Hello people & welcome to my first ever blog post! In view of Menstrual Hygiene Day on 28th May, I've decided to talk about Menstrual Cups.
Disposable sanitary products like Pads & Tampons are a huge industry! That caters to all menstruating women. An average woman uses around 4-5 pads/tampons a day, for 5 days, every month, has 12-13 cycles a year, and if she menstruates from age 12 to 45, she uses around 10,000 disposable products in her lifetime!! And we are talking about only 1 woman! Imagine the load on our already-fragile environment from all the plastic & gel from these products! Add to that the fact that pads & tampons clog up the gutters which have to be manually cleaned. Yuck, right?
But all's not bleak & dreary! Reusable menstrual hygiene products (Cloth pads, labial pads & menstrual cups) to the rescue! Which do not harm the environment nor contain harmful chemical/scents that are damaging to your delicates.
One wonders that if they're so good, why are they not promoted & used more? Simple!
Reusable are a one-time buy = Less Profits.
Disposable = More & On-going profits.
Do the math yourself !
Coming to today's topic, Menstrual Cups were patented by a group of midwives in 1932! The first commercially successful cup was made of latex & released in USA in 1987. These days most cups are made of medical-grade Silicone or Thermoplastic elastomer, though few brands are made of Latex.
Menstrual cups can be used by all sexually active women & by women who've given birth. Young, virginal girls can be taught its proper insertion & removal too, as long as religious/cultural beliefs permit.
Cups are available in 2-3 sizes & one's size will usually be determined by built, age, no of vaginal births & period flow. You may need to try a few sizes/brands before you find one that you fall in love with. They're easily available online on Amazon, Nykaa, Flipkart, Snapdeal etc.
1. Tampons soak up all vaginal & cervical secretions & leave the vagina dry (& prone to infections) whereas a cup only collects menstrual blood & there's no issue of dryness.
2. Tampons sit higher up & may press on the bladder, causing some amount of urinary incontinence or frequency. Cups sit lower down in the vagina & do not cause any such problems.
3. Peeing/Pooping with a cup - as if you're wearing nothing at all! B'coz the edges of the cup form a suction in the vaginal canal. Whereas a loaded tampon may simply pop out when you strain!
4. Cups have larger capacities & maybe worn upto 12 hours, whereas a tampon has to be changed at least in 6-8 hours, if not before.
5. Cups are eco-friendly! 1 cup easily lasts around 5-10 years! Tampons Bad - destroy environment!
Also, there is no odor as with pads as the blood does not come in contact with air. Also no feeling of wetness!
All activities like running, jumping, lifting heavy weights (oh yeah!), swimming, cycling, horse-riding can be comfortably done wearing the cup with no worries of leakages.
Cup can be worn overnight too (Empty & reinsert before going to bed & again in morning).
Insertion & Removal
Requires a bit of knowledge of female anatomy, willingness to learn & patience. Be totally relaxed, at least the first few times till you get the hang of it.
While inserting the cup has to be folded & there are various ways to do it, which you can read about here.
I would recommend - 1 leg up on the toilet seat when Inserting & squatting on the floor when Removing.
Avoid pulling on the stem of the cup, use it to trace the base, pinch base, move side-to-side to break suction & then GENTLY pull (avoid spill).
So girls, go ahead! Buy yourselves a cup & thank me later! :-)
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hi thanks for this post.I wanted to ask you whether it will be difficult for virgins to use this.when i told my mom she was not in favour of it so i want a gynae's opinion so that i can pt forward the points to my mom.
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Hello. Insertion and removal of the cup requires a bit of learning and is definitely easier in women who are sexually active and/or have given birth. That is not to say that Virgins CANNOT use them, but some cultures still regard the 'hymen' as an essential part of virginity (though it can be broken by methods other than intercourse). Very young girls may not be able to grasp the concept of inserting a cup in the vagina, but if you are mature enough to understand that it is a menstrual hygiene device and will NOT harm you in any way, you should definitely give it a try at least! It helps if you've used Tampons before (easier to insert & remove).
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