Tampon for bedikah - Nishmat Yoatzot Halacha

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Tampon for bedikah

October 14, 2004

Question

[This is a hypothetical question — I don’t need an answer by a certain time]

On the 5th day of being Niddah, I was still seeing red blood, so I decided, late in the afternoon, but before shkia, not even to try for a hefsek tahara, and I inserted a tampon. Later that evening, when I removed it, I was surprised to see that it was completely clean. The next morning, I also got a clean bedika. Could I count that tampon as the hefsek tahara, and the bedika the next morning (which I had originally thought would be a hefsek) as the bedika of the first day?

[As I was getting ready to call to ask, later that day, I realized that I was having more bleeding and it became irrelevant. But I’m still curious…]

Answer

The problem with using a tampon as a bedikah cloth is that it does not get into the folds and crevices of the vaginal canal. In addition, it can be difficult to check what is absorbed into the tampon. Therefore, a tampon should not be used for bedikot, and especially not for the hefsek taharah (although it can be used for the moch dachuk).

In some extenuating circumstances, it might be possible to rely on a tampon as a hefsek after the fact, but an individual question would need to be asked.