What is a menstrual cup?
A menstrual cup is a silicone dome shape cup that in meant to be inserted up the vagina for blood to accumulate. The silicone creates a suction effect so the cup stays in place and liquid doesn’t escape out the sides. NO LEAKAGE PEOPLE!
They vary in prices, I bought mine form Amazon and it cost £11.99 and I received two cups, a satin bag for them to be kept in, a pot for it to be cleaned in and randomly 5 pairs of disposable pants I didn’t want nor need!
I thought I would write a real account of my first time using a menstrual cup to hopefully put other peoples minds at ease and answer any curious questions about them!
So ,with that…I sat pondering on the pot for a while wondering if I was really going to stick what looked like a make your own ice lolly silicone up my foo foo.
To ease my apprehension I watched a YouTube video on how to insert it – even though I had read up on this before. But I told myself I wanted to be 100% sure on how to do it.
I had previously boiled it to clean it. I washed my hands and ran the cup under hot water for a few minutes before use to make it wet – I’ve heard this helps with insertion.
NOW ITS TIME TO RELAX, RELAX, RELAX & SPREAD THEM LEGS!
Deep breath and away I went. I used the fold technique – fold in half basically and pinch with one hand. The cup was wet and my fingers ready to fold and pinch. I took a deep breath wishing my friend hadn’t told me horror stories about it potentially getting stuck up there the night before!! I felt the fear and did it anyway!
I stood up looked at myself in the mirror feeling a bit dubious, but no going back now not for at least 4 hours – as it’s my first go I won’t go the whole 12 hours yet, I’ll build my confidence up slowly.
Experience after the first removal: 7/10
Initial feeling: 7/10
Irrational fears of not being able to get it out of my vagina silenced! I relaxed and checked it after 3/4 hours – I pulled on the plastic tip that sticks out – the first pull and my fingers slipped – I then tried again and grabbed some toilet paper to pinch with instead and pushed like I was going to give birth. After a second it was out. I was a bit too vigorous but no blood went outside of the toilet bowl.
SUCCESS? YES!
I washed my hands prior to trying to remove the cup a second time and after rinsing it with hot water, I placed it back in. I was a bit like what the fuck am I doing? This is a lot of ag each time, what if I was out in a public toilet? But I’ll plod on and see how it goes for this cycle. Take it day by day.
How was the first night?
I took the cup out around 9:30pm, I did think maybe that’s an hour early as I wouldn’t be out of bed until 8/8:30am. I woke up and reached for my phone started watching videos on Facebook, Instagram…the usual. Then I suddenly remembered the bloody cup was still in – no pun intended but I won’t apologise! I leapt out of bed to the bathroom…the cup was about two thirds full! NO LEAKAGE WAS EVEN CLOSE TO HAPPENING!
Day 2 and I haven’t even thought about it being in all day – I’ll check it once it’s been in for 8 hours and then again just before bed.
Feelings about the cup: 8.5/10 and the feelings are getting stronger!
After the initial shock and change from tampons and pads to a menstrual cup wore off, I felt extremely at ease with it in. I can’t even feel it and I’m not worried about loosing it inside of me. If it were to happen I’d stay relaxed and push, push, push. I’ve been to the doctors before due to a dodgy tampon so as women it is sometimes a fact of life!
There will always be a transition period to something new, I was very familiar with tampons…I liked them, so it was scary trying something different. Especially something you leave in for up to 12 hours, which we have always been told to never do with tampons.
So take away from this, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. WASH YOUR HANDS before you take it out and insert it back in, I like to rinse it as well each time with warm water.
Relax, it doesn’t hurt and you can’t feel it in, there is little to no chance of leakage. Embrace the change and see how it goes.
If you have to be somewhere then sort the cup out before you leave and you’ll be good to go for hours!For me I’m excited to use the cup for sustainable reasons, tampons and pads come with a lot plastic that goes to landfill, a cup can be kept for years if looked after properly!
It was so stress free once I had gotten used to the logistics of using it! AN ABSOLUTE GAME CHANGER!
Are you ready to make your menstrual cup dreams come true? It’s just one amazon prime click away!
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Spilling tea with tamara 