
In Mexico, 91% of women use the sanitary napkin as a menstrual management product. However, little by little the menstrual cup has made its way into the market and into the minds of women who are looking for more comfortable and safer alternatives. In this article we tell you what a menstrual cup is and some features that make it a suitable option.
What are menstrual cups?
The menstrual cup is a type of menstrual management (or feminine hygiene) product that is reusable. Its name comes from its shape, as it is a small, flexible cup made of silicone. It is inserted into the vagina to collect blood during menstruation, it does not absorb it. You could say that a menstrual cup is like a glass of water, while a tampon works like a sponge.
Your cup can collect more blood than other methods and is reusable. That's why it's an interesting option, not only because of how comfortable it can be, but also because it's an environmentally friendly alternative to tampons or tampon sizes.
Although it is more or less recent to hear about the menstrual cup, already since the late nineteenth century appeared the first accessories that resembled in form or function. But it was not yet their time, because it was a revolution and a change of customs.
It also didn't help that around that time another menstrual management product was patented: the tampon. Not only was it the competition, but it had a whole advertising apparatus that included a documentary produced by Walt Disney.
It was only in our century that the change of mentality allowed the menstrual cup to be rescued as an alternative and numerous brands emerged. Now it is no longer a scandal that a woman is in contact with her body and we are more aware of the waste we generate. That is why the menstrual cup has fully entered the competition among feminine hygiene products.
Menstrual cup: first steps
If you are interested in starting to use a menstrual cup, it is important to talk to your gynecologist. Although nothing prevents you from buying any that you find on the internet or in pharmacies, the ideal is to find out the right size for you. Because yes, there are different sizes and shapes to meet different needs, so it would be best to take into account some things to make the best decision, such as...
- Your age
- The location of your cervix
- How abundant is your flow
- How firm or flexible do you need your cup to be?
- Cup capacity
- The strength of your pelvic floor muscles
- Whether or not you have had children
In general, small cups are recommended for women under 30 who have not had children. Larger sizes are recommended for women over 30 who have had children vaginally or who have a heavier flow.
Depending on the amount of flow you have you can use your cup for 6 hours and up to 12 hours, which makes it a perfect alternative for when you have to be away from home or at night. After 12 hours you must remove the cup, empty it and you can reinsert it, although if you have heavy flow the recommendation is to remove it before to avoid leaks.
Why use a menstrual cup?
There are many opinions on the use of the menstrual cup, but generally these are the reasons why many women choose to use it as their menstrual management product.
- It is economical: the lifetime of a menstrual cup can be up to 5 years, so in that time you will only pay for the cost of the cup. Unlike tampons or sanitary napkins, where you have to buy continuously and it costs up to 100 dollars a year.
- It's safe: because they collect blood instead of absorbing it, there's no risk of toxic shock syndrome, an infection related to tampon use. Plus, a certified cup is made of medical-grade materials, so they won't hurt or irritate you either.
- Collect more blood: A menstrual cup can collect up to 2 ounces of flow. Tampons, for example, only collect one-third of an ounce.
- They are environmentally friendly: as they are reusable and have a considerable useful life, you are not generating plastic waste every month.
- No bad odor: since the blood does not leave your body because it is collected in the cup, it does not come into contact with the air which is what causes the bad odor. This usually happens with sanitary napkins, where the blood does leave the body.
Now that you know the basic features of a menstrual cup menstrual cup you will surely have the necessary tools to find the one that best suits your needs.