Put in tampon - and bleeding stopped - Women’s Health and Halacha

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:

We suggest you review our article on stains, "Ketamim". If you do not have a full-fledged blood flow, but you are concerned about possibly developing one or about potentially messy staining, then you could use a colored pantiliner until your status becomes clear.

In the future, we would not recommend putting in the tampon, since blood on a tampon has the status of blood on a bedikah cloth and is treated stringently.

Do get in touch with us or a local authority prior to assuming that you have become niddah.

When a woman of your age has had a ninety-day interval without bleeding, she is 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.)

Please get back to us with any further questions.

This internet service does not preclude, override or replace the psak of any rabbinical authority. It is the responsibility of the questioner to inform us of any previous consultation or ruling. As even slight variation in circumstances may have Halachic consequences, views expressed concerning one case may not be applied to other, seemingly similar cases. All health and health-related information contained within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is intended to be general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for consulting with your health care professional. The advice is intended to offer a basis for individuals to discuss their medical condition with their health care provider but not individual advice. Although every effort is made to ensure that the material within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is accurate and timely, it is provided for the convenience of the Web site user but should not be considered official. Advice for actual medical practice should be obtained from a licensed health care professional.

For further questions or comments:

The Nishmat Women's Health and Halacha Site is a public service of Nishmat, The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women. This project and others like it are made possible by contributions from people like you. If you have benefited from the service, and wish to enable us to help others, click here to donate.

Users of Internet filtering services: This site discusses sensitive subjects that some services filter without visual indication. A page that appears 100% complete might actually be missing critical Jewish-law or medical information. To ensure that you view the pages accurately, ask the filtering service to whitelist all pages under yoatzot.org.