Talk about a bloody mess.
OB-GYNs are in a cramp over a viral idea that’s taken over TikTok: that you can simply “scoop out” your period to avoid the messiness that comes once a month.
But docs have been quick to debunk and demystify what’s actually going on down there.
Typically, women lose around 30 to 40 mL — or two to three tablespoons — of blood during their periods, but some can have heavier flows of up to 80 mL.
And while there are a lot of weird claims out there about that time of the month, one woman took to social media to share a story of her doctor offering to “scoop out” her period during her Pap smear.
“Scoop it out? Do I look like a pint of Häagen-Dazs?” the woman said in a TikTok video that’s racked up 3.9 million views in a matter of days. “And, yeah… she scooped it out.”
However, OB-GYNs sent rapid responses to the now viral video.
What would “scooping out” your period actually mean?
Dr. Andrea Alexander, a double-board-certified OB-GYN in Houston, suggested that the original video was referring to a dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure.
This surgery gently opens or dilates the cervix and then uses a spoon-shaped tool to remove tissue from the uterine lining. It’s typically used after a miscarriage or childbirth; for some abortions; for treatment of some conditions like polyps, fibroids and endometrial hyperplasia; or as a diagnostic tool.
“Scooping out” could be referring to using a manual vacuum aspirator (MVA), or a gentle suction procedure to empty the uterus. An MVA is also usually used for miscarriages and abortions.
But both methods can cause unnecessary pain — worse than an IUD insertion, said Alexander — and increase the risk of infection if performed routinely.
Don’t do it — period.
There’s a third risk to undergoing a D&C surgery every month: antibiotic overload.
“You need antibiotics to prevent sepsis and infection,” she said. “But if you give too many antibiotics too routinely, you have the potential to cause bacterial resistance.”
Both procedures could also cause Asherman syndrome, a condition where scar tissue forms from too much scraping of the uterus and leads to irregular periods, pain and even infertility.
Dr. Shannon Clark, an OB-GYN and professor at the University of Texas, also expressed alarm at the idea of another doctor “scooping out” the lining of the uterus.
“No OB-GYN, or any provider for that matter, should be offering to scoop anything out of anyone at the end of a routine procedure,” said Clark in a video response.
She suspects the original TikToker was referring to menstrual extraction, using a cannula and syringe to pull out menstrual flow in one go — but warns that this shouldn’t be used to shorten or lighten a heavy flow.
“There are things we can do to help someone who’s having irregular or heavy menstrual cycles,” she explained. “But people can’t just sign up for an appointment to just ‘scoop it out’ so they don’t have to have a menstrual cycle.”
Some doctors have also expressed how the wording may have confused the patient, as Fran Haydanek, an OB-GYN from Rochester, New York, points out.
“I can see myself saying that to a patient,” she said. “If I were doing a Pap smear and there were some [blood] clots, I could scoop out the clots from the speculum and tell my patient, ‘I’m just scooping them out.’”
But she also fears the confusion could lead people to believe they can just get their periods scooped out by a professional.
Alexander also shared how upset she was over the dangerous misinformation that was being spread, but that her issue wasn’t with the original patient or even the patient’s OB-GYN.
“My qualm is with the quack OB-GYN who’s telling people that this [procedure] is something that we do,” she explained. “That is so reckless and dangerous. I can’t believe someone who is a professional would say this.”
