A tip for menstruating women: the menstrual cup

I don't intend to do a lot of product endorsement in this blog, but certain inventions are too good not to write about. I've been using the menstrual cup around 3 years now and would recommend it to any menstruating woman. Even though it took some practise for me to learn to use it (I could only insert it lying down for the first months), the effort was completely worth it. Nowadays my periods go a lot easier even if I'm not one of the lucky normal-flowy women who need only empty the cup twice a day. 

If you're considering trying the cup and are still slightly hesitant, please heed my recommendation and do try! (And tell me about it in comments.) There are a few things good to remember as you start your life with the cup: 

- there are many ways to fold the cup for easy insertion, just do a search 

- when inserting it,  make sure that the cup has popped open by testing if the bottom of the cup feels round 

- when taking the cup out remember to relax! and also to fully release the air pressure inside the cup before you try to take it out (a good technique is to slide your finger upwards on the edge of the cup until you can squeeze the air out)

- rinse first with cold water so the blood doesn't stick or the cup become smelly, and if the airholes have holes in them fill the cup with water, turn it against your palm and squeeze it so that the water comes out the airholes, cleaning them. 

- wash with an intimate wash liquid that hasn't been perfumed (but the longer I use the cup the less often I wash it, do as often as necessary..) 

- cleaning the cup is easy if you just put it on a plate and pour boiling water over it and let it sit for a while, repeat; do this at least between periods. 

- when you start using the cup trim the "antenna" if it feels uncomfortable. It'll prevent overflow since if the antenna hits your vaginal wall the cup might move. 

For everyone who understands Finnish there is a fantastic internet resource about menstrual cups called kuukuppikunta. In English there is a livejournal community about menstrual cups, and a site about reusable menstrual products at http://www.ecomenses.com/.