[related-post align=”right”]So there are some people who are a little embarrassed to hear about, um, well…ahem, “feminine issues.” This is not an article for them. This is an article for the other people who like to get all in other people’s personal business, but understand that because of the constraints of polite society, they can’t always ask all the questions they like.
There’s this thing called a menstrual cup! You may have heard of it. It’s a reusable alternative to pads and tampons in the form of a cup that fits comfortably up in your vagina and collects rather than absorbs menstrual blood. Different brands are available in both silicone and rubber, but it’s not my purpose to endorse any particular brand, just to tell you about the ways switching to a menstrual cup had a positive impact on my housekeeping.
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Bathroom storage
I have a tiny bathroom in an old building where storage is at a premium. A big box of tampons would take up approximately 60% of all hidden bathroom space I have. Having a single menstrual cup has allowed me to free up that area for toilet paper storage, hair products, the boyfriend’s shaving accoutrements, and bathroom cleaners.
Sleeping in
I love sleeping in. It’s one of my greatest joys and greatest talents. But if I wanted to sleep in on a heavy flow day, tough luck! I had to get up to change my tampon, or my bed sheets would pay the price. I have not conducted rigorous scientific double blind studies, but my menstrual cup has never failed me in this regard. If I want to be a lazybones who sleeps for 12 hours straight, I can without staining my sheets.
Money
A menstrual cup generally retails for $20-$30 making it a little pricier than a big box of tampons right off the bat. But your box of tampons will run out. I will never have to buy another menstrual cup unless a) lightning strikes my current one or b) I decide to have kids, in which case I’d have to move up to a different model. I’ve been using my cup for 6 years, and I’ve saved tons of cash.
Trash
Blood gets stinky really fast. Ask anyone who works in the restaurant industry, and they’ll tell you, their least favorite job is cleaning out the tampon boxes in the bathroom. Since a menstrual cup collects blood, rather than absorbing it, I can just pour it out and flush it. My trash still smells like regular trash, which isn’t great, but is a world better than decaying tampon smell.
It’s reusable!
After a simple cleaning with hot water (and soap if you like), a menstrual cup is sterile and ready to be used again, as opposed to a tampon which goes straight in the trash with the thousands of its brethren that the average woman will go through in her life. I know that if there’s one thing all our offbeat homies seem to have in common, it’s that they care for our global home.
And for extra bonus hippie points…
Gardening
So apparently menstrual blood is an amazing plant fertilizer. I know, it sounds gross, but let’s put that aside and just think for a moment. It’s a uterine lining. Your body was planning on growing a frickin’ baby in it. So it can probably grow some plants, right? I don’t have a garden to try this myself, but I have friends with menstrual cups who have done this, and swear by it. Many people might have knee jerk reactions to this — hell, I do and I’m the one who brought it up — but blood decomposes quickly, which makes menstrual blood seem pretty innocuous, especially considering some of the chemicals that commonly turn up in commercial fertilizers.
Have questions? Now is your chance to ask things you’d be embarrassed to ask about in person, through the magic anonymity of the internet!
I was sorta curious but still kinda scared about this concept for a few years… About 3 months ago I did a bunch of reading and decided the only way I’d know if it’ll work for me is if I try it. And really, what is there to lose? I ordered a Lunette, and it is amazing. The first time I tried it was during a massive road trip (we’re talking 13 hours per day in a car) and it was the easiest, most painless period I think I’ve ever experienced. It was a complete non-issue. I kept FORGETTING THAT I WAS BLEEDING! I can’t BELIEVE it took me until the age of 30 to try this, and I am convinced that the only reason they’re still considered pretty “offbeat”, is because tampon/pad companies are worried about losing their ‘captive’ customers. Seriously. Amazing.
re: Gardening – I haven’t tried it, but I’ve heard of it, and it doesn’t freak me out (granted, very little does). I mean, in general, animal poo is considered to be a pretty great (and common) fertilizer, so… How is blood any worse/gross/weird than that?
I have endo, has anyone with endo used a cup? I’m reading that it would reduce cramping and such but I’m making the assumption that is for someone who doesn’t have a medical condition tied to their lady parts, I could of course be wrong about that but I’m not finding a lot of information in relation to endo. I am not worried it would make things worse as endo occurs inside the body and generally doesn’t affect the cervix or the vagina, there are exceptions to that but not in my case. Can anyone shed any light to using a cup and having endo.
