The shocking recall was announced this week by Kimberly-Clark, the manufacturers of U by Kotex tampons.

A statement, issued by the company, explained the recall was due to a “quality-related defect” of its U by Kotex Sleekregular absorbency tampons.

The tampons are sold throughout the US and Canada and a Kimberly-Clark spokeswoman confirmed with news.com.au that the tampons were never sold in Australia or New Zealand.

Leaving any part of a tampon inside your body could be fatal, so if you’ve travelled to the US or Canada recently, you may want to chuck out those tampons you grabbed at the local store.

According to Kimberly-Clark, customers have reported that their tampons were “unravelling and/or coming apart upon removal, and in some cases (were) causing users to seek medical attention to remove tampon pieces left in the body”.

“There also have been a small number of reports of infections, vaginal irritation, localised vaginal injury, and other symptoms,” the statement said.

It did not detail how many women were impacted by the faulty tampons or the number of tampons the recall related to.

“The recall is limited to specific lots of (tampons) manufactured between October 7, 2016 and October 16, 2018 and distributed between October 17, 2016 and October 23, 2018,” the statement said.

“Consumers can identify this product by looking for specific lot numbers found on the bottom of the package.”

The statement urged customers to stop using the tampons immediately and contact the company for further instruction.

Kimberly-Clark then listed a terrifying string of symptoms that customers should be on the look out for including vaginal pain, bleeding or discomfort, itching, swelling, yeast or bladder infections, hot flashes, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.

“Consumers who experience (any of the above) following use of the impacted product should seek immediate medical attention,” the statement said.