[pimp] Menstrual Cups
So this entry will likely not really apply to anyone who doesn't have experience with monthly girlytiems. But if you do, I really want to talk to you about menstrual cups! Anyway, I'm not planning on cutting this entry, so if you are happy with disposable pads and/or tampons and/or think this might be tmi for you, then feel free to skip this entry. :p
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So I've always had problems with terrible leakage ever since I've begun menstruating. I change my posture a lot and am fairly active, so the relative positions of my vagina and the pad apparently just don't match up, especially when I'm sleeping or sitting down. Even super longs don't always cut it.
I first heard about menstrual cups about four years ago, when I was sixteen. I really liked the idea that they last 10 years and are reusable, but I felt wary because I had never stuck anything up my vagina and wasn't really inclined to do so, so I worried about problems with insertion and the like. Four years passed. I still thought about them and wanted to switch, but I had resigned myself to living with disposable shit.
Cue earlier this year, when I realized the existence of cloth pads/sea sponges/etc. I really liked the idea of reusable menstrual products, so I decided to look more into this. I began thinking more about menstrual cups again, and I was sold on the ability to go swimming during my period. :P Superficial sell, maybe, but it prompted me to just get over my revulsion of sticking anything into my vagina.
So yesterday was the first time I used a cup. Before then, I've had nothing wider than a finger up my vagina. There is a learning curve to this, and a really steep one for people like me, who just aren't that well acquainted with their vaginas and don't really care to be. My first insertion took several different positions and maybe 30 minutes. My first removal was even worse - three separate attempts, and it took 30 minutes to finally get it out, with blood getting everywhere.
I might have given up, except that actually using the cup felt amazing. I couldn't feel it at all, and I didn't experience any leakage, which has basically never happened to me before. But practice makes perfect, and now I've got it down to 1-2 minute insertion and <5 minute removal with no mess. I've still not needed lube. :>
So basically, even people who are more or less nonlibidoist like me can use a cup. There are a large number of varieties, some of which are better for different body shapes than others. My cervix sits very low, and my flow isn't heavy, so I got the shortest cup on the market (which has basically the smallest capacity), but there are so many different kinds that everyone should be able to find one that will fit both one's body and one's flow level. Having a cup is also really useful for really knowing how much one's flow is; I've been emptying mine about every 10-12 hours (with 12 hours seeming to be the maximum amount of time one should leave a cup in one's body), and I usually don't even fill it during that amount of time, despite my cup having such a small capacity (9-11 ml, depending on the source).
It's really worth it in the end, imo, which is why I am pimping it to my flist. Even for those of us who are asexual and kinda wary about doing things with our girlparts.
Resources: menstrual_cups. Here is a brand comparison listing all the different brands and sizes available and comparing them by width, length, and capacity.
Here is a guide for virgins.
Both of these posts helped me a lot when I was deciding what to buy and stuff, and the community itself is really a wealth of information.
I really hope some people on my flist decide to switch over! ♥
*
So I've always had problems with terrible leakage ever since I've begun menstruating. I change my posture a lot and am fairly active, so the relative positions of my vagina and the pad apparently just don't match up, especially when I'm sleeping or sitting down. Even super longs don't always cut it.
I first heard about menstrual cups about four years ago, when I was sixteen. I really liked the idea that they last 10 years and are reusable, but I felt wary because I had never stuck anything up my vagina and wasn't really inclined to do so, so I worried about problems with insertion and the like. Four years passed. I still thought about them and wanted to switch, but I had resigned myself to living with disposable shit.
Cue earlier this year, when I realized the existence of cloth pads/sea sponges/etc. I really liked the idea of reusable menstrual products, so I decided to look more into this. I began thinking more about menstrual cups again, and I was sold on the ability to go swimming during my period. :P Superficial sell, maybe, but it prompted me to just get over my revulsion of sticking anything into my vagina.
So yesterday was the first time I used a cup. Before then, I've had nothing wider than a finger up my vagina. There is a learning curve to this, and a really steep one for people like me, who just aren't that well acquainted with their vaginas and don't really care to be. My first insertion took several different positions and maybe 30 minutes. My first removal was even worse - three separate attempts, and it took 30 minutes to finally get it out, with blood getting everywhere.
I might have given up, except that actually using the cup felt amazing. I couldn't feel it at all, and I didn't experience any leakage, which has basically never happened to me before. But practice makes perfect, and now I've got it down to 1-2 minute insertion and <5 minute removal with no mess. I've still not needed lube. :>
So basically, even people who are more or less nonlibidoist like me can use a cup. There are a large number of varieties, some of which are better for different body shapes than others. My cervix sits very low, and my flow isn't heavy, so I got the shortest cup on the market (which has basically the smallest capacity), but there are so many different kinds that everyone should be able to find one that will fit both one's body and one's flow level. Having a cup is also really useful for really knowing how much one's flow is; I've been emptying mine about every 10-12 hours (with 12 hours seeming to be the maximum amount of time one should leave a cup in one's body), and I usually don't even fill it during that amount of time, despite my cup having such a small capacity (9-11 ml, depending on the source).
It's really worth it in the end, imo, which is why I am pimping it to my flist. Even for those of us who are asexual and kinda wary about doing things with our girlparts.
Resources: menstrual_cups. Here is a brand comparison listing all the different brands and sizes available and comparing them by width, length, and capacity.
Here is a guide for virgins.
Both of these posts helped me a lot when I was deciding what to buy and stuff, and the community itself is really a wealth of information.
I really hope some people on my flist decide to switch over! ♥