A cup for WHERE? Menstrual cups: a different solution

Years ago when I was a senior in high school I was browsing the internet for freebies, particularly free pad and tampon samples. I ran across menstrual cups in my pursuit of savings; I hated seeing how much hard-earned money went into that time of the month. Back then I only found cups around $40-$50--a steep investment for a college-bound high school student with no after-school job.

Even though it was super pricey I spent hours watching all the YouTube videos. If you've tried cups or at least looked into them, you know what I mean. There is literally a plethora of videos out there. Happy cup owners promote them for the convenience, cost-effectiveness, environmental benefits, and sometimes just because it is a neat idea. Some women might be squeamish but there are those of us who are too curious about the complexities of the female body to worry about a little blood. Flash forward years later with more affordable options and here I am getting my first cup!

Hold on, what is a cup anyways?

Meluna Large Menstrual cups
Used with permission from Meluna

A menstrual cup is usually made out of medical grade silicone or a soft, approved polymer (Meluna brand cups are made out of a blend of polymers, TPE). There are now a staggering array of different brands but the constant is always a soft, malleable, cup-shaped device set in below the cervix to catch menstrual fluid. Usually they have a stem that can range from being a long, well, stem-shaped component (like the blue one in the image) to grab hold of and pull to a small knob (like the red one) for the same purpose or no stem at all (like the purple). A lot of companies make a size for women "who haven't given birth" and one "for those who have," generally every woman's body is different and having given birth or not is only a helpful guideline. Here's a helpful size chart.

Why?

Usually the only place you will find menstrual cups is a whole foods store. (Buy from the US HERE). So if they are not that common, why bother hunting them down? Well for one they are not common because it is hard to make money off a reusable item that only needs to be purchased once every five (and often more) years. There is a whole online community for them on LiveJournal!

Convenience--these puppies will set you free. Menstrual cups need to be changed less often because they can hold more, which is a liberating experience when we're so used to memorizing bathroom locations and planning our days around that. Relying on pads and tampons means depending on whether you remembered them and brought enough. Guess what camp I'm in. Yep, I catch myself running to the bathroom cramming toilet paper into my panties. Because you can wear them preemptively without risking TSS or drying like tampons, you never have to find out your period started by finding stains on your cute underwear (the number of lacey underwear I've ruined that way...) Meluna even makes a sport variety for women with strong pelvic floor muscles recommended for pole dancers and other athletes. You can still run, invert, stretch, and do whatever you please once you find the right cup for you.

The savings are another huge motivator. There is a reason tampon/pad companies can afford to put out commercials constantly. One cup can last 5-10 years with the proper care, some women report longer durability. (DivaCup recently changed their marketing to say they recommend replacement every year although users report they still last up to 10 years.)

The environmental impact of cups versus disposable products is huge. I personally use up at least a pack of tampons/pads every period, multiply this by twelve months then by 5-10 years... that's a lot of garbage. This is actually what got me back into shopping for menstrual cups even though I don't need them for a few months.

Health motivates a lot of women as well. Menstrual cups do not have the risk of TSS that tampons do and since there is no wet pad rubbing you like a diaper, they also promote a rash-free period. There are a lot of concerns about the fibers in tampons, such as rayon, and bleaching agents in both tampons and pads. Additionally, tampons and pads are often scented and some women (myself included) don't like the idea of fragrances in our lady business. Furthermore--when did a period become a disease? This is my personal bias but it seems to me a lot of the disposable menstrual product business treats periods like some crippling disease that makes it impossible to do sports or smell normal without ponying up to buy their products. Smell brings me to another point: periods with pads and tampons tend to get smelly.

So now you know!

I hope this is helpful to some of you out there. Menstrual cups are not for everyone but they are sure a great thing for a lot of women. I am getting ready to order my own (Meluna!) very soon and I'll let you know what my experiences are.

**Update: Now available through Flexines Shop!