You were rummaging through your room and you came across an old box of tampons. It got you wondering – how long do tampons last? Sure. Things like milk expire making them rancid and totally gross to eat. And things like medications expire making them ineffective. But what about tampons? Do tampons have an expiration date?
Do tampons expire?So here’s the short answer. Yes. Tampons do expire. Why does this matter? Tampons go inside your body. This is why it’s important to pay attention to whether or not your tampons are expired.
Generally speaking, tampons expire after five years. Even though they may not look any different than brand new ones, expired tampons shouldn’t be used. Bacteria and small particles of mould can find their way into your tampons after they’ve expired.
How do I know if my tampons are expired?You may not know that your tampons are expired just from looking at them. Instead, look for the expiration date on the side of your TAMPAX box. There will be two dates printed. One is the date of production, and the other is the month and year they are due to expire.
The good news is that tampons last a long time – half a decade! So don’t worry about buying a bunch and not being able to use them up in time. Five years is lots of time use them monthly during period, go to pool parties, beach vacations, and sporting events.