Amanda Calabrese and Greta Meyer came up with the idea to create a snail-shaped tampon in a product design class at Stanford University in 2018. This month, a new snail-shaped tampon was officially approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. This represents First major change in stopper design in over 90 years.
Now, five years later, what started as a school project has the potential to eliminate period anxiety for people everywhere.
Meyer and Calabrese answer three questions from Yahoo Life about their innovative tampon design and what makes it a game-changer in the world of vintage products.
What is early dropout?
Both Calabrese and Meyer were college athletes—Calabrese was part of the US National Lifesaving Team and Meyer played collegiate lacrosse—and in their research as students they found that many of their peers used tampons and additional menstrual products, such as pads or pantyliners, because of concerns of leakage, and show a lack of confidence in tampons alone.
“We saw how widespread this choice was to use a range of products and that was the main idea that led us to[redesign]the tampon because of early leakage,” says Calabrese.
Premature leakage, also described by the founders as the “redline effect” and “bypass leakage,” refers to the flow of menstrual fluid before a tampon is fully used.
“It’s that phenomenon where you have a leak event, you remove the tampon and then you examine it and say, ‘Oh my God, only 20 to 30% of it is actually absorbed, and the rest is white, which means the fibers haven’t been absorbed.'” Meyer says. For any type of menstruation,” adding that this can also lead to “dryness and discomfort.”
Acknowledgment of this discomfort and concern about leakage among their peers led to a closer look at the current structure of traditional tampons.
Where do traditional tampons fall short?
Before they could change the traditional design, they had to figure out why so many tampons on the market seem to leak before they’re filled.
They’ve found that most tampons have some linear panels that extend down the side, giving liquid a “direct path to the bottom,” says Meyer, explaining that this increases the risk of uneven absorption, which can cause premature leakage.
“What was happening was that the headboards were channeling fluid down the side, which could create a leak,” says Meyer. Then this led them to their moment of discovery.
“If we think about basic fluid mechanics, why give the fluid a very direct path to the bottom?” Mayer asked.
In their quest to change the current state of menstrual products and alleviate some of the concerns that come with the risk of leakage, Calabrese says they hope to positively change the relationship between tampon users and periods.
“If you break this[innovation]down into two main ideas, it’s the technical side, which is that these products can leak before they’re filled, and it’s the emotional side, which is that tampon users deserve peace of mind during their period,” Calabrese says. .
What makes a Sequel stopper different?
After figuring out why the bypass leak appeared, the two tested the spiral plates to see if that slowed down the path of the fluid, something they found intuitive.
“Why not allow the menstrual fluid to circulate around the circumference, slowing it down, giving it more time to come into contact with the tampon and absorb it more evenly,” says Meyer.
They were given 10 weeks for the project and worked with a professor of fluid mechanics to see if this new flow system would result in more balanced absorption, and through a rigorous research and development process, they were able to prove the effectiveness of their design.
After receiving positive feedback on their final project and being encouraged to pursue their idea outside of the classroom, what was supposed to be just a school project has turned into an FDA-approved medical device that is expected to be released in 2024.
While their product is designed to promote a more balanced absorption compared to what is currently on the market, the actual absorption capacity of spiral tampon materials is in accordance with current FDA regulations. This is an important distinction for founders who acknowledge the concerns many menstruating women have with highly absorbent tampons and toxic shock syndrome, or TSS.
“Absorption is something that’s been standardized by the FDA, so that was an important design hurdle for us,” says Meyer.
What an expert says
What is toxic shock syndrome?
TSS stands for the rare, potentially life-threatening disease that can occur as a result of certain bacterial infections, particularly Staphylococcus aureus, if tampons are used, Dr. Soma Mandal, an internist who specializes in women’s health, tells Yahoo Life.
“The vaginal canal is a great place for bacteria to grow. It’s dark. I’m hydrated, so when you insert something like a tampon, of course bacteria can grow there,” says Mandal. But what is the link between TSS and highly absorbent tampons?
TSS and absorbent tampons
The longer a tampon is left in, the greater the risk of bacteria growth, and since highly absorbent tampons can be left in for longer, the risk of infection increases. This, along with the way tampons were previously manufactured, has contributed to raising doubts about the safety of highly absorbent tampons for years.
“In the ’80s, there were highly absorbent tampons that might not have been used appropriately, and so on More women are developing toxic shock syndrome“While there is now a lot of research being done in the field of manufacturing and preventing bacteria from growing,” says Mandal. “There are also a lot of warnings for the public to prevent TSS.”
Tampon safety and supplementation
The bottom line is that tampons are a completely safe option when used as intended, Mandal says. The only time she usually recommends giving it away is in situations where the tampon has been left in for more than eight hours.
“I usually recommend using a maxi pad with higher absorbency for sleeping, but using a tampon during the day is fine,” says Mandal.
And since the design of the new Sequel tampon complies with FDA regulations for absorbency, Mandal describes it as an exciting development in the period field.
“I think a lot of women deal with heavy cycles, which really interfere with their personal and professional lives,” she says. “So if there is a product that is safe and can be used so that they don’t have to worry about staining their clothes or dealing with leaks, that’s great.”