This makes cups popular among backpackers and other travelers who worry about carrying too much weight. Plus, menstrual cups can hold up to an ounce of fluid at a time, which means they can handle far more than even the heaviest-duty tampons. Some people worry that menstrual cups leak, but a literature review found that reports of leakage were either the same or less frequent with cups than the other two products.
Lots of menstrual cup advocates also claim that using a cup eliminates the risk of toxic shock syndrome. That is not true, and there have been at least five confirmed cases of TSS in people using menstrual cups. Jen Gunter. And the chances of getting TSS is less than 1 in , The dealbreaker for most people when it comes to menstrual cups is the learning curve. The cup catches and contains menstrual fluid, so using it means removing the cup and pouring out the fluid, then washing the cup.
One of the challenges of finding the right menstrual cup for you is that not all vaginas are shaped the same way. Which means you might not know which cup shape is the best for your particular vagina shape. Different cups are different sizes and shapes, as are different vaginas. Finding a cup that fits, and feels, just right for you may require some trial and error you should not be able to feel a cup inside you very much, and it definitely should not hurt.
And it can be hard to guess what shape your vagina is, even for doctors. In general, menstrual cups come in two main sizes: large and small often coded as A and B. Unless you already know that you have a large or small vagina, you should go by that divide and pick the one that applies to you.
Some guides draw the line between large and small at age That is nonsense. But that cup might wind up being really uncomfortable to wear. Instead of looking at the volume a cup can hold, you should try to pick based on which cup will fit you most comfortably.
If you suspect you might have a particularly long or short vagina, you can ask your OB-GYN next time you go in. When you get a pap smear, the speculum they use can come in a few different sizes.
Most people simply get the standard middle-size speculum, but some might need the large or small versions. Ask your gynecologist which size they use on you. These are all just general guides, and remember that vaginas are inherently stretchy they are designed to fit a baby through them, after all. Aside from size, there is one other main distinction between different cups: firmness. Some cups are made of sturdier silicone than others.
For other people, the thicker, sturdier cups are uncomfortable to insert and wear. This, too, is a matter of personal comfort and preference that requires some trial and error to figure out. Like tampons , menstrual cups should be easy to insert and remove and reliably keep the blood in instead of all over your clothing. They should also be easy to clean and store, and last for years without getting smelly or breaking down. In reality, cups hold menstrual fluid, which is made up of blood, vaginal secretions, cervical mucus, and tissue from the endometrium.
We found that black cups made it hard to see any residue that still needed cleaning, especially inside the cup itself. Most menstrual cups are designed to have a long skinny stem. But some models, including our MeLuna pick, come with other options. The argument for ball and loop stems is that they can make the cups easier to remove: They give you something bigger to grab onto, or you can even slip a finger into the loop to pull the cup out. In fact, trying to remove a cup by hooking your finger into the loop and pulling is a recipe for spillage.
The same goes for pulling on the ball. When we tried removing cups that way, we wound up spilling a lot of blood all over the place. Most people remove their cups by inserting two fingers and gently squeezing the cup, and then sliding it out.
More on how to insert and remove cups later. Ball and loop designs are slightly bigger too, and some people find that they can irritate the vaginal canal more than a stem might. Most cups come with relatively long stems that many people will trim down. Almost all menstrual cups are made out of medical-grade silicone—a material found in everything from feeding tubes to catheters.
Some cups are made of thermoplastic elastomer a type of plastic that is a bit cheaper to manufacture than silicone , and there is one cup made out of rubber, the Keeper Cup. You might have at some point encountered menstrual discs as well. Menstrual discs have one key thing in common with menstrual cups: They catch menses. For a long time, menstrual discs were available only in disposable forms, but now there are a few that are reusable, so we gave them a try. For more on those, see What about menstrual discs?
In the end, we put all our cups and reusable discs to the same set of tests, and then separated our picks into vague vagina shapes. A note on price: You can go on Amazon and find menstrual cups that are really cheap, but menstrual cup reviewer Bolen says to steer clear.
Remember, when you think about it as a replacement for all the pads and tampons you buy, it will pay itself off in as few as three cycles. Overall we tested 29 cups from 18 manufacturers. First, we tested how easy it was to fold each cup for insertion. There are a bunch of folding methods you can use to insert your cup , and we encourage you to try them all until you find the one that works best for you and your cup. We tried to fold every cup into five different folds.
Some cups were easy to fold into all the various shapes, others were a little more tricky. The FemmyCycle cups, which have a much more rounded, bulbous shape, were harder to fold up. And many cups come with either little volume labels or logos etched into them, all of which can accumulate blood in their nooks and crannies. The MeLuna got points in this test for coming with a little cleaning brush, but all the cups we tested were easy to clean.
