Question: My tampon has leaked and stained my knickers, but my tampon still shows white fibre, why is this?

Anna's Answer:  First of all it is important to ensure that you are using the correct absorbency for your flow. I would always recommend that you use the minimum absorbency required. So try a lower absorbency. However a tampon should protect you for 4 hours so if you have to change sooner it is necessary to move to a higher absorbency. If too high an absorbency is used the tampon does not expand sufficiently. The higher absorbency tampons contain a great deal of fibre that is compressed very tightly to fit into the tube. In order for the tampon to expand to protect you, you need consistently heavy flow. If this is one of your lighter days there may not be enough flow for tampon to fully expand properly and your flow may travel down one side of the tampon and you may experience leakage.

If you try a lower absorbency the tampon will have a chance to expand and protect you better.
Also this problem may be caused by the tampon not being correctly inserted. Therefore the tampon will not be able to expand properly and therefore your menstrual flow will pass by instead of the tampon absorbing it. It is important that you carefully follow the advice given on how to insert a tampon on the in pack leaflet.