this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2026
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Seriously, I wanna know. Is it size? Or… flow?
Okay, serious answer here. Please don't believe these other jokers (except for the ones who posted the serious and sensible links.)
Here's how it goes.
Not getting into the actual mechanics of how periods work, the system is pretty simple. It's "Light, Regular, and Super".Most period-havers I know typically have a light flow on their first day as a little warning that the next two or three days (or seven, if you're a REALLY lucky genetic lottery winner) are gonna be basically Noah's First Plague.
After the really rough part of the downpour has dried out, you're supposed to downshift from Super to Regular, then down to Light or just use pantiliners until the bleeding stops.
Most folks use Supers or pads at night, or if they're planning on doing something where bathroom breaks aren't guaranteed, like long road trips or theater performances. Never leave one in for longer than 8 hours. You have a slight risk of developing something called Toxic Shock Syndrome where a sudden explosion of bacterial growth can send you on a potentially one-way trip to the ER. (Not very likely, literally 1 in 1000 odds. But 0 sounds pretty good to me, so I never leave them in for too long.
Size does NOT matter here, capacity does. And so does application. Every tampon will absorb moisture, but if you put in a Super on a Light day, it can lead to some seriously uncomfortable dryness. Everyone has their own preference for brands and type, since some may have ingredients (like fragrances or residual cotton pesticides or certain kinds of plastic) they're allergic to. Or, y'know, boycotting Unilever or Procter & Gambel is also pretty based.
If you're asked to pick up a box, the person issuing the fetch quest will make those specifications for you. If you wanna score extra points on the quest reward, ask them if they want Midol too. It's usually in the pharmacy section, roughly in the same area as Aleve and Tylenol.
Hope that clears it up.
Tampons wick away fluid, it's their primary purpose. Vaginas are never meant to be dry. If you wear a tampon that is designed to wick away a lot of moisture on a low flow day it will dry you out which may cause an infection and lead to toxic shock syndrome - TSS. The L is low, R is regular, but higher ones exists. The goal is to use the lowest absorbancy necessary.
This page has a pretty good article about it.
I assume it's for Large, Regular, Small
S is for Super, not small. Light, regular, super, etc. It's for flow, not for size.
I always found "super" pretty funny.
"So how's your period flow?"
"Super!"
Kinda expect the next option to be "magnificent", "über" or something like that.
Is it an american thing? Pretty sure in Australia it's "heavy".
Super would be weird, as you say.
Super absorbancy or something along those lines.
It explains the absorber rather than the flow. I've mostly stared at pads my life, but it's the same wording
Just for context I'm Danish, so it's not just an American thing
It's good we have you here. Your ability to use context clues really came in clutch. Don't have to worry about finding someone who uses these alien devices to explain them.
I kind of needed it cause i never hear "regular" as a size, only "medium", so i was hung up on the R
It is incorrect. Light, regular, super, not large, regular, small.
I love people coming in, apparently with no knowledge, and giving an incorrect answer. This wouldn't even have been hard to look up, but you just couldn't help but assume you were correct, just like the person in the OP.
I think it's more fun to see people's creative answers and get a good chuckle.
It is funny, just like the OP. Part of why it's funny is that people can be so wrong but assume they're right enough that they want to share with the world. I'm glad they do, but it's crazy to me.
They said "I ASSUME" for a reason, they didn't said to be right, they said they assume, it's so fucking easy to just ignore the comments that say "i assume XYZ" if you want an answer
Why make a random guess if you don't know? 😅 you can just wait for a woman who knows to give the actual answer lol
I think L is Light
it's about the flow. L stands for Light, R is Regular
Regular and large?
Large and Rrrrrrreally Large?
What is “G” for then?
Grande, as in volume of blood to absorb expressed in Starbucks cup sizes? (S, T, G, V)?
Grand, comes with pillars of lapis lazuli, decorated golden arches and deep blue carpets
For when you're just spotting.
I don’t know if those things have size… length? Girth? Both?
There are different sizes but they are rated by how much they can absorb, L is light flow, R regular. So it's not really about the size, they'll expand anyways when they soak up the discharge
I dont buy tampons except as a secondary backup now that I use a cup, but I've never seen this. I just look at the 1-5 little drops of blue liquid...
And cups DO come in different (extremely inconsistent) sizes.
Confusing that L could be interpreted as Large size and Light flow. Surely you would know what is meant by looking at the packaging (or maybe feeling this particular one). I hope for the person in need of it that they won't have to guess in a case like this.
I'm guessing they learn this very early. It's only confusing to those of us without the need for them.
Everybody gets a nosebleed at some point in their life
At least they are not marked as inflammable.
It's a blob of cotton and plastic. It burns pretty well even before you soak it in whiskey.
what's the S someone implied existed elsewhere in the thread?
Super
The S stands for "shit" and it gets stuck somewhere else...
Supreme
Depends on the brand but mostly difference in girth aka material to soak up things.
If you felt them, you'd realize the Super one does have more girth than the Light one, in order to absorb more before it starts leaking. I don't know why it never occurred to me the use the same/opposite letters as Small /Large, probably because I first learned them back when companies wrote whole words on their packaging.
https://tampax.com/en-us/tampon-truths/best-tampons-sizes-for-heavy-light-flow/