Introducing The World's Most Technologically-Advanced Pad that Actively Releases Oxygen!
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Introducing The World's Most Technologically-Advanced Pad that Actively Releases Oxygen!
What is a prototype?
A prototype is a preliminary model of something. Projects that offer physical products need to show backers documentation of a working prototype. This gallery features photos, videos, and other visual documentation that will give backers a sense of what’s been accomplished so far and what’s left to do. Though the development process can vary for each project, these are the stages we typically see:
Proof of Concept
Explorations that test ideas and functionality.
Functional Prototype
Demonstrates the functionality of the final product, but looks different.
Appearance Prototype
Looks like the final product, but is not functional.
Design Prototype
Appearance and function match the final product, but is made with different manufacturing methods.
Production Prototype
Appearance, function, and manufacturing methods match the final product.
About this project
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Special Thanks To:
- Ashlee Lai - Yoga Instructor/Actress
- Derek Tran - Videographer
- Arup Sanyal - Animator
Risks and challenges
In terms of manufacturing and shipping, there may be delays as with all things. That being said, we are using custom machinery to infuse the material with current pad specifications. A problem previously arose while making our sample batch causing the machines to get jammed due to the particles of our material being too small. We have since then fixed that and we don't expect to see it happening again. However unlikely, we still need to mention the possibility of manufacturing delays.
Shipping should be no problem either, however there is still always a chance of issues with shipping. We hope you will understand the challenges we may face, however slim that chance may be.
Another obstacle TOM will be facing is the determination of which classification the FDA puts us under. If we go through the 513(g) process and become labeled as a Class I medical device, which we believe will be the case, we will be ready to bring the product to market!
If however, they deem us as a Class II medical device for whatever reason, we will have to go through a more intensive testing process with clinical studies. We are not accounting for the cost of the clinical studies into our campaign as those prices are unpredictable and could reach astronomical numbers far reaching what we are currently able to afford. I'd like to thank everyone ahead of time for contributing to this cause. If funding surpasses our goal, the extra funds will help us fast-track to get through this process.
As we attempt to go through the FDA process, we are not able to claim that the rewards you will be receiving as a FDA-cleared product.
However, through our own rigorous testing, we know that it is completely safe, effective, and ready for use. By agreeing to back our project, you agree that: the choice of what you do with your product is up to you, therefore, we CAN NOT be held liable for ANY damages our products may cause.
When this project is successfully funded, you WILL be put as our priority and receive the promised products as soon as possible! Thank you for your support!
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFAQ
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Yes, Absolutely! We only use food-grade materials! People have ingested food-grade varieties of our material with no problem at all. However, we strongly advise against touching or ingesting it! It could cause severe irritation if not handled properly, especially when inhaled or if it gets in the eyes. You wouldn't want to get salt or chili in your eye or lungs, even though it's perfectly safe to ingest!
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We have created the first feminine pad in the world to provide a steady release of pure oxygen upon use. This means your monthly experience is going to be a lot more comfortable!
Another thing we've designed into our pad is to make our technology slightly acid forming, to closely mimic the normal vaginal pH (3.8-4.5), this adds another layer of protection by destroying the environment which candida and common BV bacterial strains love, all while helping preserve the positive ratio of the beneficial lactobacillus bacteria.
Bacterial Vaginosis and other infections often cause the vaginal pH to rise above pH 4.5. That is the type of environment that bacteria thrive on. We are here to make their new home, less habitable. Also, oxygen has bee shown to help slow or kill existing anaerobic bacteria. Obligate anaerobic microbes generally can tolerate no longer than 15 minutes of oxygen exposure. Allowing you to wear the pad for longer durations with enhanced comfort. However, we still suggest changing your pad based on your usual frequency or at least every 4 hours for better hygiene!
Are there any downsides to your pad?
None! We are proud to bring to market such a safe, unique and life-changing product. We’re certain that it will help make your life a bit easier during that tough time of the month!Will I feel anything wearing your pads?
Yes and no. Some women reported feeling "airy" down there and some don't feel anything! What you will notice, however, is that TOM pads are much less humid feeling compared to all the other pads.There is always chance you could feel irritation while wearing any kind of feminine pad. TOM, even with its added protection may still irritate the skin due to friction via movement. If this occurs, stop using TOM pads until you feel like you're ready to use pads again. If anything more serious occurs, we advise to stop use and see a doctor.
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Quite the opposite actually! Oxygen is known to stimulate the body's natural healing mechanism. It has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory properties and stimulates collagen production. Oxygen is extremely beneficial for our skin, in fact, it is used to help burn victims recover from their wounds much faster.
Our good bacteria, the mighty lactobacillus, actually produces hydrogen peroxide (a weak oxidizer) to help protect women (or itself) from the overgrowth of harmful alkalizing microbes.
