of this so-called lecture to adult women. > [@](#): > > I. . . can’t believe I just had to type that. Me iether given your sensible posts I have seen on other threads. Maybe too much caffeine for you or something today ? You seem to be making stuff up and then arguing about it, and then not even knowing why. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/193 "2010-09-02T21:44:43Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > Me iether given your sensible posts I have seen on other threads. Maybe too much caffeine for you or something today ? You seem to be making stuff up and then arguing about it, and then not even knowing why. Weird. I’m probably just PMSing. You know us silly girls- if we are speaking out of term, it must be due to some outside factors. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/194 "2010-09-02T21:52:49Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > > [@not\_alice](#): > > > > Me iether given your sensible posts I have seen on other threads. Maybe too much caffeine for you or something today ? You seem to be making stuff up and then arguing about it, and then not even knowing why. Weird. > > I’m probably just PMSing. You know us silly girls- if we are speaking out of term, it must be due to some outside factors. If you say so. I don’t know about you specifically or “silly girls” in general. If that’s your claim, that’s your claim, not mine. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/195 "2010-09-02T21:57:32Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > Maybe you can get some help too, because I clearly demonstrated that tampons DO get eaten. > > I never suggested that humans are eating them or should eat them. > > If you care to demonstrate that tampons don’t get eaten in the way I described, be my guest. > > But you won’t be able to do it seriously. Maybe as an exercise in fiction writing you can. Oh honey, I know this is hard, but let’s sit you down with a nice cup of cocoa and go over our posts, okay? Okay now, let’s go waaaaaaay back to the top of this page of the thread. Are you there? Oh, good! :: claps hands encouragingly :: Now, if you’ll read a bit, you’ll find this part: > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > > > Wait. So now we can’t flush them OR throw them away? This is problematic for my leaky vagina, sir. > > The only solution is to eat them. Then you can shit them out and no one will bitch about them going down the toilet. Solves any issues with anemia, too! Time for our first reading comprehension lesson! **Shot From Guns** is making what is known as a “joke”, which may be new territory for you. This “joke” she is making here is that women who cannot flush tampons (due to clogging sewer lines) or, apparently now, dispose of them in the garbage (due to posts about biodegradable products not actually degrading when they are in landfills) will clearly have to just eat those used tampons instead. Now, this “joke” may look a bit familiar, because it’s exactly what you replied to earlier today. Let’s go over that again: > [@not\_alice](#): > > > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > > The only solution is to eat them. Then you can shit them out and no one will bitch about them going down the toilet. Solves any issues with anemia, too! > > My large dog who ate a tampon and died a horrible death can’t speak for himself, so I will. This is a really bad idea. Your internal pipes are not any better equipped to handle this than your house’s (or anywhere else’s) plumbing, and vice versa. Tampons expand, they get stuck, they block other stuff from getting by. As was noted upthread, young girls have been taught to not flush for decades now - I am a late 40s GUY and I knew that since I was a teen. Okay. Now that we’ve gone over a “joke”, do you see why people were, well, a bit amused at your post? Not at the fact your dog died, of course\*, but the fact that you replied to someone joking that women should just eat their used tampons with “this is a really bad idea”. You see, **Shot From Guns** was not really saying that tampons should be eaten. That was pretty obvious to about… 99.99% of the English speaking world. Then the fact that you just defended your post about it made it even clearer we needed to have this lesson. Hope you enjoyed it, along with that cocoa! - That really does suck. I’m sorry about your dog. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/196 "2010-09-02T22:09:19Z")
Maybe not\_alice was joking when he said, “This is a really bad idea. Your internal pipes are not any better equipped to handle this than your house’s”? This thread is exhausting. I’m overly invested, cranky and fussy. I’m outta here. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/197 "2010-09-02T22:15:48Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > No need for pics. Your posts have been clear, thanks for responding with a teensy bit less distain exhasperation. For real. Sadly, I removed a great deal of sarcasm before posting. I need to work on it some more. I’m sorry if my frustration showed through. > [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > **Robby** , thanks for those cites. I found it fascinating, seriously. I always wanted a garbage disposal. Now I find they are not ok. > > And it goes without saying that all the people who don’t flush tampons also don’t use garbage disposals. That’s a given, right? Garbage disposals are a whole other issue. If I had one I’d use it after washing dishes. I wouldn’t use it to grind a dinner’s worth of food preparation. That’s more to protect the house drain and not the city sewer system. Food breaks down remarkable fast if it’s ground up but fresh vegetable peels have not had the benefit of human consumption to start the process. I use to compost but it created bug problems when I stopped bagging grass. I’m a landfill heathen. if you want to talk about kitchen cleansers that’s another topic of discussion. There is a specific angle that drains should be set at for optimum flow. You can see this angle in the soap ring that forms in a bathroom sink with slopping sides. The ring of soap represents the worst angle of flow. Unfortunately, walls and floor space limit what can be done with a run of pipe. I had to cut my neighbors drain line in the basement and install couplers so a section of pipe could be removed and emptied of abrasives. It’s tough to get past a wall of sand and pull it back up with a snake. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/198 "2010-09-02T22:27:25Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > [rhetoric worthy of a 3rd grade composition class snipped] > [@](#): > > - That really does suck. I’m sorry about your dog. ☹ Yes it does suck, unless you are a vet or work for one, you don’t know how often it happens, it only happens because a loved one _EATS_ a tampon, and so a joke becomes a good opportunity to educate people this. But maybe some people actually think tampons either are people food and are confused by the messages, or know that they are not and can not conceive that other loved ones do want to eat them. Thanks for helping to spread the word. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/199 "2010-09-03T01:19:05Z")
I hate to change the subject away from the dangers of eating tampons, but here are a [couple](http://contractormag.com/plumbing/cm_column_27/index.html)of [articles](http://contractormag.com/columns/yates/flushable_sells_even/)about flushable claims of wipes and tampon manufacturers. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915/200 "2010-09-03T13:17:30Z")
I think it would have behooved you to add a little “dogs eating tampons are a really bad idea.” Otherwise the lesson, whatever it was, is just lost in the chortles of laughter. I am sorry about your dog, but I don’t have a dog and never will. I have no worries about anyone fishing around to eat them; I am fairly sure my gecko won’t. > [@](#): > > You see, Shot From Guns was not really saying that tampons should be eaten. That was pretty obvious to about… 99.99% of the English speaking world. I am terrified of that .01% that thinks otherwise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-flush-or-not-to-flush-your-tampons/551915.md?page=11)