It shouldn’t make much of a difference, I’d suspect. FWIW my cramps haven’t gotten any better with the cup, but no worse either (it does seem like my period is shorter, though- I think the suction action of the cup might actually slurp the blood out faster.)
I’ve got endo and have used a diva cup for a couple years. No problems once I got the hang of it. Before I was on low-dose birth control, my periods were crazy heavy and tampons didn’t cut it. The diva holds wayyyy more so that worked out great.
I do. I tried Softcups a year or so ago and they helped with the cramps a lot, though I wouldn’t recommend the product. One size fits most, not all, and definitely not me.
Currently, I’m suppressing my period, or I’d get one of the silicone cups. I think they’d be great.
Great Post! I have been meaning to buy a Divacup for ages and after reading halfway through this post I surfed over to drugstore.com and finally made the purchase. Incidentally they are running a special right now for free standard shipping (regular $5.99).
Awww, I didn’t read carefully enough and thought that the cups were on sale for $5.99.
I work at Whole Foods, and I’m debating whether or not I can handle walking through the line at my store with one or not.
I pressured a friend into spontaneously buying one at a store like whole foods and the cashier woman commented on it as “the best decision you’ll ever make!” So you may uncover a secret legion of cup-users!
I have a LadyCup and I loooove it. It’s silicone (I don’t have a latex allergy but I’m not interested in developing one :-P) and I’ve heard they’re more flexible than some other brands. You can boil it, too, which is nice- I usually boil it at the beginning of every period and then use soap and water throughout. Mine occasionally leaks a little when I get up in the morning (the cup shifts position, I guess) but it’s only ever an issue on the first night or two of my period when it’s pretty heavy- I wear a liner as back up all the time anyway because there’s often a little blood leftover around the vaginal walls and stuff after you empty the cup and it can get on your undies otherwise. But overall, it’s waaay better than tampons. I was totally sold as soon as I heard that there were no reported incidents of TSS with the cups.
Only problem I ever had with it is it being too slippery to grab and pull out. I’d end up having to crumple the thing inside, which then, of course, spills the contents.
Would be nice if they adjusted the design so that the post on the end included a loop or hook of some kind.
I think you can find info on each of the brands here- and some having different shapes on the end. I think the meluna has a little ball?
http://sizecharts.livejournal.com/
I end up filing the stem off completely, and I can’t imagine how uncomfortable a loop or hook would be!!
This may be a stupid question, but is it possible to use a cup with an IUD? (Another decision I’m trying to make, but also keep putting off.) So great to read all the positive feedback–maybe I’ll get up the nerve soon!
I’ve read that it’s a bad idea, but I did it for 5 years with no problems. I was just extra careful to check for the IUD at the end of my period. If you’re just getting an IUD, I’d suggest giving it a couple months to let the strings soften/wrap up before trying the cup as well.
NOT a stupid question. I have two friends who’ve had trouble with the interaction between IUD and menstrual cup — in both cases the suction from removing the cup popped the IUD out. I’ve heard not everyone has this problem, but my anecdotal experience would make me worry. Which sucks, because they’re both awesome solutions to ladyparts concerns.
That totally bums me out… The post and comments were getting me excited about it, but I have a low sitting IUD- the doctor even said it could be removed and a new one put in because it’s so low, but it didn’t NEED to be… so I haven’t since it wasn’t the best experience to get in! And the strings are long. So I worry there would be too much of a risk of it coming out 🙁
I read up in the livejournal communities and ordered one anyway…. doesn’t seem to have affected my IUD at all so far, but I’ve had it for 5.5 years so it’s not like it’s new! Just FYI for the IUD gals- if you’re considering it, do plenty of research and make your own informed decision! I’ve read good and bad, decided to go for it, if it turns out badly… I’m the only one to blame 🙂
I’m an obsessive menstrual cup advocate, but I’d recommend not using one with an IUD – my bestie pulled her IUD out while using a menstrual cup and it was, apparently, rather uncomfortable to say the least!
Talk to your doctor and get his/her advice.
