From period scooping to menstrual masking: the strange science of viral period hacks

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Period scooping sounds like something you would only hear in a biology lab, not while doom-scrolling TikTok. Yet earlier this year, videos claiming you can “scoop out” your period to avoid the mess and shorten the whole thing racked up millions of views. Some people were pushing in the shower using pelvic floor muscles. Others described using water, fingers, or even objects to “clean out” menstrual fluid.

In the final episode of the first season of The Conversation’s Strange Health podcast...