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When the oxygen runs out, you can either switch to a new pad or continue wearing it as you would a regular pad! There might not be any more oxygen being generated, however even at this point, there are still many advantages versus a traditional pad, such as the acidic nature of our pads which help stunt the growth of microbes even without oxygen!
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No, when used properly, it is not potentially harmful like other products, as the only thing extra (compared to a normal pad) interacting with the vulva area is oxygen, which is usually naturally present in the atmosphere, so it is very very safe. Oxygen is known to penetrate deep enough into the skin to reach melanin (skin pigment). Double bonds reflect more light wavelengths, which results in us seeing the darker or reddish hue on our reproductive organs. The oxygen we generate disassembles the double bond, leaving a single bonded "colorless" melanin. The amount of skin-tone balancing generally is achieved rather quickly within days or weeks (depending on the frequency of use), though some may never experience it at all. All the current users have reported reaching at most an equal or balanced skin-tone as other parts of the body. If you've ever had your hair bleached with Hydrogen Peroxide, then you've experienced this double bond disassembling effect! Remember, oxygen in its gaseous state, even in its pure form, is incredibly safe for the skin and even beneficial for extensive burn wounds! Skin tone balancing effect may vary for each woman depending various situations! The balancing effect is not permanent, it merely disassembles the double bond needed for color into a single bond, and if reassembled into a double bond, the color will reappear. The amount of time it takes to reappear varies from person to person, as the main contributor of the pheomelanin hue is due to activation by your sex hormones! If you would not like the skin-tone balancing effect, these pads may not be for you.
To be clear, we sincerely believe that NOBODY has to change the way they are and we have zero intention of shaming anyone or making anyone insecure about their skin-tone. We know that our delicate areas do not have to be changed in any way! We believe our bodies are made perfect. However, as you may know, tons of women (even men!) actually go through rounds of laser treatment and resort to carcinogenic lightening creams/ointments just to brighten that area of their body! We have received tons of feedback from women saying they really appreciate that factor of our pads. Oxygen does a lot of great things for us; evening out the skin tone is just one of the benefits that naturally come with it! We are providing not only a safe alternative, as the only thing promoting skin tone balancing is pure oxygen, but we are also providing it in a gentle and convenient way! And to be perfectly honest, without putting this effect front and center, it would be misleading to the customers who try our products. However subtle the effect may be, we rather not hide the fact that oxygen might have this effect on the skin. To me, honesty is more important than appealing to everyone. We hope you would understand where I'm coming from. Advertise or not, the effect may occur. I do apologize for making it seem like that's what we wanted to emphasize.
More detailed version of how the skin-tone balancing works:
The skin has many layers, the first outer layer is called the Epidermis. This layer is about 0.13mm thick and contains the melanocytes which produce mainly two types of melanin, which are the skin pigments. The second layer of skin is the Dermis has a depth starting from approximately 0.14mm and ending at 1.1mm. Under normal conditions, atmospheric oxygen can supply the upper skin layers to a depth of 0.25–0.40 mm. which means that the oxygen will have an opportunity to interact with the pigmented melanins.
The two main melanin pigments are:
Eumelanin, (a black/brownish hued pigment ) which is more susceptible to oxidation and the cleaving of the double bonds (double bonds absorb visible light, hence the dark color). Once the double bond is broken by oxygen it leaves only a single bond, then the light is no longer absorbed and appears colorless to us.
The second and more stable of the bunch, Pheomelanin, is a reddish hue. This is the main type found in reproductive organs, nipples, and lips. Therefore, it's not that those areas are darker, but rather redder. Pheomelanin can survive longer in the presence of oxygen compared to Eumelanin, but it too will eventually give way to the cleaving of the bonds and lose its color.
Evidence suggests that using hydrogen peroxide to bleach the skin (and hair!) is bad, as it causes blood to avoid flowing to the applied areas (capillary embolism), while the acidic nature of the solution could irritate skin and it causes too strong of an oxidizing effect. Hydrogen peroxide is harmful because in contact with metal ions it forms more damaging radicals, and itself peroxidizes protein residues (thiols for instance) thus modifying them and stressing the cell out. Elsewhere, it interferes with redox signaling and energy production, and itself can act as a signaling molecule. We do not recommend using hydrogen peroxide to bleach skin.
Biologically, oxygen is much more sensitive in its actions, and so its ‘damaging effect’ is more context dependent. For example, it may take years for a metal pipe to rust when exposed to air, but only a day when exposed to H2O2. Inside the body, catalase is a protein evolved as a defense mechanism, which our body's cells and "good" lactobacillus bacteria contain and generate, while the majority of bad bacterias do not. The catalase simply speeds up the H2O2 > O2 conversion. In that sense, the damaging effect of H2O2 is decreased. Actually, Hydrogen peroxide (oxygen) is produced by our good lactobacillus and helps kill off surrounding pathogenic "bad" bacteria, as those bad bacteria don't have an innate catalase defense mechanism.