I used a cup with an IUD for 4-5 years without any problems. I find that I need to “break the seal” before I remove it anyways so I never pull when it has suction anyways. Also I used the cup for about 4-5 years before I got an IUD so maybe being used to it helps to minimize that problem. Or it might just be that women with certain shapes have that issue and others don’t. My IUD sat so high that I couldn’t find ever find the strings for my IUD on my own (it takes a miner’s helmet, a willing partner and a bit of wine), while the diva cup sits super low so for me, I don’t think they were in the same ballpark. Sorry for the blatant overshare – I guess what I’m trying to say is that this worked for me, but maybe not for everyone.
I have a Diva cup and I have to say it is probably the best purchase I have made in my entire life – no joke. It’s even better than my car or laptop!
You do have to get used to it, and learn how to properly use it. For me, that took maybe two or three periods.
Also, my lady parts like to, umm, suck the cup inside of me, so my diva cup will sometimes seem to get ‘stuck’ because I can’t reach the stem and pull. However, if you just ‘bear down’ (yay for wonderful birth muscles), the cup will eventually move into a position that you can remove it easily.
I have a medium to light flow, so I stick it in each morning and empty it once I get home – usually eliminating the need to empty the cup in a public bathroom. But if you do and are a little squeamish about that, just wipe the cup out with toilet paper and put it back in. I’d recommend a panty liner or something equivalent in that case, but you can still do it.
I usually empty and reinsert in the shower as then I can fully ‘clean’ my vagina so there is no residual period stuff that leaks outside of the cup. If I can’t do that, I just wear a really thin panty liner just so stuff doesn’t get on my underwear.
I really forget that I even have the diva cup inside me. Occasionally it does make me want to pee a bit more (makes sense, a little extra pressure on the bladder) but often I can completely forget. And they work when swimming.
Perhaps the most fantastic part about a menstrual cup is that you can use it when you’re not actually bleeding yet – it doesn’t dry you out like a tampon. I’m on birth control so my periods are pretty steady now, and I just know that I need to put in my cup before I leave the house on Friday. Before I was on birth control, my period was really, really random (PCOS) and sometimes I’d feel like maybe my period was going to come, but maybe it wasn’t. With the diva cup or any menstrual cup, it doesn’t matter. If you feel like maybe your period is going to start, you can put it in, and if it doesn’t, no matter, you can take it out and not worry about a thing.
And finally, you can defecate while wearing a menstrual cup, just in case anyone was wondering.
Sorry, I really, really love my diva cup.
Thank you! You answered my big question of “uh sometimes you can’t be in a private bathroom.”
Would it stand up to high intensity kickboxing? I can only imagine what it would be like with one over enthusiastic kick.
Unless you are bearing down when you kick, it should stay in place. I’ve worn it running, swimming and biking and never had an issue.
I’ve also emptied it in a porta-pot and found that to be no problem. Everything in there came out of me, it can go back in me if it isn’t perfectly clean.
I accidentally tried to do the splits once with it in (Umm, falling can be interesting!) and had no problems! I’ve run, rock climbed, done Pilates, and gone on several hiking/backpacking trips. Although I’ve never done kickboxing, or any particularly high impact sports, I doubt you’d ever have a problem. At least for me, I cannot get the cup out just by pushing, I have to tug it out (although I imagine this could be different for others), and while like I mentioned before my cup has a tendency to travel up, I’ve never had leaking problems from moving in different ways.
I don’t kickbox, but I do bike commute, and I have yet to find a thing I can do that will make my cup come out of place.
I do karate, and my Diva cup is perfect for it. I usually wear a panty-liner too if I am training on a heavier-flow day just in case (all white outfit does not lend itself well to any accidental leaks!), but otherwise, I haven’t had a problem.
I am so fond of my Diva cup. I’m like a menstrual cup evangelist. It really changed everything for me. I never have to worry about scraping together $$ for tampons, and I hated how much they dried things out.
“menstrual cup evangelist” I love that term. This article was actually inspired by a good friend of mine who always ends up extolling the virtues of menstrual cups when drunk at college parties, where for some reason she does not find a receptive audience. My theory was that internet anonymity and offbeat people could get a different more excited fanbase.
Love this article, love it even more for the fact that, as I read it right now, I am wearing my Mooncup (UK)! 😀
hey! fellow mooncupper!))
I have a Diva Cup and love it. I just wanted to add that it may not be necessary to sterilize your cup. (Hey, I don’t sterilize my hubby’s penis!) I wash it thoroughly at the end of my cycle, leave it to air dry, and store it until next month. I have no infection issues, and I assume, my Diva will last a long time!
