Another reason some people are scared of using tampons is a problem called toxic shock syndrome (TSS). TSS became well known when it started happening among women who used one particular brand of tampons that is no longer made. Toxic shock syndrome is a severe infection with a particular type of bacteria, and it is only rarely associated with tampon use. (It’s actually more common with surgery or skin infections.) Recently, it has occurred a little more frequently because of super absorbent brands. If you use one of these make sure you remove it within four-six hours. So the bottom line is that tampons are safe to use if used properly.
How do you use them properly? Well, if you are using tampons, just as with pads, you’ll need to change them regularly. If your flow is heavy, you’ll know to change your tampon when you feel it starting to leak. If your flow is light, use a light or thin tampon, and don’t wear it longer than six hours. If you forget to take one out and leave it in for several days, you’ll remember when you start to notice a horrible odor or start having spotting that has a bad odor. An old, bloody tampon that sits in a vagina for several days will cause just that. Yuck! Hold your nose, take it out and wrap it up in something that will contain the smell! It happens. Just let it be a lesson: What goes in, must come out!
PMS?
Some teens and women notice changes in the way they feel before their period. Symptoms can start anywhere in the one to two weeks before your period starts. They might include emotional things like crying easily, being moody or grumpy, or wanting to be alone. They can also be physical things like breast soreness, cramping, feeling puffy or craving certain foods.
When these types of feelings affect the things you do or your relationships with your friends or family, it’s called PMS (it stands for premenstrual syndrome)—it’s a real medical diagnosis, not an excuse. Sometimes people want to blame anger or emotions on PMS, but it may just be real anger or real emotions. There’s a little good news since PMS
If you think you have PMS, you can do some things to make it better. First, you can predict when you will start your period and then also predict when your PMS will start. Use the menstrual calendar we provided. If you are prepared for it, it may not affect you so much.
PMS Busters
Get some exercise for at least 30 minutes a day.
Eat a dinner that is rich in complex carbohydrates, low in protein and fat—especially avoid animal protein and fat.
Avoid caffeine and salty foods.
Make sure you get some alone time to relax: Write in your journal, listen to some music or just do nothing!
Taking certain vitamins and minerals may help, including vitamin B6 tablets, calcium, magnesium and vitamin E.
Taking omega-3 fatty acids, like evening primrose oil, fish oil or flaxseed oil, can help with mood problems, cramping and breast tenderness.
Wearing a supportive bra like a sports bra can help with breast tenderness.
Drinking herbal diuretic, caffeine-free tea can help with the bloating or puffiness. Remember to drink plenty of water!
Only about three or four in one hundred women will have PMS that’s so bad they need medications to help it. That is rare. If you think you have PMS that is really bad, your doctor should be able to help you with medications or other suggestions.
Do Something Special for Yourself
Lots of women think that periods are a real burden. Some even call their period “the curse”! But that’s not necessarily how it has to be. In fact, most girls and women don’t let periods get in their way at all.
Some people will also say, “Oh, you’re a woman now.” Guess what? Not! There’s a lot more to being a woman than just having a period. You are still a girl, and you can still have all the fun that girls are supposed to have. Don’t let your period get in your way!
If you find yourself feeling crabby or crampy around your period time, use it as a signal for you to do something nice for yourself, something you love . . . alone! Like to read? Play music? Watch the clouds? Curl up with your pet? Do it! Enjoy something special that gives you YOUTIME, and it will automatically make you feel a little better! You can use this time to focus on yourself. You may find that you actually enjoy and look forward to doing something special for yourself, even if it is period time. We hope that girls with Girl Power will celebrate their gift of girlhood, and having a period is just part of what makes all of us sisters special.
7
Boy, Oh Boy!
Enough about periods for a while, let’s talk about boys! Now, for this whole thing about having babies—it won’t happen just because you have a period. It takes sperm from a man getting together with an egg from a woman to make a baby. Funny thing about guys is that they don’t start making sperm until they go through puberty. (Remember, we are born with all of our eggs. Guys have to start from scratch.)
So have you noticed your guy friends going through puberty? Girls go through it several years earlier than guys. You are probably already in the midst of it, but your guy friends are just noticing changes around ages eleven to fourteen. That’s partly why girls are sometimes “romantically interested” long before their guy friends are clued in to girls and crushes.
You’ll know they are catching up in the puberty scene when you notice some thin, whispy hair on their upper lips (trying to become a mustache). You might notice more acne, voice changes and fast increases in their height. What you don’t notice is one of their first signs of puberty. Their testicles enlarge and their penises grow (getting more information than you want?). It seems unfair that one of the first signs of puberty for a girl is obvious to everyone (we start growing breasts, and it’s hard to hide that!). For guys this early sign is not so obvious (well, that’s probably a good thing!).
Boy Parts
Well, we have to talk about it a little, so in case you didn’t know yet, a boy’s “private body parts,” or external genitalia, are different from yours, especially in one area (no kidding!). Here are the words:Penis (also known as a dick, a pecker, a unit, a johnson, a tally wacker, a weenie, a prick, a one-eyed monster . . . why so many names?!)— the tubelike thing that boys pee out of. It’s also where sperm comes out. It’s made of soft spongy tissue and is usually soft and floppy. When a guy gets sexually excited, the spongy tissue becomes full of blood (engorged). This makes the whole penis hard, and it “stands up” instead of flopping down—that’s called an erection (or a hard-on, a woody, a boner). The penis needs to be erect to allow it to go into the vagina during sex. An erection is an interesting thing . . . really! So interesting, in fact, that we have more about it in the erection section later in this chapter . . . keep reading!Urethra—connects the bladder (which is where urine is stored) to the penis and outside, so it’s where the urine (pee) comes out. It is also connected with the parts involved in sperm travel. That means it’s how the sperm gets out, too. It contains a valve that is like a door that lets only one of these things happen at a time. So when a guy is peeing, sperm can’t come out, and likewise, when sperm is coming out, he can’t pee. When we get more into the sex stuff later, this will seem more important!Testes (also called testicles)—where guys make sperm and where the male hormone (called