We then tested how easy each cup was to insert and remove. To evaluate this as objectively as possible, we had to figure out a way to simulate a vagina. Simulating that, it turns out, is actually pretty difficult, and I will now take a small detour to tell you how difficult it is. My first stop was Home Depot, where I bought a variety of silicone tubes.
But they were all either too narrow or too rigid to really work as a vagina. Then I looked to sex toys, because there are plenty of masturbatory aids that purport to simulate real vaginas. But many of them had the same problem that the commercial versions did: It was impossible to see what was going on inside the various tubes.
The way most of these videos and online guides describe this setup, I have to say, seems extremely untenable for masturbation. And in my case, gluing plastic to plastic is actually a lot harder than you might imagine. Even with special plastic epoxies, the Bubble Wrap was constantly coming undone from the water bottle after a few insertions and removals. So that method was out. Then I tried a DIY masturbator that involved either one bag of water, or several bags of water tied together.
This did simulate the stretchiness of the vagina pretty well, but the water moved around enough inside the bags that I could never actually get the cups in and out without incident. Several times my homemade vagina exploded water all over my kitchen. After the third or fourth water bomb went off, I decided to change tactics. There are some videos online that use a champagne flute type of glass to simulate the vagina, so I went to the local thrift store to buy a whole bunch of different flute-shaped glasses.
It turns out finding one that is the right width and shape is very hard. None of the glasses I bought worked. Eventually, I was desperate enough that I wandered around Target with a couple of menstrual cups in my pocket, trying to subtly fit them into things. Then I came across my ultimate solution.
In the end, it was the travel-size toiletries section that came to my rescue. There, I found some reusable silicone tubes that I cut the bottom off of and turned into my make-shift vaginas. These were stretchy enough to simulate a vagina, returned to their original shape, were soft and easy to work with, and could fit all the cups I had to test. This is all to say that the vagina is an incredible thing that is very hard to replicate.
I used a little bit of water-based lubricant to get the cups in and out of the travel-size-container vaginas, and once they were inserted put a bit of colored water into each cup to see how easy it was to remove them without a spill. This test confirmed that cups we had trouble folding in the earlier test like the FemmyCycle and the Intimina collapsible were indeed hard to insert and remove in this test. Some of the cups have a smoother silicone than others, and we found that the cups with the very plasticky silicone, like the Luna and Yuuki cups, required more lube going in and out of the tube.
I spilled the most trying to remove the Luna cup, as it would catch on the silicone and I had to yank a bit more to get it out. But most cups were easy to insert and remove, opened up without much trouble, and performed well overall. Which makes our job a lot harder here. Most cups are really, really similar in fact, some cups seem to be made at the exact same facilities using the same molds. And the shape of the cup, rather than being the bell-shaped curve, has more of a kidney-bean-shaped bottom with grippy rings that are really easy to hold onto.
We found that this design makes removal easier, since the cup is shaped to be pinched. The Cora cup is made of the same soft silicone so many cups are and is easy to clean. It holds slightly less volume than some of our other picks, so if you know you have a heavy flow you might find yourself emptying it more than some of the other options.
We really like MeLuna cups in general, because they are so customizable. Unlike most cups, which come in only two sizes, MeLuna cups come in a whole bunch of sizes and styles. We tested a handful of combinations of firmnesses, handles, and sizes, and they were all easy to insert and remove because we could fold them in all sorts of ways thanks to them hitting a sweet spot of firmness and thickness. They were also easy to clean.
The MeLuna Classic falls into the middle of the size range we tested. Unlike most menstrual cups, which are made of medical-grade silicone, the MeLuna is made of medical-grade thermoplastic elastomer TPE. The material is manufactured in Germany, where it must comply with standards that allow it to be used in products like baby pacifiers. You can get the MeLuna Classic in four sizes , from small to extra-large.
The small cup holds between 10 and 28 milliliters, and the extra-large holds between 21 and 42 milliliters. The MeLuna Classic is also right in the middle of the pack when it comes to firmness. In addition to a cloth carrying pouch, MeLuna cups come with a small brush that can be helpful for fine-detail cleaning.
The MeLuna offers the shortest cup we could find, with an entire Shorty line of cups for those who have very low cervixes. Take our Quiz. Both cup sizes are made from soft, medical grade silicone and are designed to be easy to use and comfortable to wear.
