The Risks Behind TikTok’s ‘Scooping’ Trend
Clay Banks/Unsplash
The Trend: The recent TikTok trend of “period scooping” suggests you can manually shorten or entirely skip your period. If this sounds ill advised, that’s because it is.
What People Are Saying: TikTokers and other online creators promoting “period scooping” claim it shortens their period by days. But OB-GYNs have been quick to push back. They point out that trying to rush the natural process by manually removing blood is both ineffective and risks disrupting pH and bacterial balance. Doctors have already warned that a related method, “douching” presents similar risks.
What to Know: Scooping away blood isn’t going to affect the length of your period, and it could actually cause dangerous infections or other health concerns. If your period is particularly long or heavy, a doctor can get to the root cause of the issue much better (and more safely) than TikTok can.