What to Know
Do you ever think, ‘yeah that’s enough internet for me today’? Because when a woman shared on TikTok that she witnessed another user talking about “getting scooped out” during her period to end her menstruation early, it was one of those moments where I had to do a digital double take. Like, excuse me ma’am? Please speak up, because none of that sounds like something I would ever consider to be real or consider having done to me.
A doctor and professor in obstetrics and gynecology, Shannon Clark, shared the video on her TikTok account and in it, she gives her two cents on the idea of having this done. The idea, she explains in her video, is that, according to someone whose video she stitches with hers, an OBGYN will ask if you want the rest of your menstruation scooped out to end your period early, should be getting an exam during your period. Again I say, ma’am?!
No OBGYN recommends “getting scooped” or doing it yourself.
@babies_after_35 #stitch with @cuntymeme #menstrualextraction #scoopitout #menstrualcycle ♬ original sound – Shannon M. Clark, MD, FACOG
Shannon starts off her video by saying, plain as day, no healthcare provider should be asking a patient if the patient wants anything “scooped out” of them. It’s just not commonplace in the medical field and, apparently, it’s pretty inappropriate to offer as a service. There’s probably a reason why so many women have never heard of this before.
“What they’re talking about is going ahead and extracting all the rest of the menstrual blood from the uterus so that either, A, the period is not as heavy or B, the period is shortened,” Shannon explains in her video. “So is that a thing? Is that a real medical procedure? No, it’s not. So scooping out is also known as menstrual extraction, and it was first used in the 1970s for early [abortions]. And with that procedure, a non-medical vacuum aspiration using a cannula and syringe [was used] to pull out menstrual flow all at once.”
The closest thing to what is described with this scooping method is, according to Shannon, a D&C, or dilation and curettage procedure, used to remove tissue from the uterus. But, Shannon reminds us in her video, “that’s done for medical purposes only.” She also says that there are ways to medically regulate your menstrual cycle, but anything involving scooping is not a way to do that.
One woman says she does it every month.
@danielle.crackers Do you scoop? 🩸 #scoop #menstralcycle #period #womenshealth ♬ original sound – danielle fewings
Although Shannon, an actual medical professional advises against anything even remotely similar to the scooping method or procedure, another woman on TikTok, Danielle Fewings, says in a video that she actually does it herself each month. Yep, that’s right. It’s her way of making her menstrual cycle shorter and easier for her to handle.
“Literally when it is that time of the month, I get into the shower and I scoop as much out as possible because I don’t wanna deal with it,” she says. Yep, that’s right. “And to me it’s just easier to reach up in there and scoop out as much as I can and I do it every morning during that time of the month and then I barely have any sort of residual action throughout the day and I highly recommend this.”
Look, she isn’t wrong with hating the effects of mutation and dealing with it day in and day out for up to seven days each month. But the whole scooping thing just isn’t the move. Just ask Shannon, an actual medical professional. And most of the women in the comments under the video are in agreement about it.
“Please stop saying scoop,” one woman commented. Another added, “I have never in my 30 years of periods heard of this.”
Yeah, it looks like Danielle might not be in the majority with this one.