Here's What You Can Do. When it comes to working out which of our soft cup sizes will work for you, we start by helping you find out how your body is actually shaped, both inside and out. The first thing to consider is how much blood you lose when you have your period. We call this your menstrual flow and it can be light or it can be heavy.
This simple guide will help you to match your menstrual flow and the position of your cervix to the size of Ruby Cup that will work for you. We want you to experience the difference we know a menstrual cup makes, so we offer a no questions asked day money-back guarantee.
Ruby Cup was the first menstrual cup company to offer a built-in Buy One, Give One promise on every single cup that we sell. According to Plan UK, around 1 in 10 women globally have been unable to afford protection for their period at some stage in their lives. Different menstrual cup brands offer different sizes of cups.
The Lancet says that most cups can hold between 10—38 ml of blood. Ruby Cup offers two sizes , Small, which can hold up to 24 ml of menstrual fluid and is 40 mm wide and 65 mm high, and Medium, holding 34 ml and measuring 45 mm by 68 mm. To find the best-sized cup, know your menstrual flow and your cervix height.
For example, a heavy flow with a high cervix requires a larger cup, while a light flow and low cervix needs a smaller cup. When in doubt, buy two sizes like Ruby Cup's Duo Pack. There's no specific size that's best for beginners. Finding the right-size cup depends on your cervix height, your menstrual flow, and if you've had a vaginal birth.
And don't worry about a possible learning curve or making a mistake because Ruby Cup gives you days to exchange your cup for a different size free of charge. Plus, it's a bargain.
Shop Now Lunette Cup. Kim Rosas and Amanda Hearn, who run the menstrual cup blog Put a Cup in It , recommend these two as the best options for beginners. They both have average firmness and length and work for most people.
Sherry also likes the Lunette cup , another option by Lena. Kim and Amanda recommend the Super Jennie for those with heavier flows. The smaller Super Jennie holds 32 milliliters, while the large holds If you have painful Pap smears or just know your cervix is sensitive to pressure, the Lena Sensitive is a potentially great option. If you have tried another cup and were bothered by the stem it is soft but can be painful! The brand behind all the boxes you see in the tampon aisle also makes a cup that comes in a plastic carrying case and with free liners in case of cup spillage or leaks.
Shop Now Lily Cup Compact. And then you have to use the scary, archaic cardboard tampons from a vending machine or sit in a makeshift toilet-paper diaper all day.
If your flow changes throughout your cycle, get this cup set. You get a cup for normal flow and one for your heavier days. You can pick up a Diva Cup—probably the most widely available menstrual cup—at your local drugstore or Walmart.
The tried-and-true Diva Cup is made of hypoallergenic silicone and comes with a special bag for storage. Sherry also likes it. The Diva Cup is only available in the clear color, which will discolor with time, so be aware! If you want to try out menstrual cups but are uneasy with the whole washing-it-out-and-reusing-it part, try the Softdisc. Instead, you hook one end of the rim and pull it out. Allen recommends these disposable cups as a good option for women on the go and says to wear them for four hours, then throw away.
Basically like a tampon. This is a great entry-level menstrual cup option. If you want a softer silicone discovery option, try these puppies. If you have a lower cervix than most and the sight of these long menstrual cups is making you dizzy, try the FemmyCycle. The unique bulb-shaped cup is perfect for accommodating women who have lower cervixes. Shop Now Athena Cup, Walmart. Yeah, colors are cool and all, but sometimes you just want something plain that hasn't been dyed with a ton of unnatural colors.
If you like the concept of Softcup but want something reusable, try the Intimina Ziggy. Both cups resemble covered discs as opposed to the traditional bell-shaped design of other menstrual cups, but they differ in material.
Where the Softcup is made with a flexible plastic ring and transparent plastic covering, the Ziggy is made of all medical-grade silicone. It also folds up neatly into a special carrying case, so you never have to worry about surprise leaks. Shop Now Organicup, Walmart. The actual menstrual cup is made with medical-grade silicone like many other brands, but the packaging and cotton carrying case are extra eco-friendly.
The cotton bag is unbleached, and the packaging is made from recycled materials. What starts out all pretty and bold might get kinda meh over the years. If you want something that looks as new the day you get it, years down the line, get a Saalt cup. Now that menstrual cups are becoming more and more popular, companies are also releasing new ways to clean and sterilize your menstrual cups, like the Pixie Cup Steamer.
A few years ago, the most common way of sterilizing was boiling your cup or using prepackaged cup cleaner that was sold by specialty brands, but now, you can find tons of handy menstrual cup steamers on Amazon.
You simply pour water into the unit, place your cup inside, and turn it on. Shop Now Pixie Cup Steamer. United States.
0コメント