If you're male or not having to deal with that time of the month, you'll probably want to give this one a skip. (I won't take it personally, promise.)
But if periods are your reality, I highly suggest you read on.
Today we’re getting up close and personal, and hopefully change a life or two in the process.
Humble Beginnings
Growing up, I was a sanitary pad user. It was easy to use, cheaply available, and everyone else seemed to be using it. So I just went with it, no questions asked.
Which is not to say I was a fan of pads. I always found them incredibly wasteful and uncomfortable. Plus there was the persistent worry of nighttime leakage.
But for decades, I persisted. Partly because I wasn't educated on the alternatives (the ignorant fool). But probably more due to inertia. I always had a stock of pads neatly stored in the various homes I lived in, and each time I ran low, I automatically went to the supermarket for more. With the constant supply of pads, I never really considered switching to anything else.
A Minor Upgrade
Eventually though, while I was living in the UK, I began experimenting with tampons, which I found more convenient but still extremely uncomfortable.
Inserting and removing tampons was literally irritating, and wearing them always left me feeling extremely dehydrated. On top of the discomfort, it felt wrong to have this tiny thing absorb all of my wonderful bodily fluids, not just my period. Plus, it's not much better than pads when it comes to the environmental impact. Imagine all those landfills filled with… you get the picture.
A few years back, I stumbled across a Facebook post by a former colleague, a Thai lady in her 30s who'd recently switched to menstrual cups for environmental reasons and discovered they were a life changer. The post was detailed and explained her experience, and it planted the idea of cups in my mind.
The idea was nice, but the reality was I continued with my pads (I’d switched back to my humble beginnings), buying cart loads of them every other month and getting consistently frustrated by the discomfort from wearing them, and the almost nightly leakage. I was better informed by this point, but inertia reigned.
Things continued in this way until I was on the cusp of my move to Ho Chi Minh City (pun totally intended). I realised: If I’m ever going to do it, now is the time. I can make the transition before I move, buy my cup from a reputable seller in Thailand (I stupidly had this perception of Vietnam as a hinterland where nothing was available), and arrive in Vietnam pad/tampon-free.
I didn't explore far and wide for a brand (I'm not a fan of bargain hunting in general. I value time spent hunting far more than the money I could potentially save.) OrganiCup was bombarding my Instagram and Facebook with promotional posts. So I went on their site, everything looked legit, they have an authorised reseller in Thailand. There was a buy-one-get-one-free deal, and so I ordered.
A Woman Reborn
It's been 4 periods now with the cup. And it truly changed my life—I am a woman reborn. Zero leakage, empty once in the morning and once before bed (never have to do it outside the house), zero waste.
To sweeten the deal even more, a cup lasts 10 years. No more monthly purchases and wasting money on what’s basically toxic waste.
O’ odious pads/tampons, I bid you adieu.
Some Tips From Me
It can be a scary experience inserting a cup into your private parts, but if you get over that, it's a real life changer and there's really no good reason for you not to switch. So here are some tips for a smooth transition.
Before you buy your cup, figure out your size. Different brands will have different size charts. I got a Mini and A sized OrganiCup. Both work fine and I switch depending on the flow. (I tend to wear the A, which is bigger, at night.)
You figure out your size by measuring how high up your cervix is. Sounds a little daunting, but it's basically putting a finger up your vagizzle and trying to feel for a firmer, muscly wall. That's your cervix. Gauge how far in your finger is, then just convert that to centimeters using a ruler.1 (Plenty of websites and videos online will educate you on what the cervix looks like and how to feel for it. I'll leave that bit to you.)
Use the size chart for the brand of your choice to figure out what the right cup size for you is. You'll want a brand and size where, once inserted, the entire cup is inside your vagina. You can cut the stem if it protrudes, you'll know what's right for you once you've tried it on (in?) a couple of times.
Once you've bought your cup (or cups if like me you want to experiment with sizes), you'll need to sterilise it in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. (I always do 5.) Once sterilised, leave it to air-dry then store it in whatever container your cup manufacturer gives you. OrganiCup gave me tiny cloth pouches (which I also sterilised).
You'll want to practice inserting and removing your cup when you're not on your period to find out what fold works best for you, and which position you should be in to insert the cup. I tried a couple of different things. For me the punch-down fold and sitting on the toilet works best.
To insert the cup, simply follow the manual you get with yours. There are also lots of articles online you can read. Even if you don't go with OrganiCup, I find their free how-to section pretty informative. I basically followed that.
The cup will never ever leak. And you'll be surprised how little you bleed even during your heaviest days. If your cup leaks, then you're not inserting it right. I couldn’t get it right until my 4th period, and now it's leak-free.
My mistake was inserting the cup too far in, thinking it wouldn't suction properly and would leak and/or fall out if I don't push it in like a maniac. But how far in to push your cup will depend on where your cervix is. Yes, that thing you were feeling up some points ago.
Your cervix will be lower during menstruation, and everyone's cervix position differs. Your cup has to sit below the cervix. Otherwise it's leakage galore. So, I strongly suggest you feel where your cervix is just before you put your cup in, then make sure your cup doesn't go in deeper than that.
As long as your cup is entirely inside you (that's where size matters2), and is properly suctioned, it won't fall out. For me, I didn't have to push it very far in at all. The cup sits comfortably at the base of my vagina and that appears to do the trick.
To check whether the cup suctioned properly, feel around the base of the cup. If it's smooth and round, then it's fully unfolded. If not, then you'll have to fiddle a bit to get it to unfold properly. Your cup manufacturer will have instructions on how to do that.
To remove the cup, just pinch the base of the cup (not the stem) and gently pull it out. This should be pretty easy if your cup hasn't gone too far in (the cup will likely move upward when it’s inside your body. And no, it won't disappear up your vagizzle, never to be found again). If it's gone so far in that you can’t pinch the base of the cup, just relax and use your muscles to push the cup out to the point where you can have a firm grip, then gently pull.
To empty your cup during a period, just rinse it under running water. You can use odourless soap (the kind they sell for your lady parts) if you want. I use normal hand soap, and often I just rinse it with the bum gun.
If you're a cup novice and still figuring out how to insert the cup properly, you may want to wear a light pad just to be safe. But really, if you're inserting it right, you don't need anything. It is 100% leak-free. It felt a little scary going without pads at first, but once I figured out how to insert the cup properly, it didn't leak at all and I was liberated from the tyranny of pads forever. Felt pretty good, I tell ya.
Once you're done with your period, sterilise your cup in boiling water for 3-5 minutes, leave it to air-dry, then store it away, ready for the next month!
And that’s it. Those are my tips for switching to a menstrual cup. It’s not the easiest thing in the world, but it’s not as daunting as it sounds either.
Change Your Life
Switching to cups has been one of the best decisions I've ever made, probably up there in the top three. It's comfortable (you don't feel it at all), convenient (you can exercise/swim/etc.3), cheap (a cup will last you 10 years), hassle-free (empty twice a day, don't have to carry pads), and worry-free (zero leakage). Plus, it's great for the environment. What's not to love!
It changed my life, and it can change yours too.
Until next Friday… Stay cool, stay safe, stay thoughtful,
Val
I shouldn't have to tell you this, but don't stick a ruler up your vagizzle.
Hmm…
Important disclaimer: you cannot engage in penetrative hanky panky. No ma'am you can't.