Menstrual Cups = Cleaner, Easier Periods

Why I'll never use pad an tampons again

Lunette Diana


    I have been trying out a menstrual cup since several months. Here is my (hopefully) PG-13 review.
Warning: some my genteel readers might be shocked and surprised at first. Others might go: wow, what an amazing idea. Some of you probably use them and love them.

    When I first heard about menstrual cups I wrote them off as something useful or female mountaineers who can´t find tampons in the Andes, or those really hard-core green people who use cloth toilet paper. However, years later, I still kept chancing on bloggers writing love posts to these cups. Several of them were even fashion bloggers. With stylish outfits and Chanel mascara. And they loved the cup.
    Reassured that the cup was for "normal" people too, I decided to try one. I got a Meluna for 12€, and I have been using it since half a year. (The Diva Cup is the most advertised brand, but reviews show that it's the most expensive and not the best).
     I´ll never go back.



The thing I love most about the cup is the cleanness.
    I thought pads were gross when I started using tampons. Now I find tampons gross, because they smell ! The blood in the cup doesn´t have any unpleasant smell, because there is no chance for the bacteria to multiply. It just has the slightly metallic smell of normal blood.

The second thing I love about the cup: I can put it in before my period starts.
   You can´t do that with tampons, since the area would be too dry. If your cycle tends to be irregular, it's amazing how you can pop the cup in and go out, confident that you won't be caught unawares. You can also wear the cup to catch any, ummm, extra wetness when you´re not in your period.

I'm all for wildlife preservation.
     Like tampons, the cups leave you dry on the outside. Unlike them, they don´t dry out the inside. They keep the natural inner flora and fauna intact. Also, no bleach and other nasties near your lady bits. And less waste in the landfills too.
      Also, they won´t give you TSS: a rare but dangerous medical condition which happens when the bacteria in the tampon suddenly have a baby boom. This is why the pamphlet on the tampon box tell you to never leave in in longer than 8 hours. Any why you should wake up at 3:00 AM to change your tampon.

How about insertion ? 
   You will get familiar with certain parts of your anatomy, which is a good thing. Also, you need to know that you fold the cup smaller to insert it, it then opens itself once it´s up there.
   There is a learning curve, and it will take a couple of cycles till you´ve really mastered it. I have had some accidents-incidents, but nothing that a panty liner wouldn´t catch. I must say that my first attempts with a tampon were much harder. If you want to know, the issue was dryness, and it got stuck halfway. I couldn´t get it out and I couldn´t get it in. It was also the middle of the night on an international train. Stupid time for a first try, I know.

Doesn´t it fall out ? 
   No, our vaginal muscles keep it in. A full tampon is much more likely to slide out.

What about emptying on the go ? 
    This is not hard. You just need to dump, rinse / wipe and re-insert. You don´t need to really clean the cup because it doesn´t have anything on it that is not from inside your vajayjay anyway. You just need to clean your hands well beforehand.
    A cup can be left in for 12 hours, so you will be making less changes than with a tampon. Also because of no TSS risk, and also because all cups have more capacity than any tampon available. I find this extremely convenient, apart from the first day I just need to empty the cup in the morning and in the evening. Of course, this also depends on how heavy your flow is, and what size your cup is.

Is it comfortable ?
I don´t feel it at all after it´s inserted properly.

If it's so amazing, why doesn't everyone use it ?
   Since you need just one cup for 10 years, obviously companies don earn much on these cups. There is way more money in selling pads & tampons.

I wanna know more ! Where do I get one ? Which one should I get ?
The best resource is the menstrual cup community on livejournal. They cover everything: sizes, brands, folding techniques, troubleshooting and everything in between.




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