What is menstrual cup ?
This is cup made of mostly silicon with a variable inner capacity which can be inserted inside your vagina as a collection bag. It can be taken out at periodic intervals to empty the collected blood and reinserted after cleaning.
Why menstrual cup?
We are using sanitary napkins for years as a measure to collect the menstrual blood. But very few know that sanitary pads are causing a huge threat to nature. Because they contain variable amount of plastic and we don’t have a proper system for its disposal. Most of the times we burn it or bury it or flush it or throw it to empty spaces. Both are bad for earth as it contains plastic. It emits noxious gas on burning and it won’t be taken completely to the soil because of non-degradable plastic contents. Studies have proven that a female uses an average of 11000 pads in her menstrual life! So you can think how many sanitary pads are thrown to this earth every day! So it is high time to use something to replace this huge threat to our mother earth.
- Menstrual cups are reusable. One cup can be used for 10 years
- It is financially much cheaper than sanitary pads. We can get a good menstrual cup for around Rs 350/- . And this is a one time expense for the next 10 years. We are currently spending much more than this even for an year for sanitary pads!
- The chance of allergy is far less compared to sanitary pads
- One menstrual cup can be used for maximum of 12 hours at a stretch.
- We can get a measure of the blood loss happening in each cycle. It has markings in the edge showing how much ml of blood you are losing in each cycle.
- It can be easily kept in your bag all the time after putting in the pouch provided.
- We can use this while doing moderate exercises, while using contraceptives like Cu-T etc.
Contraindications to use:
- Immediate postpartum period, in the first 6 weeks after delivery
- While doing sexual intercourse
- In unmarried women as it may cause hymen tear
How to choose the size? :
It comes in 3 sizes- small, medium and large
- Small- for less than 15 years of age girls and for very thin built females.
- Medium- Less than 30 years or before delivery
- Large- After delivery
How to use it? :
- Sterilize before the first use: Immerse it in the water and boil it for 10-15minutes before the first use.
- No need to sterilize in between each use
- Sterilize after its use (after your periods) as explained above and keep it dry in the pouch provided.
How to insert?:
There are two methods for this-
- C- Fold technique – Explained in the video, please watch it
- Punch down technique – Explained in the video, please watch it.
How to take it out? :
Just squeeze it to let the air escape from it and then gently take it out. Explained in the video, please watch it.
So I recommend all of you to try this and not to hesitate as this is a new product. Some changes are for good!