It also helped me with my weak bladder,a friend told me to try it so I did,now no more pads
Curious, can you say a bit more about how it helped?
How does your friend collect her menstrual blood for use on plants? It sounds good in theory, but I’m having images of a “blood jar” that lives by my toilet…not pretty.
I was wondering the same thing.
Welll… you’re going to want to refrigerate it if you’re not going to use it right away.
And pouring cold liquid on plants’ roots is BAD!
Pests are drawn to blood, and menstrual blood, doubly so. So you don’t want to put it outdoors in a garden “raw”, anyway.
The best method would likely be to either put it in a compost pile or dry it out completely to create something like blood meal. But since you can’t prevent coagulation, you’d probably have to boil it out and then bake the rest? I’m not really sure.
My main point here is that to be safe for other people and to prevent animals from flocking to your yard, you might have to go to a lot of work for a minor payoff.
I believe my friend added it to water for watering the garden, but I’m not clear on the specifics were of storing it until then. Knowing her, my guess is that it was a glass from the kitchen that she washed well afterward and didn’t mention to her housemates, but I’ll be sure to ask next time I see her.
LOVE my divacup. Wearing it right now in fact.
I boil mine at the beginning of each cycle and wear cloth pantyliners as back up but I’ve only had it leak once when I was on my heaviest day and well over the 12 hour limit, trapped on a bus with no restroom :S
Swimming, running, sleeping on my side! Going 12 hours without thinking about my period. Life-changing is not an overstatement.
Some people have said there are no reported cases of TSS with various cup-products. Anyone in the medical community out there know why there should be such a difference with a plastic (silicone, latex, whatever) cup worn for many, many hours versus a tampon worn usually for less time? Just curious how that works out.
My understanding is that TSS is caused by a combination of two things: the bacteria building up in your menstrual blood, and the microscopic abrasions caused by the overdrying that occurs with use of tampons. By using a non-absorptive collector, you avoid the overdrying, thereby preventing bacteria from entering your bloodstream and causing TSS.
Exactly. Also, due to the shape of the cup, the blood is mostly out of contact with your vaginal walls anyway.
I’ve also heard, from a medical research-type person (no idea of her actual title), that the strings from the tampon also help bacteria get into the vagina, and possibly the uterus, increasing the chances of developing TSS. The materials the tampon is made of also helps.
Most of the other people who have commented have already done a fine job extolling the virtues of menstrual cups, so I’ll just add that I got a DivaCup about 6 years ago, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that it totally changed my life and the way I view my period, in a very good way!
Haha omg i was recently reading about the Diva cup and thinking about switching to it. I have in the last year. Started using cloth pads as a sort of joke. My friend had gotten them as a gift and thought they were weird. She was about to chuck them after she showed them to me. I thought they were cute and funky and gave them a try and loved them. But i have recently thought about an alternative to tampons and saw the cup. I have been skeptical about it, so thanks for all this info. You answered tons of questions one brand site couldn’t answer. I am gonna give it a go! 🙂
Just a note on how much trash you are saving by using a cup… I was a Peace Corps volunteer on a remote island where the choice was to burn your garbage or throw it in the ocean. I chose what I felt was the lesser of two definite evils, and burned. And every single time, the last thing at the bottom of the pile that did not want to burn were the used tampons and pads (which were dried out by then- gross, I know). This experience lead me to think about other options, like getting a cup, which I plan to do once I have this baby!
You forgot another benefit! Virtually no risk of toxic shock syndrome from leaving in a tampon for too long!
I don’t use a cup, but I do use Party in My Pants washable pads on my light days (haven’t bought the bigger ones yet, partially because I’m a very heavy bleeder and nervous to leave my fluffy cotton Always behind), so I’ve cut my pad/tampon use down quite a bit.
I have the biggest size pads from Party In My Pants, and they’ve worked really well for me for heavy days. I used to have to wear the biggest size of Always with a pantyliner added on the back, and these cover just as much, and I find they’re less likely to leak.
I looooooooooooooove my Diva!!!!
Has anyone used one of these who feels discomfort with Tampons? I would imagine it is a similar feeling.
Could anyone direct me to a good resource for cloth pads while I’m asking? Bonus points if it’s a DIY pattern!
