A New Way to Deal With Your Period - Reusable Menstrual Cups

Female liberation does not mean the same thing to me as it may have to my mother. As a child of the eighties and a young mom in the new Millennium, I have experienced a great deal of feminine privilege and opportunity. Revolution, in my home, does not happen on a grand political scale. Instead, freedom comes in more subtle ways. It happens when I learn a new skill and I discover a different and more efficient way to manage myself and my home.

In 2004, almost 6 months after the birth of my eldest child, I began researching alternative menstrual products and was drawn to the idea of reusable menstrual cups. As someone who has always preferred internal protection for my heavy cycle, I thought the idea of a menstrual cup over the standard paper tampon to be intriguing. My interest was even more piqued when I learned that most menstrual cups need only be changed every twelve hours compared to the standard 4 to 8 hours for tampons.

Reusable menstrual cups hold approximately 30ml or one ounce of monthly flow. Considering the average monthly flow for most women is between 3 to 4 ounces, the cup really does revolutionize menstrual hygiene. No more 4 hour tampon changes and overnight pad leakage. Instead, a menstrual cup can be inserted, and changed on average every 12 hours. For most women this translates to changing the cup in the morning and again in the evening before bed.

It is important to know, when shopping for a menstrual cup that these products typically come in two sizes. The first size is reserved for woman, usually under the age of 30, who have never experienced childbirth; cesarean or vaginal. The second size is designed women who have experienced childbirth, cesarean or vaginal, or women who are older than 30 regardless of whether they have given birth.

There are several different menstrual cups currently on the market.

My personal favorite is the Diva Cup. Made from soft medical grade silicone, it is 100% hypoallergenic and easily sanitized at the end of each cycle by boiling in hot water. The Diva Cup tends to run a bit longer than other silicone cups on the market and the stem of the cup has little gripper rings to help aid in insertion and removal.

The Keeper is another American product, although it is not made from silicone and instead is developed from gum rubber. It is important to note that gum rubber is prohibitive for those with latex allergies. The Keeper and its silicone counter part the Moon Cup, is shorter than the Diva Cup but has a greater capacity than the UK known "Mooncup UK." The Keeper's Moon Cup is a recent release. It mirrors the Keeper in size and shape. Both cups have tabs that are smooth and without ridges.

The Mooncup UK, not to be confused with the Keeper's "Moon Cup," is also a silicone cup. Reports suggest that the Mooncup UK is softer, more pliable, and easier to fold for insertion than the other silicone menstrual cups. The material of the Mooncup UK has been described as flexible and its length is shorter than the Diva Cup.

Lunette, wider than most of the other cups on the market, is also shorter than the Diva Cup. This cup is made in Finland and is another cup made from soft medical grade silicone. One difference between the Lunette, the Mooncup UK, the Keeper's Moon Cup, and the Diva Cup is that the tab on the lunette is flat instead of round. Also noteworthy is that the Lunette has the smoothest ridge-free surface of all the silicone menstrual cups. The sizing for the Lunette is distinct in that it's Model 1 size is reserved for women under the age of 20 who have never had intercourse, and the Model 2 sizing is for women who have had intercourse or who are older than 20.

Most menstrual cups last between 5 and 10 years, and all the silicone cups can be sterilized through boiling at the end of the menstrual cycle.

I will be perfectly honest, when I admit that using a menstrual cup does take practice and patience. I always suggest wearing a thin sanitary napkin as back up while you work out the personal kinks of insertion and removal during your first cycle using the product. If it is any encouragement, it usually only takes one cycle for most women I know to start feeling the liberation that comes from being free of paper and disposable menstrual products.

Menstrual cups do not generate any more "mess" than tampons or sanitary napkins, and offer the convenience of lengthening times between changes. The advantages to using a menstrual cup over standard tampons and sanitary napkins become glaringly obvious once you try out a menstrual cup. No more bunching sticky sanitary pad adhesive! Menstrual cups have never been linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome; they contain no harmful dioxin, bleach, deodorizers or absorbency gels. The cup does not scratch or leach moisture from the vaginal wall creating discomfort and as a rule the cups do not leak. Menstrual cups eliminate period odor and are a comfortable alternative to the disposable products available on the market today.

The switch from disposable products to the Diva Cup was, for me, a fairly unceremonious but incredibly enlightening journey of self discovering. It's been a journey of deliverance for me. Freedom from running to the grocery store every month, freedom from sitting in the bathroom panicked because I forgot to run to the grocery store this month. Menstrual cups mean no more embarrassing odors, leaks, and best of all, a growing knowledge of the intimate workings of my body.