I'd like to talk about my discovery of the world reusable menstrual products and to explain why I decided to give up old plasticky (and smelly I'd say!) pads and tampons switching to menstrual cups and cloth pads.
I've been using disposable pads and tampons basically since ever, I started using pads then after about a year I switched to tampons and I must say that I never had any problem with them (I was still virgin), I know some women do but for me they always worked alright even if frankly I never truly liked them because of their tendency to dry up the vaginal mucoses resulting quite uncomfortable, especially the insertion.
But we didn't have any other options at that time and surely for me tampons sounds great compared to bulky, plasticky, sweaty pads.
Then it was about two years ago when I was wandering on Facebook and I came across a picture of an object totally alien to me,
I guessed a friend must have liked some kind of unknown page, all I can say is that I had no clue whatsoever what it was about.
I read the few words next to the pic to find out that it was something about feminine hygiene to be used during that time of the month and I got ever more confused, I was like "How the hell is that supposed to work?? How am I supposed to insert that big thing into my flower!?!?" (thinking about it now it sounds so silly...considering that I was no virgin at that point!)
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That was my first ever reaction to a menstrual cup, and I know for a fact that many ladies felt the same as me at first: it just looked so huge and weird and daunting!
Somehow it sounded intriguing too and the curiosity got the best of me, I looked to find out more and the more I knew the more it sounded cool and I really wanted to give it go but I guess I wasn't ready yet, surely I was still quite confused by all the brands and shapes available on the market, some cups are quite similar, others have got their own distinctive features and I really didn't know which one to buy.
For the following few months I carried on searching the Internet, websites, blogs, watching videos on YouTube and I discovered a whole world of alternative menstrual products that made to improve women's life allow us to live our cycles safely, saving money and reducing unnecessary waste.
I immediately fancied the sound of it very much, I thought how much I used to spend every month for tampons+pads and the idea of spending around 17pounds/20euro/26$ for a cup that it could have lasted for up to 8/10 sounded great. How can anyone don't like that?
The chance to save money and reduce waste and pollution should be good enough to convince anyone to give'em a go. Then what I found out about disposables just seal the deal.
The only danger related to the use of disposables I was aware of it was the risk of TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome)which is a potentially fatal illness caused by a bacterial toxin and that has been associated to the use of tampons since the seventies (even nowadays about half of all TSS cases are linked to them).
Rayon is a fiber manufactured from cellulose, which is wood pulp, during the process the pulp is bleached using chlorine dioxide which contaminate the fibers with dioxin; dioxin is one the most toxic chemicals know to science, it's highly cancerogenic, it has been linked to various health issues like decreased fertility, endometriosis, inability to maintain pregnancy, immune system suppression, diabetes and cancer. Rayon is highly absorbent and leaves fibers into the vagina increasing the risks of the dioxin and creating a breeding ground for the bacteria that cause TSS.
Because of all that and the idea of never have to buy disposables again I decided to finally purchase a cup.
I spent few days practising until I got comfortable inserting and removing it.
I kept doing dry runs until my period arrived and it was just like a dream! Far more comfortable then a tampon or a pad, clean, odourless, it didn't leak, it just changed the way of living my menstrual cycles.
I was buzzing! I got so enthusiast that I just wanted to tell everyone and so I did :)
Switching to reusable menstrual products is a excellent way of caring for our health, for the planet and our pockets too.
I'll never come back to disposables. Ever.
Nadia
the menstrual cup is an okay idea but I feel it would make me very paranoid because it doesn't soak up blood like a tampon does, so if any leakage happens, it would be crazy.
ReplyDeleteSecondly tampons are not uncomfortable at all. they are in fact very confortable and it should not even feel like your wearing anything. if your vagina feels dry when wearing or inserting, then you need to change your absorbency to a lower absorbency. clearly you've been doing it wrong. and well known brands such as tampax don't use the 'toxin' products you mentioned anyway.
as for the disposable pads, I think many people would find it a disgusting idea to put your menses in the washing machine and I use about ten pads a period and this would therefore need me to purchase/make many disposable pads. your carrying germs around the clothe and it can easily harbour bacteria as it can not be guaranteed to get all of the bacteria out even after washing.
regardless i'd consider the menstrual cup but the disposable pads is poor logic. woman in the olden times would do so when they had nothing else. and its not hygienic. just my 2 cents
Actually I know many women whom didn't like using tampons at all because of the dry feeling they leave to the mucosas, I personally have used tampons for 16 years about and I use to decrease absorbancy of them during the period, starting with a medium on the first two days and switching to a lower abs.for the last days and nevertheless I always felt that scratchy dryness , maybe I changed them too often fearing TSS , same reason I never used extra absorbancy tampons. What I like of cups is exactly the fact that they do not absorb blood avoiding the risk of bacterial growth and consequently infections. But what I love about cups is that they are SO comfy! I personally have tryed several brands and I never experienced leaking, I guess I'm some sort of expert, ok, but I think that it's only about keep trying untill you feel confident, but I reckon we are all different :)
ReplyDeleteAbout cloth pads I can only say that there is a huge comunity out there of women that are happily using them, they choose to ditch disposables for various reasons, ma be saving money, comfort, ethic, but whatever the reason they all find lots of logic in switching to cloth. Not hygienic? well I suppose we should start using disposable panties if that the case then
i am new to this period thing but, i would like to know what the size of the cups is and how it compares to the size of a tampon. and i would like know how to make\buy those cloth pads
ReplyDelete