WOMEN’S HEALTH – LET’S TALK ABOUT MENSTRUAL CUPS!

Look in your bathroom cabinet, drawer, or peek into wherever you store your menstrual products. Ask yourself Marie Kondo’s iconic question: Do these items spark joy? I asked myself that same question a few years ago and the answer was a definitive no. So I made the switch to reusable period products. Now, I spend less money on period supplies and produce less environmentally harmful waste. If you’re considering making the switch too, this blog series will give you the unfiltered truth about menstrual products. 
 
First up: Menstrual cups!
 
Menstrual cups have many similarities to tampons. You fold them up, slide them into your vagina, and they create a seal that catches your menstrual blood. Simply pull the cup out when you’re ready to change it (at least every 12 hours), dump the blood, rinse the cup out with soap and water, and then reinsert. In between cycles, you can boil your cup to more thoroughly clean it.

PROS:

• They’re eco-friendly. Cups create almost no waste. According to National Geographic, a single menstruator will use somewhere between 5 and 15 thousand pads and tampons during their lifetime, which often end up in landfills. You know those plastic applicators tampons come with? They take 500 YEARS to decompose. Switching to a cup can significantly reduce the amount of plastic you contribute to landfills. 
• You don’t have to figure out how to throw away your period products. 13-year-old me feared  my dog/dad/brother finding my tampons in the trash, so I would wrap them in as much toilet paper as possible. 20-year-old me had a hard time figuring out how to throw away used tampons on long backpacking trips or at frat parties with no trash can in the bathroom. I no longer run into those problems now that I use a cup. 
• They save you money. When I left for college and suddenly had to buy my own period products, I was shocked at how expensive they were! The average menstruator spends $84+ a year on period products. By contrast, the Lunette menstrual cup is only $34 and lasts for 2 years. Switching to a cup for two years could net you $134 of savings! 
• Cups hold more blood than a tampon. Diva cups hold one ounce of blood (28 milliliters), while most tampons can only absorb 5 milliliters of blood. That’s almost 6x better performance! 
• Cups don’t need to change as frequently. The longer you have a tampon in, the higher risk you are for toxic shock syndrome (TSS). You’re supposed to change your tampon at least every 8 hours to reduce your risk of TSS, but you only need to change your cup every 12 hours. 
• Cups won’t dry out your vagina. Tampons are great at soaking up blood, but they’re also indiscriminate absorbers. The cotton and rayon in tampons soak up not just blood, but any other vaginal secretions or natural lubricating fluid. If you’ve ever had to pull out a tampon and found the amount of friction painful, it’s because the tampon absorbed all of your friction-easing vaginal lubrication. Cups don’t dry out your vagina like that - the cup isn’t absorbing blood like a tampon, just collecting it. 
• Cups make period planning easy. Nights out on my period were always hard when I was using tampons. I had to pack extra tampons with me and find a place to put them. More than once, I resorted to shoving them down the front of my boot because I didn’t have any pockets. With a cup, you don’t have to carry any extra supplies. Whenever you need to change your cup, just dump out the blood and replace it. No back-up supplies necessary!  
• Cups are more discreet than tampons. Cups have a little bit of a tip that sits at the entrance of your vagina, whereas tampons have a longer string that’s easier to spot. If you’ve ever been concerned about a tampon string slipping out of your swimsuit, worry no longer! Cups are much less visible. 
• You get more exposure to your menstrual blood. This might be a con for some people, but I like it because I can make sure I’m not bleeding more or less than my average menstrual flow. It also makes it easier to keep an eye out for any concerning large clots.  

Rachel Desmond
Women's Health Program Manager

CONS:

• You’re going to get blood on your hands. I’ve found myself in a public bathroom stall, wondering how to get to the sink without someone looking at my bloody hand and screaming. So far I’ve managed to avoid traumatizing anyone! 
• You might have some blood splatter to clean up. When you pull the cup out, it can suddenly spring into its original shape since your vaginal muscles are no longer constraining it, which might create some blood spatter on the toilet seat. It won’t be more than a couple drops so as long as you wipe up the blood spots as soon as you notice, they won’t be too difficult to remove. When I carry my cup from the toilet to the sink to wash it out, sometimes blood can drip off the cup and end up on the floor or counter. Wrapping it in toilet paper helps! 
•  Inserting a cup is a more hands-on process. It might take some adjusting to get used to how intimate you have to be with your body to insert a cup. Over time though, you’ll get used to it. Discomfort with your body (the one that you live in for your whole life) might be something worth trying to overcome. 
• Cups can make some weird noises when they seal to your vaginal walls. The sealing process can make a squelching noise. If you’re somewhere with thin walls, I would highly recommend turning on the bathroom fan or hitting the hand dryer button on your way into the bathroom. 
• They take more work to clean than a tampon. You’re not just throwing them away after each use (which is the whole point) so you have to take care of your cup. You should sanitize it every cycle by boiling it for for ten minutes. 

credit:https://globalnews.ca/news/6535090/pads-tampons-climate-change/