*Disclaimer: TOM does not take any responsibility for the effects that Oxygen may have on the skin tone.
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NO. TOM pads are not meant to treat or cure anything. Our technology was designed to bring a comfortable defense to the surface of your skin and the pad environment by disrupting the conditions which certain bacterium like to live. We do this by dramatically increasing oxygen levels, as well as lowering pH to similar levels found naturally in healthy women. BV and yeast infections are caused by more than just an unbalanced pH and oxygen-free environments, it's more of a systemic issue arising from poor food choices such as excess sugars, exogenous or synthetic hormones, too much stress, and not getting enough sleep.
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We believe we should go with nature and not against it; at least until a better solution is discovered. Here are four other reasons:
1) Hormone-Disrupting Herbicides.
"The vast majority ‒ 85 percent ‒ of tampons, cotton, and sanitary products tested in a new Argentinian study contained glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, ruled a likely carcinogen by the World Health Organization." (Source: https://www.rt.com/usa/319524-tampons-cotton-glyphosate-monsanto/)
Glyphosate is a known endocrine aka hormone disruptor. "An endocrine disruptor is a chemical that either mimics or blocks hormones and disrupts the body's normal functions. This disruption can happen through altering normal hormone levels, halting or stimulating the production of hormones, or interacting directly with the organ the hormone was meant to regulate. Because hormones work at very small doses, endocrine disruption can occur from low-dose exposure to hormonally active chemicals. Low doses over long periods of time may lead to very serious illnesses." (Source: http://sustainablepulse.com/wp-content/uploads/GMO-health-1.pdf)
The question now: Is the added freedom and comfort worth the infections, odor, mood swings, or possibly even cancer?
2) Tampons are associated with causing many unnecessary problems.
Tampons are associated with a greater increase in Bacterial vaginosis (infecting over 640,000 people a year), Toxic Shock Syndrome (causing multiple deaths per year), and yeast infections (infects up to 3 out of 4 women some point in their lives),
We believe this is due to tampons forcing the menstrual blood to be trapped within the body when nature wants it to come out. As we've said before, vaginal pH is generally acidic, but during menstruation, the internal pH rises due to the alkalinity of the blood. Keeping the alkaline blood inside provides just the right conditions for the "bad" bacteria and yeast to multiply in numbers, while the "good" lactobacillus bacteria which thrives in the usual acidic vaginal environment slowly get outnumbered.
That being said, there are pros and cons to each choice. Adding our technology to the traditional feminine pad helps relieve many of the complaints that were typically associated with them.
3) Dryness. Tampons by their very nature absorb everything it can, which can dry you out. It'll trap the bad bacteria that your body is trying to get rid of, and stop the waste fluids in its tracks.
4) Leftovers. Tampons absorb blood and bacteria for the most part; menstruation involves shedding the outer lining of the uterus. However, the uterine tissue that is supposed to be expelled by the body at that given time is not, as tampons clog it up, allowing the flesh, yeast, bacteria, and blood to be trapped for hours at a time. When you change tampons, there is always a possibility leftover tissue and tampon material stays inside the vagina (tampons materials are often loosely bound to help with absorption), causing an unnatural balance in your personal vaginal ecosystem.
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Yes! We believe the wings play an essential role in helping pad slippage. We have tried many wing iterations and found that the current version is the most effective. However, we are open to suggestions once we have launched :)
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We currently offer two choices, one for regular/daytime use and the other for overnight. We are excited to be adding more variations to our product line very soon. Suggestions are more than welcome!
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Oxygen has been shown to fight odor-causing bacteria! Therefore our pads do not require any harmful,scented materials!
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Absolutely not! We strictly adhere to the standard absorbency ranges for feminine pads.
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Yes. We adhere to strict BS 5295 Class 2 Cleanroom Standards.
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We haven't had a single complaint! We carefully calculated the amount of oxygen each pad will release to provide adequate protection while preventing leakages.
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We do not, and never will, endorse testing on animals. We are animal lovers and never want to subject them to that sort of stress!
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We recommend wrapping the used pad in the plastic wrapper, and then properly disposing of it in the trash. Take care of the environment, do not flush any contents down the toilet!
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Yes, our patented materials can actually be used to improve soil conditions and help the living conditions of certain ocean life!
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If the pad is damaged in any way, please dispose of the pad and use a new one!
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Please do!! We would love to hear from our community! We will continue to explore ways to improve our pads! Believe me when I say: nobody gets anything perfect on the first try. We are here to work with you to tailor our product to our customer's specific needs, so if anything is missing or unsatisfactory, please don't be upset, we will work hard to fix any issues you bring to light!
Please send us suggestions to our email at Suggestions@to2m.com
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.