Today my menstrual cup arrived. Hooray! I'm excited because it's opening up a whole new way for me to handle my period. There is some buzz about potential chemicals in more typical pads and tampons and also the risks for TSS. I personally wasn't too concerned with that, but I was concerned about the waste aspect. How much of my uterine lining is sitting in a landfill right now, trapped by layers of cotton and plastic? I thought about reusable pads too, but living in a college environment and changing pads as often as I do, having 20+ pads that I would have to wash at the end of the week in a public laundry room wasn't the best idea.
Plus there was a money issue.How much do I pay to make sure I had enough supplies? I figured that I might as well pay $40 this one time and then not buy menstrual products for as long as my cup holds out, which could be years. Awesome! Besides, pads are pretty expensive as it is and I go through a fair few so I hope that my new Lunette Selene will pay for itself in due time.
After I decided to pursue buying a menstrual cup, I researched the different kinds that were out there. Most of them are made out of medical-grade silicone, so I didn't have to worry about comparing materials. Mostly I looked at size and shape. I wanted a cup with ridges at the bottom so that my fingers wouldn't slip off when I tried to remove it and also a flat tab as opposed to a hollow one so that no *achem* gunk would get in it. The Lunette Selene had some good reviews and I decided to go with it because I thought that it would be large enough to handle the task without being too uncomfortable.
Even though I am not currently having my period, I decided to do a trial run just to get a feel for it. Literally. I am going to keep doing this over the next couple of weeks to make sure that I have the insertion and removal techniques down so that I don't have any leakage issues when my time comes. I think I may have to trim the tab a little bit or maybe even off completely, but I'm going to go a little bit at a time. I'm also going to try a few different folding techniques to see which one works best for me.
I think if someone is considering getting a menstrual cup, first and foremost they should be comfortable touching their vagina. I read some reviews online where people were uncomfortable with the fact that they had to pull the cup out of themselves in order to empty it. Plus, there might be some adjusting to do after the cup is inserted. It's almost like contact lenses: if you don't like touching your eye, maybe you should pursue other options. Also, I would suggest doing research and doing it thoroughly. I actually tried my best to measure the distance to my cervix in order to make sure that the cup I was buying wasn't too large. Maybe it's just me, but I thought it was a valid point to consider. I also found this site very helpful for side to side comparisons. Overall, I am pleased with the decision that I made and hopefully I won't have to buy pads ever again!
(image from here)
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