Pads or tampons in clean days, tampon as moch on Shabbat

23 January, 2017

Question:

I can generally get a clean hefsek on day five, but I’m always concerned that I will start bleeding again, which does happen on occasion. Besides not particularly wanting to stain my underwear, it might be heavier than just light spotting, and I would really prefer to keep using some form of protection.
I have read your answers, which seemed to indicate that you weren’t particularly keen on sanitary pads during ‘white days’, but what then can I use? Sometimes tampons are an option, but sometimes I’m too irritated, especially after a hefsek. (Are they any better anyway?)

Also, since I often do continue to use protection for a day or two after my period seems to have stopped, if I used a tampon as the moch dachuk on Shabbat, would it be carrying?

Answer:

In light of your concerns, you may use white pantiliners during the clean days. If you could purchase cloth, reusable ones, that would be preferred. A tampon should not be used, since even a drop of blood on a tampon could invalidate the clean days, and also due to the concerns of irritation that you note.

A moch dachuk is placed so that a woman can clearly establish that her bleeding has ceased. A side concern that bleeding might resume does not override its main purpose. So using a tampon for a moch would be considered carrying on Shabbat according to many authorities, even if there is also a slight concern about renewed bleeding.

Please write back 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.