‘Tampon Shrinkflation’ Is Going Viral: Are Tampons Actually Getting Smaller?

glamour.com:

seem smaller than you remember? If so, you're not alone.Recently, some women have turned to TikTok and to vent about the size of typical tampons seemingly being reduced potentially as a result of “shrinkflation,” the economic phenomenon in which companies cut the size of products while increasing their price, as earlier this year.At first, I didn’t give the theory much credence, but then I realized had been breezing through tampons much faster than I ever had before, so much so I asked my if it was normal for one's with age at my most recent check-up.

I even asked my mom if it had happened to her (though her theory is that "my body wants kids"). Is tampon shrinkflation real?Intrigued, I informally polled friends, family, and colleague if they'd noticed anything different about their tampons.

Glamour senior editor , who's used “sport” or “active” versions of common tampon brands her entire menstruating life, certainly had: After giving birth to her daughter in 2022 and getting her period again in spring 2003, she started "leaking through” the tampons she previously used with no problem.“This was especially weird because I have had extremely light cycles my entire life; I never leaked through before.

I even started wearing liners,” McNeal says. “I started to think that giving birth had somehow changed my vaginal shape and was going to ask my gyno about it, then I read these Twitter threads and everything made sense!”This content can also be viewed on the site it from.Several other women I spoke with reported similar circumstances. “I thought I was getting heavier periods which is weird because I’m on the pill, so I'm usually pretty light," says , a freelance journalist living in Philadelphia. “But then I saw so many other.