I know what you are thinking "ew gross I would never use that". I use to think exactly the same thing when I first discovered them. The idea of a cup inside my body collecting my blood repulsed me, plus how can something so big be comfortable?
I have been using a cup fully for about 4 years now. I did so much research on them and watched so many videos before I decided to buy an inexpensive one and give it a go. Now I'm not going to lie the first week with it was discouraging but then so was my first week using a tampon it just takes some getting use to and practice.
Now let's talk about the benefits of a menstrual cup.
The best benefit by far is the cost. The amount of money you save is insane. The average lifetime cost of a menstrual cup is just $120 where the average cost of a lifetime of tampons is $2400.
Another benefit is, of course, environmental impact. A woman can go through over 12000 tampons in her lifetime, these end up in landfill and take 450 years to decompose. All the tampons you use will outlive you, your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren... You get what I mean. Menstrual cups are made of silicone and I hear you silicone doesn't break down! But this is good, it is very durable and isn't likely to end up in the stomachs of our marine animal friends. Plus silicone can be recycled!
Now here are a few quick points that I find convenient and great about cups.
- Cramps are significantly less. Im not saying they're gone completely but I am not bed bound for an entire day.
- Cups don't absorb they just collect. This means no more dry vagina!
- The risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome is significantly reduced! Like only two people have had it globally who are cup users.
- You can use it for up to 12 hours! You can wear it to bed and not have to worry about it at all.
- A cup holds 3x as much as a tampon. Most cups hold 12ml. Most people who think they have heavy flows don't actually fill a cup up in a day.
Now for those of you who are maybe inspired or are already cup users here are a few tips I have learned.
- Sometimes the cup it harder to pull out but all you have to do is push! You should be able to grab the bottom. If that's still not enough, squat and push!
- If you for some reason need to change in a public bathroom either bring a bottle of water with you to rinse the cup out over the toilet or you can simply dab out excess with toilet paper.
- I found sometimes that when you pour the cup out the blood can stain the bottom of the bowl. To avoid scaring the next person who uses the toilet and to avoid having to clean it I lay some toilet paper over the water this helps it not to stick to the bowl.
- The quickest way to take it out is in the shower, you can rinse it right there and put it back in easy peasy.
I hope you enjoyed and maybe consider giving a cup a shot.
I would recommend the Organicup as it is 100% organic and sustainable. They also have donated more than 10000 cups to people in need.
Most Helpful Opinions