There’s a massive thread (or possibly two?) over on craftster.org with cloth pad patterns and discussions about their virtues, and also other pad and tampon alternatives… (i think i remeber reading something about using sea-sponge as a tampon alternative? that icked me out a bit…)
Ha ha, I remember reading up on sea sponges once, and the site said you had to wash/boil them first to clear out any sand or sea creatures that might be inside… and I promptly crossed them off my list of options!
I cannot wear tampons because they make my cramps 100x worse. I am a happy cup user.
I think they’re better for me because a) they’re much more flexible and b) they don’t dry you out.
I use pads from Party In My Pants, and they’re so awesome they make me look forward to my period. I’d used other cloth pads before, but they always just leaked through. PIMP pads have a waterproof layer, and that makes all the difference.
Wait. There is a brand called “Party in My Pants?” Amazing.
This made my day, cuz a bar/club/cafe thing, that was supposed the be geeky nerdy thing, but just ended up full of hipsters, just opened recently in Adelade south australia, it’s called PIMP pad….
In the book Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World there is a pattern to make your own cloth pads, including recommendations for various fabrics.
I could not use tampons due to a light flow (even the “light” absorbency ones were too absorbent), so I had used disposable pads up until last year when I bought the Diva Cup. I love the Diva! I don’t have any problems with discomfort and no longer have to deal with the icky feeling of sitting on a nasty pad. I made my own cloth pads and were trying them for a while, too, before I bought a cup and they’re not so bad. But I hated having to keep them around in cold water until I washed them. I feel the Diva Cup is just more convenient and comfortable all-around. 🙂
Any advice for someone with very light periods that don’t even come every month? A menstrual cup doesn’t seem worth it.
Personally I find my cup shines when it’s a light day – I put it in and forget about my period entirely.
I agree! Also, my period isn’t super regular, and I love my cup because (as someone said earlier) I can put it in if I think I am going to get my period, just in case.
Well… I read about cloth pads many years ago, and while i liked the money- and environment-saving aspects, the thought of carrying blood-soaked rags around in my handbag seriously icked me out.
On top of that, i worried about the level of absorbancy for my heavy-end-of-adverage flow… until recently i was using these amazing paper-thin, super-absorbant, perfectly proportioned disposable pads… but, as with every product i’ve ever liked…. they stopped making them 🙁
I’ve been struggling for the last 6 months to find a new brand that i like, to no avail, and have resorted to over-night pads cuz day-time ones all seem to be too short (i get leakage over the front and/or back…)
I’ve never liked tampons for all the reasons mentioned above…
These cup things sound like they may be a viable alternative and the solution to all my problems…. and i think i could handle using cloth-pads just as a back-up leakage catcher… amazing…
One thing I’d like to add is that while some people have reported lighter cramps or shorter periods with menstrual cups, that definitely doesn’t happen for everyone. My cramps are the same (aka horrid) and my period lasts the same amount of time. We’re all different!
yes, this! My cramps are significantly better (2 days of horrid gut-splitting pain instead of 4), but… yeah. There are still 2 days of horrid gut-splitting pain.
I’ve been using a Keeper since I was 19 (I turn 33 next week). When I was 29, my first Keeper started not working as well, I did some quick calculations and was like holy shit I’ve been doing this for ten years. (What happens when I say not working as well is that the seal isn’t as consistent or long lasting.) These are great products. I’m super happy to see so much positive feedback here. Menstrual cups are one of those simple, elegant environmental solutions that work. Again nothing really to add, just really happy to see this.
I have a lunette that I adore (and they come in fancy colors!)
http://www.lunette.com
Also, for the staining issue- stains don’t mean it’s time to get rid of the cup! from what I’ve read, leaving it in the sun for a a few hours will actually naturally bleach out all but the worst stains.
I was super nervous about using a cup at first, but once I got the hang of it (I have an easier time inserting it if I’m sitting down than the standing that worked for tampons)I wouldn’t go back, ever. no mess, no fuss and it holds way more than tampons.
I have PCOS, so my periods are irregular in timing and flow, but it’s really easy to tote the lunette around with me ‘just in case’.
Even in public restrooms, wiping it with toilet paper and then just rinsing it properly the next time works fine.
Seriously, it’s worth the investment. I can’t say enough good things.
Ooh, baking soda is good for stains in silicone cups (don’t know about rubber)! Scrubby it out with baking soda, then rinse it really really well.