Preparing to use a menstrual cup
First off, you ’ ve got to purchase one. Since menstrual cups come in a variety show of shapes and sizes, this task may seem overwhelming. Check your local pharmacy or take a front on-line, and see what options are available to you. many menstrual cup sellers offer different sizes for people who are at unlike ages and stages of their life, different amounts of menstrual flow, or who have unlike human body. For exercise, for people with a low neck, a shorter cup may be better. People who do more physical use may find a more fixed cup better at preventing leaks ( 1 ). Read the descriptions on the box or on-line to find the best menstrual cup for you .
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Reading: How to use a menstrual cup
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Cleaning and disinfecting your menstrual cup
Before you use your menstrual cup for the first time ( and after the end of every period ), it ’ mho important to disinfect it. This can be done quickly at home : good grab a pot, drop the menstrual cup in, total water until the menstrual cup international relations and security network ’ thyroxine resting on the bed of the toilet, and stick it on the stave lead. Boil the menstrual cup for five minutes, and that ’ s it. Remove the menstrual cup from the pot and let it cool down wholly before interpolation ( 2 ). While you are on your time period, you do not need to disinfect your menstrual cup each meter you empty it—a simple clean with ardent water and a meek soap will be enough. Make indisputable you clean out the bantam holes just below the brim of the menstrual cup—these are creditworthy for creating suction so that lineage doesn ’ thyroxine leak past the cup .
How to insert a menstrual cup
1. Clean
Before inserting a menstrual cup, make sure it is clean and disinfected ( if it ’ s the start of a new cycle ). Clean your hands with warm buttery water. If your fingernails are long and sharp, consider cutting them shorter, as interpolation with farseeing fingernails can be more difficult .
2. Fold:
Fold the menstrual cup so that the broad afford of the menstrual cup is made smaller for insertion. There are several ways to do this :
- C-fold ( aka Half fold, U-fold ) : Fold the lead rim of your menstrual cup in half, so that it creates a compressed C or U shape .
- Push down fold ( aka Tip pen up, tulip fold ) : Push one slope of the brim down into the cup, creating a narrow decimal point .
3. Insert
Find a comfortable military position. Try sitting on the toilet, standing, or squatting. Holding the fold menstrual cup with one bridge player, use your free pass to separate your labium. Locate your vaginal open, and slowly insert your menstrual cup into your vagina in the management your tailbone. As you insert the menstrual cup, try to maintain the fold military position of the menstrual cup .
4. Open
When you can no longer hold the cup in a close up put let it “ dad ” open inside your vagina, and continue to push the menstrual cup from the base of the cup. You should gently push the menstrual cup deep enough so that the stalk is no longer protruding out of your vaginal unfold. Do not push the menstrual cup thus deep that you are unable to grab the bow of the cup .
5. Rotate (optional)
once inserted, some menstrual cup instructions ask you to twist the menstrual cup to ensure that it is sealed and plug. To do this, grab the menstrual cup by the base ( not stem ) and give it a full rotation ( 3,4 ) .
6. Check
If you are not certain if your menstrual cup has opened completely, try inserting a finger along the inside your vagina astir to the rim of the menstrual cup, and follow the rim round, ensuring that the solid rim has opened up. To ensure that your menstrual cup is correctly in place and popped open, grasp the stem and gently pull on it. You want to feel some resistance or a feel of suction pressure.
7. Wear
once you are certain that your menstrual cup is set, you can be on your manner and wear it for up to 12 hours. Some people chose to wear a small pantie liner or bring an extra embroider or tampon with them, just in case they experience leaks. It can take a few weeks to get used to menstrual cups, then if at first gear you do n’t succeed, try, try again. It can take a copulate of attempts, but it ’ s worth it ( 2-4 ) .
How to remove a menstrual cup
- Clean: Clean your hands with warm saponaceous body of water .
- Bear down: Find a comfortable position, either sitting on the toilet or squat. Using your abdominal muscles, bear down arsenic if you are having a intestine movement—this will help push your menstrual cup slenderly down in your vagina and make it easier for grasping .
- Pinch the base of the cup to break the seal:m Gently pull the stem to pull the menstrual cup down the vagina until you can reach the base of the menstrual cup. Pinch the base of the cup to break the suction seal—now you will be able to remove the cup more well .
- Pull: Some people just pull the cup straight out by the stem turn, but this can get messy and uncomfortable. Avoid this by pulling from the pinch base. This will give you more control over the cup ( less spill on your hands ) and besides keep the rim of the cup in a slenderly folded put, making the diameter more narrow-minded and more comfortable for removal .
- Empty: If you want to see how a lot menstrual blood you ’ ve collected, have a look at your cup. many cups have book measurements indicated on the sides of their cups, or if not, check your packaging for how much volume your cup holds. Once you ’ re done, merely tip your menstrual blood into the toilet .
- Clean and re-insert: Wash your cup in the sink with quick buttery water and be certain to clean out those little holes around the edges. then reinsert again and go ( 2-4 ) .
Having trouble? Here are some tips and tricks
Get to know your body
To use a menstrual cup you need to know your vulva and vagina, particularly if you recently started menstruating. Use your fingers to find the opening of your vagina. Using a mirror can be helpful here if you ’ ve never looked at your own vulva. explore your vagina and which steering it runs. Try inserting a finger into your vagina to learn how hanker your vagina is and see if you can find your cervix. The neck is located at the end of the vagina and should feel firm and round of golf, like the tip off of your nose. You ’ ll detect that the walls of your vagina are soft, damp, and can easily move when pressed against to create quad .
Lube
Having worry getting the menstrual cup to get into position ? Try using something to help lubricate its entry. Water or a little amount of water-based lubricant placed along the flange can be helpful. Your own menstrual lineage will besides help work as a natural lubricant, then if you are trying the menstrual cup for the first base time during another separate of your cycle, it may be more unmanageable ( 4 ) .
Leaks
unfortunately leaks can happen using a menstrual cup, but this shouldn ’ thymine be a regular occurence. first, make sure the cup size you are using is the right size for your age and the number of pregnancies that you ’ ve had. If you are particularly active, a more inflexible cup may be better. second, make certain that the cup is actually opening up inside your vagina. You can check this by lightly pulling on the stem. If there is some electric resistance or a palpate of suction press, then your menstrual cup is set. If you are not sure if your menstrual cup has opened wholly from its fold position, try inserting a finger along the inside your vagina up to the rim of the menstrual cup, and follow the rim about, ensuring that the hale rim has opened up. If you actually want to make certain that it is locked into rate, give it a full turn while it ’ south open and inside of your vagina, just grasp it from the base of the cup and lento apply rotational pressure. Consider your interpolation height—how abstruse are you inserting the menstrual cup ? The stem should sit just inside the opening of the vagina.
last, make surely that the little holes around the rim on the menstrual cup are clean and clear of any old menstrual blood. Download Clue to track your period and menstrual cup use.
