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Put in tampon – and bleeding stopped

28 April, 2009

Question:

I am a 53 year old woman who until about a year ago was still menstruating regularly. This past year I have finally started skipping months so that my period comes approximately once in 3 months or so. This past Sunday, after 47 days, I started bleeding and put in a tampon, considering myself a niddah. After one tampon, there was no more bleeding – I was clean by Monday. I have never had bleeding between periods so I’m sure this is a menopausal thing.

In any case, how should I behave in the future if this happens again? Should I not have put in a tampon? (Underwear was black, toilet paper was colored, but since I was sure that I had my period, I didn’t hesitate to put in a tampon), or did I do what was required and c’est la vie?


Answer:

Thank you for reaching out to us.

Skipping some months is typical as a woman approaches menopause.

Blood of a niddah color found on a tampon makes a woman niddah, even if it is a small amount and even if there is no subsequent bleeding, because it is inserted internally. For this reason, we generally recommend that a woman not insert a tampon (or anything else internally) unless she is already certain of her niddah status.

All that being said, if the bleeding you experienced was heavy enough to be considered a bloodflow, then it would have made you niddah in any event.

As a rule of thumb, we generally say that bleeding that can be easily contained by a light pantiliner is subject to the leniencies of stains. Heavier bleeding makes a woman niddah, even if the duration is quite short. Please see our article on Stains, and our video here, for further discussion.

For the future, we recommend taking precautions to avoid becoming niddah from staining until it becomes clear that the bleeding is heavy enough to be considered a bloodflow that makes you niddah. Learn more here.

We also recommend abstaining from relations during staining, until about 24 hours after staining has subsided. This is a precaution to avoid a situation of finding blood immediately after relations. It is not a halachic requirement.

Note that when a woman of your age experiences a ninety-day interval without bleeding, she is generally released from the obligation to observe any veset days. (However, if she later menstruates anew three times in a row at intervals shorter than ninety days, or if she establishes over three times a consistent interval that is longer than ninety days, she would have further requirements.) Learn more here.

Please get back to us with any further questions, and please don’t hesitate to reach out again in the future with any questions about your status.

This response was updated on 30 May, 2024.


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