Let's Clear This Up: Can You Pee With A Tampon In?

IDK about you, but peeing with a tampon in isn’t exactly the most pleasant experience.

Seriously—the little string that hangs down gets soaked….and don’t even get me started on wiping (er, patting—because legit wiping will only get that period string lodged in your butt).

Honestly, it all begs the question: Can you pee with a tampon in—or is that something you’re not even supposed to be doing?

For the record, yes, you can absolutely pee with a tampon in.

It all comes down to basic anatomy: Urine comes out of one hole (your urethra) and period blood comes out of another opening (your vagina). Going further, poop comes out of a third hole (your anus)—your nether regions are basically a triple threat.

Tampons go in your vagina to stop the blood flow—but they don’t interfere with your urethra at all.

So yeah, your tampon isn’t going to, uh, hinder your peeing (i.e., by not letting you empty your bladder all the way), says Christine Greves, M.D., a board-certified ob-gyn at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies. “It doesn’t cause a residual amount of urine to be left behind,” she says.

That said, it’s technically possible to have a bladder prolapse (a.k.a. cystocele), which is when a little bit of your bladder drops or bulges into your vagina, says Jessica Shepherd, M.D., a minimally invasive gynecologist. “Potentially, if someone had that and was wearing a tampon, it might limit the amount of urine that comes out,” she says. But if you don’t have this problem (which most women don’t), you’re good to go, she adds.

Is it…sanitary, though?

As for that little string on the end of your tampon—it’s not really a big problem if it gets soaked with pee. That’s because urine is typically sterile, says women’s health expert Jennifer Wider, M.D. A slightly wet string shouldn’t cause any issues, like a urinary tract infection (UTI), says Shepherd.

However, she adds, “many women hate a wet string.” TBH, same. Shephard suggests you can try holding the tampon string to the side while you pee to keep it dry—but that might get even messier (i.e., you could get pee on your hands)—so it’s probably best to make sure you just pat dry thoroughly.

And, if you really hate peeing with a tampon in that much, it might seem like a convenient idea to change it each time you use the bathroom—but that’s not necessarily a good idea either, says Wider.

If you pee every four to five hours then, yeah, you probably want to swap in a new tampon when you go. But if you tend to pee every hour or so (drink that water, girl), changing your tampon that often can be uncomfortable, irritating, and a waste of money, Greves says.

The bottom line: Yes, you can definitely pee with your tampon in. Let it flow.

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