For the girls
I've been putting off writing this entry for more than a year, but then I thought about how I first heard about this neat product here on lj and now I only wish I can do someone the same favour.
We're talking about the menstrual cup. It has made a certain part of my life so much easier I can't comprehend how I did without it for almost eight years.
When I first heard about it a year and a half ago I had only the vaguest notion of the whole concept, so I'm going to just start at the beginning:
A reusable menstrual cup is a cone-shaped cup made of soft silicone or latex. It looks like this:
It's inserted like a tampon, but compared to tampons it's healthier, cheaper and better for the enviroment (one cup is meant to last you years and years - imagine how many pads or tampons you use during that time).
It's healthier since it does absolutely no freaky things with you hoohah's pH, nor does it remove its natural secretions, and for those of us who are susceptible to yeast infections that makes a world of difference. There's also no documented risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome.
Personally I'd also like to add that it removes that whole late-night "oh God the communists are attacking and I'm all out of tampons. Is anything open this late?!" And I've also found that I don't have to empty it as many times as I had to change tampon or pad during the day - if you don't have the opportunity to empty it for another hour, no worries - nothing leaks through surgical silicone anyway.
So you might still wonder how you use them? The answer is,
1. Insertion: Wash hands. Fold, insert, twist slightly (to help it unfold and create a tiny bit of vacuum). You can't feel it sitting there and the shape of your anatomy keeps it in place - it won't fall out.
2. Emptying: Wash hands. Pinch it to break the vacuum, remove it, empty it in the toilet and rinse in sink (if there's no sink you can use a water bottle and rinse it over the toilet). Wash hands and reinsert.
3. End of period: Clean by boiling or with sterilising fluid. Put it in its cute little cotton bag.
This might all seem complicated when I put it in writing, but it really isn't. These days I've got insertion and removal down pat and it only takes me a couple of seconds. It takes a bit of practice to get it right the first couple of tries (in the beginning I had a bit of trouble getting it to unfold properly, so it did it by itself a while later - my sister found it hilarious each time I'd go "Whoa!" out of the blue), but it really isn't any more complicated than tampons where when you first started using those.
I know what you're thinking, isn't it messy?
Well, no more than using tampons without applicators. You don't actually touch more blood than you would with a tampon, you just have to see it for a couple of seconds before you tip it into the toilet bowl.
Here are some of the brands you find (Norway is still lousy when it comes to selling these so I had to purchase it online anyway):
MoonCup
DivaCup
Lunette
LadyCup
I'd also like to mention, for no reason at all, that in Norway menstrual cups are sometimes called alvekopper, "elf cups", and I'm still not sure if I find that cute or slightly nauseating.
You know I'm not usually one for product placement, but this is just one of those things where I'm annoyed I didn't know of it earlier. It really does that much of a difference.
Feel free to ask me any questions - anonymously if you want. I've been told these things have been around since the thirties, but since there's always been Things You Aren't Supposed to Discuss it hasn't been as popular as disposable solutions.
And of course because it isn't as commercially viable - why would the corporations want you to buy a product, say, every eight years when they can make you buy them once a month?
We're talking about the menstrual cup. It has made a certain part of my life so much easier I can't comprehend how I did without it for almost eight years.
When I first heard about it a year and a half ago I had only the vaguest notion of the whole concept, so I'm going to just start at the beginning:
A reusable menstrual cup is a cone-shaped cup made of soft silicone or latex. It looks like this:
It's inserted like a tampon, but compared to tampons it's healthier, cheaper and better for the enviroment (one cup is meant to last you years and years - imagine how many pads or tampons you use during that time).
It's healthier since it does absolutely no freaky things with you hoohah's pH, nor does it remove its natural secretions, and for those of us who are susceptible to yeast infections that makes a world of difference. There's also no documented risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome.
Personally I'd also like to add that it removes that whole late-night "oh God the communists are attacking and I'm all out of tampons. Is anything open this late?!" And I've also found that I don't have to empty it as many times as I had to change tampon or pad during the day - if you don't have the opportunity to empty it for another hour, no worries - nothing leaks through surgical silicone anyway.
So you might still wonder how you use them? The answer is,
1. Insertion: Wash hands. Fold, insert, twist slightly (to help it unfold and create a tiny bit of vacuum). You can't feel it sitting there and the shape of your anatomy keeps it in place - it won't fall out.
2. Emptying: Wash hands. Pinch it to break the vacuum, remove it, empty it in the toilet and rinse in sink (if there's no sink you can use a water bottle and rinse it over the toilet). Wash hands and reinsert.
3. End of period: Clean by boiling or with sterilising fluid. Put it in its cute little cotton bag.
This might all seem complicated when I put it in writing, but it really isn't. These days I've got insertion and removal down pat and it only takes me a couple of seconds. It takes a bit of practice to get it right the first couple of tries (in the beginning I had a bit of trouble getting it to unfold properly, so it did it by itself a while later - my sister found it hilarious each time I'd go "Whoa!" out of the blue), but it really isn't any more complicated than tampons where when you first started using those.
I know what you're thinking, isn't it messy?
Well, no more than using tampons without applicators. You don't actually touch more blood than you would with a tampon, you just have to see it for a couple of seconds before you tip it into the toilet bowl.
Here are some of the brands you find (Norway is still lousy when it comes to selling these so I had to purchase it online anyway):
MoonCup
DivaCup
Lunette
LadyCup
I'd also like to mention, for no reason at all, that in Norway menstrual cups are sometimes called alvekopper, "elf cups", and I'm still not sure if I find that cute or slightly nauseating.
You know I'm not usually one for product placement, but this is just one of those things where I'm annoyed I didn't know of it earlier. It really does that much of a difference.
Feel free to ask me any questions - anonymously if you want. I've been told these things have been around since the thirties, but since there's always been Things You Aren't Supposed to Discuss it hasn't been as popular as disposable solutions.
And of course because it isn't as commercially viable - why would the corporations want you to buy a product, say, every eight years when they can make you buy them once a month?