Adventures with a menstrual cup, a reccomendation.
(now that I have your attention.)
So, being the open minded and environmentally aware person I am, I decided to have an adventure with my girly bits this month. You are all girls, so what follows, while perhaps not relevant to your interests, is certainly relevant to your personages. Nevertheless, I have cut it, for those of you who may not be comfortable with your girly bits, or, more pertinently, with mentions of mine.
For years, (nine years come July, actually), I have dreaded my period. I don't get much of the PMS, and my cramps haven't always been as bad as they get now, but I dreaded it none-the-less. This was mostly because of the uncomfortable, stinky, environmentally unsound abomination that is the disposable pad. They leak. They have to be changed frequently. They're bulky and forbid the wearing of tight pants or swimsuits. And they pile up in the bathroom garbage can rapidly, making my inner tree hugger cringe every day for six days every month.
Uh, gee, Carolyn, ever heard of tampons?
Well, yes, in fact, I have. They're also essentially uncomfortable, needless waste, but with the added bonus of TSS! Just what every moody, cramping girl wants! Okay, I know you don't always get TSS with tampons, but that doesn't negate the fact that it can and does happen, and so my overly protective body -- the very one that decided I couldn't jump hurdles any more when I found out the wood was splintering -- does everything in its power to make me not wear them. So...problem not solved.
Now, I am a no-good, dirty hippie, and as such, I hang out at all kinds of no-good dirty hippie LJ communities like
naturalliving. There, many women were in on a well-kept secret...a secret than intrigued me, but that I was too grossed out by not to check out. They called it a "menstrual cup," and they claimed all sorts of wonderful things about it. But I ignored it, because when I first heard about it, I was too freaked out by my own cervix to even consider such a weird contraption, and after that I just couldn't be bothered looking into it. Until about three weeks ago, that is; that's when I (being cheap and also broke) asked my mother to pick one up for me.)
So, for all of you who are sitting here politely and wondering "what the hell is a menstrual cup?"...What the Hell is a Menstrual Cup?: It's basically a vaguely funnel-shaped silicone (or latex rubber) cup (except without the hole) that you shove inside of your cervical canal, which then sits there all suctiony and collects all of that good old menstrual fluid. The average woman only has to empty the thing twice a day, and forgets about it for the rest of the time. You can swim. You can wear frilly knickers. You can go through your ordinary routine without wondering where the nearest bathroom is. And many women keep their cups for ten years, which means that despite the initial $32 CND cost, they save approximately $928 CND. Even if you replace it every year you still save roughly $72 CND a year. Think how many new cds that could buy you!
So I bought one. And I tried a dry-run or thirty (stupid), and briefly panicked because I thought I might have a septate hymen (still might, but w/e, it's stretched now), and then, come day two of period, got the thing in. And couldn't feel it in at all. And didn't leak despite it being my heaviest day and me leaving it in for 12 hours (overnight). Okay, so at first I had to sit myself in an inch and a half of water to do it, but I got better, and now it only takes a couple of seconds. A few seconds twice a day, and then I can forget that I have my period at all.
As for the removal, it's not nearly as gross as it sounds. You're supposed to be able to do it without spillage, but due to...smallness issues in the Carolyn region...I don't worry to much about it, because all I can think is "getitoutgetitoutgetit-ahh..." But even with minor spillage, it's really not anywhere NEAR as gross as pads, or tampons (in which the string often got...wet...). You don't even really see much of it, except the residual blood in the cup itself. I wear a rubber glove, but that's because I have nails (and sometimes even scary guitar nails), and in the past three weeks I've nicked myself one too many times to go digging without it. Though there isn't that much digging, actually.
Obviously this sort of thing does require a certain degree of comfort with your body. But seriously? It's the twenty-first century, ladies. Go ahead, say hello to your vaginas! (and I mean that in the least extreme-feminism way possible.)
So, being the open minded and environmentally aware person I am, I decided to have an adventure with my girly bits this month. You are all girls, so what follows, while perhaps not relevant to your interests, is certainly relevant to your personages. Nevertheless, I have cut it, for those of you who may not be comfortable with your girly bits, or, more pertinently, with mentions of mine.
For years, (nine years come July, actually), I have dreaded my period. I don't get much of the PMS, and my cramps haven't always been as bad as they get now, but I dreaded it none-the-less. This was mostly because of the uncomfortable, stinky, environmentally unsound abomination that is the disposable pad. They leak. They have to be changed frequently. They're bulky and forbid the wearing of tight pants or swimsuits. And they pile up in the bathroom garbage can rapidly, making my inner tree hugger cringe every day for six days every month.
Uh, gee, Carolyn, ever heard of tampons?
Well, yes, in fact, I have. They're also essentially uncomfortable, needless waste, but with the added bonus of TSS! Just what every moody, cramping girl wants! Okay, I know you don't always get TSS with tampons, but that doesn't negate the fact that it can and does happen, and so my overly protective body -- the very one that decided I couldn't jump hurdles any more when I found out the wood was splintering -- does everything in its power to make me not wear them. So...problem not solved.
Now, I am a no-good, dirty hippie, and as such, I hang out at all kinds of no-good dirty hippie LJ communities like
naturalliving. There, many women were in on a well-kept secret...a secret than intrigued me, but that I was too grossed out by not to check out. They called it a "menstrual cup," and they claimed all sorts of wonderful things about it. But I ignored it, because when I first heard about it, I was too freaked out by my own cervix to even consider such a weird contraption, and after that I just couldn't be bothered looking into it. Until about three weeks ago, that is; that's when I (being cheap and also broke) asked my mother to pick one up for me.)
So, for all of you who are sitting here politely and wondering "what the hell is a menstrual cup?"...What the Hell is a Menstrual Cup?: It's basically a vaguely funnel-shaped silicone (or latex rubber) cup (except without the hole) that you shove inside of your cervical canal, which then sits there all suctiony and collects all of that good old menstrual fluid. The average woman only has to empty the thing twice a day, and forgets about it for the rest of the time. You can swim. You can wear frilly knickers. You can go through your ordinary routine without wondering where the nearest bathroom is. And many women keep their cups for ten years, which means that despite the initial $32 CND cost, they save approximately $928 CND. Even if you replace it every year you still save roughly $72 CND a year. Think how many new cds that could buy you!
So I bought one. And I tried a dry-run or thirty (stupid), and briefly panicked because I thought I might have a septate hymen (still might, but w/e, it's stretched now), and then, come day two of period, got the thing in. And couldn't feel it in at all. And didn't leak despite it being my heaviest day and me leaving it in for 12 hours (overnight). Okay, so at first I had to sit myself in an inch and a half of water to do it, but I got better, and now it only takes a couple of seconds. A few seconds twice a day, and then I can forget that I have my period at all.
As for the removal, it's not nearly as gross as it sounds. You're supposed to be able to do it without spillage, but due to...smallness issues in the Carolyn region...I don't worry to much about it, because all I can think is "getitoutgetitoutgetit-ahh..." But even with minor spillage, it's really not anywhere NEAR as gross as pads, or tampons (in which the string often got...wet...). You don't even really see much of it, except the residual blood in the cup itself. I wear a rubber glove, but that's because I have nails (and sometimes even scary guitar nails), and in the past three weeks I've nicked myself one too many times to go digging without it. Though there isn't that much digging, actually.
Obviously this sort of thing does require a certain degree of comfort with your body. But seriously? It's the twenty-first century, ladies. Go ahead, say hello to your vaginas! (and I mean that in the least extreme-feminism way possible.)