A Boston Marriage

Menstrual blood! Menses, monthly courses, lady blood, period, Aunt Flo; the list goes on. At any given moment, eight million Canadian women are menstruating. Between menarche and menopause, women’s menstruating lives span about four decades. Added up, women menstruate for, on average, six and a half years of their lives-using 10,000- 15,000 pads/tampons to deal.

More women are opting out of using disposable feminine hygiene products and choosing an alternative: the reusable menstrual cup.

The menstrual cup is bell shaped, worn internally, at the base of the vagina, and collects menses rather than absorbing them. Every 12 hours the cup has to be dealt with: taken out, emptied into the toilet, washed and reinserted. It has to be removed for sex, but not to use the washroom or sleep. At the end of the cycle, it is cleaned thoroughly and stored until the next period.

In our culture of menstrual-euphemisms and disposable products, this device sounds initially horrific. Inserting a cup! Emptying blood! This is for witches who worship their menses! In reality, menstrual cups are godsends for the environment, body, and wallet.

Menstrual cups were invented in the 1930’s and millions were sold up until the companies that made them folded and disposable products flooded the market. We now know that pads and tampons are cause for concern: they contain surfactants, adhesives, and dioxin (a carcinogen) is a by-product of tampon-bleaching (if you’re going to go tampon, at least opt for organic cotton).

Menstrual cups contain none of this. In Canada, the most easily available cup, The DivaCup, boasts that it is free of latex, plastic, BPA, dyes, colors and additives. It is made out of health-grade silicone that doesn’t leach into or absorb anything from the body, and Health Canada backs it (The DivaCup is, in fact, the only menstrual cup that is approved by Health Canada). They are not linked to an increased risk of toxic shock syndrome.

This sounds wonderful in theory-but hands-on?

I’m going to speak from experience. The cup is actually easy and clean to use. It’s less invasive that tampons; it remains low enough that you can insert and remove it without reaching inside yourself. It’s cleaner than disposables: no more wrapping up the used product and tossing it to sit until garbage day. Rather, you simply flush the contents.

There are a few tricks to master: folding it vertically to insert it, making sure it pops open to form a seal inside you, pinching it into a smaller shape and tipping it as you remove it. All manageable. Personally, I’m not great with dealing with non-biological foreign objects in my business (the first time I used a tampon-at 18-I passed out cold, waking up with my elbow wedged in the toilet) but I’ve had no trouble with the cup. I can’t feel it when it’s in, it doesn’t hurt to take out and I’ve never had it leak. Ever. Not a drop.

Maintenance is, admittedly, more than with disposables. Cups do need to be washed. Washing takes only a minute and you don’t have to get any blood on your hands- just wipe out or rinse away the fluids before washing. At the end of your cycle boiling is advised. This upkeep is quite simple and worthwhile considering cups can last for years. The Keeper, a gum rubber menstrual cup, lasts up to a decade with proper care. The DivaCup recommends a new cup every year, but many pshaw that and use cups for years (The DivaCup warns; however, that silicone degrades, so prolonged use is inadvisable). You also have to switch to a new, slightly larger cup if you give birth or hit 30, as your hips widen and vaginal muscles lose elasticity with age (all brands have at least two sizes for this reason).

So. If this is such a boon, why aren’t women converting in droves?

They are. We’re just not aware because a) we live in a culture that doesn’t love endometrial talk and b) cup companies advertise by word of mouth, relying on the strength of their product to sell itself. If you dig, though, you’ll find a whole menstrual cup movement.

When I posted questions on my Facebook and Twitter pages on menstrual cups, response was overwhelming. Users gushed about their experiences, their praise vibrant. The most familiar response? “Me and all my girlfriends use it and we’re never going back!” It’s viral, it’s a mission, it’s a labor of love: women discover the menstrual cup and want to share it with all their fellow monthly bleeders. I gave one to my roommate last Christmas!

Almost all respondents admitted to having initial concerns-and quickly overcoming them. Common deterrent: the logistics of public washrooms. Menstrual cups can actually hold more fluid than the most absorbent tampon (for instance, The DivaCup holds 30 millilitres and the average cycle maxes out at 40 millilitres-which means it’s great for heavy flows), so chances are you’ll only empty it when you get up and when you go to bed. If you do have to deal with it in a public washroom, empty and wipe it down and skip the wash until next time. Another concern is cost: in Moncton, a DivaCup from Staples Pharmacy, Sequoia, or the Corn Crib goes for $39-45 (other brands, at other prices can be ordered online). Remember, though, if you dig it, you save loads; it’s not unusual to buy $200-ish of disposables per year.

I’m going to share a final bit that might be the hardest sell: menstrual cups improve women’s relationship with their periods. Using one forces the realization that periods aren’t nearly as abhorrent as we might think. One friend of mine wrote that women who cry “ew” at cups are the ones that need them most”" she’s had her own change of heart since switching to a cup: “I find my period fascinating now!” she shares. I’m not one to glory in my womb’s monthly self-assertion, but since using the DivaCup, my period isn’t this inconvenience that I have to deal with every 4 to 6 hours, sometimes plan around, and otherwise try to pretend doesn’t exist. With my cup, I have a sense of nonchalance and accomplishment-I’ve done good and it barely took effort. I’ll be shocked if you don’t feel the same.

[Originally Published August 27th, 2009 in [here]nb]