Help! Moon Cup Removal (not for the faint of heart)

[wackyjacky1]

The first couple of times I removed the Diva cup, I had what sounds like the same painful experience. Now I do it the way firenze11 described (break the suction by collapsing the side before pulling it out) and I have no discomfort at all.

HTH.

[Tuckervill]

Since we're in the TMI territory, I have a question.

Do your hands get messy during removal, and does that pose a problem in public restrooms?

I can't imagine walking out of a stall to wash my hands with blood on them. Do you wipe them with TP first, or is it not an issue?

Or do you just avoid public restrooms when using a cup? (That seems undoable for me.)

Karen

[OakLeaf]

I'm beyond it now... but when I used a Diva cup (and before that a Keeper) my hands never got messy.

The two things that were somewhat of an issue in public restrooms were (1) remembering to wash my hands BEFORE going into the stall, and (2) wanting to rinse the cup before re-inserting it. Without rinsing, it isn't perfectly clean on the outside after emptying, so whatever I was wearing would get a little stained unless I wore a liner (which kind of defeats the purpose of the cup). Staining was always really minimal and not at all a concern with cycling shorts. Also, rinsing before insertion helps lubricate it, clean or not. I guess you could bring a water bottle into the stall to squirt it off, but I never tried that.

[badgercat]

Since we're in the TMI territory, I have a question.

Do your hands get messy during removal, and does that pose a problem in public restrooms?

I can't imagine walking out of a stall to wash my hands with blood on them. Do you wipe them with TP first, or is it not an issue?

Or do you just avoid public restrooms when using a cup? (That seems undoable for me.)

Karen

I'll hop on the TMI bus!

I've made a few very unsuccessful attempts at using a menstrual cup, so I finally opted to switch to "applicator-free" tampons (and machine-washable cloth pads... I ordered those a couple weeks ago but as they're made-to-order by an independent seamstress, I haven't gotten them yet... I hope they're worth the wait, though ) to at least try to reduce waste a little bit. This does result in some mess, sometimes. It it's substantial (like, wouldn't easily be able to pull up my pants without leaving blood on the waist band or something), I'll take a square of TP and swab off first...but if it's just a little bit, I'll just take it to the sink. Personally, I feel like anyone who's looking that closely at my hands and is concerned that I have a little bit of my own body fluid on them can kiss my heinie but I understand not everyone is so open about menstruation or whatnot.

Of course, I turn on the faucet with the back of my wrist or something similar to make sure said bodily fluids don't contact the handle, but that's just kind of how I normally turn on faucets anyway.

[Tuckervill]

Yeah, I don't touch anything with anything in a public restroom, if I can avoid it. From the looks of the wall behind the flusher, I'm not the only one who uses a foot.

However, I am frequently in public restrooms with small children, and sometimes they are boys. Sometimes they are 8 years old. Sometimes the mother in the stall is screaming at the 8-year-old boy not to move to where she can't see his feet! Sometimes the 8-year-old boy is embarrassed enough.

I can't imagine what a mother like that would say if I came out of the stall with bloody hands, and a Diva Cup and rinsed it in the sink. And besides, how do you get your pants up enough to come out without putting it down? I have enough trouble with pads. I don't use tampons if I can help it.

Thanks for the enlightening discussion.

Karen

[kermit]

I am considering trying one of these. Do you still wear a liner in case of spotting? How long can you really use one before emptying? My first two days are brutal, I think it could be really messy at work.

[Grog]

Unless your periods are EXTREMELY heavy (as in: changing super-absorbant pads every 90 minutes) you shouldn't have to empty the cup mid-day, thus the bathroom problem is moot...

[Jewell]

I think there's a irrational fear surrounding public restrooms. The first day of my period is super heavy and I end up emptying my keeper 3 times a day. If I do need to go into a public restroom, I empty the contents, take toilet paper and clean it out a bit, and clean the outside of the cup. If my fingers get red on them I wipe them off and go wash my hands. People don't spy on each other in the restroom.

I am considering trying one of these. Do you still wear a liner in case of spotting? How long can you really use one before emptying? My first two days are brutal, I think it could be really messy at work.

When I'm on my period I wear only black underpants. It only makes sense, even with tampons you can have leakage, its no different with the cup. Every women is different. As with tampons, some need slims, regulars, or supers. So just as with tampons, different women can leave in cups for different times. For me I know my first day is super heavy (see above). After my first period, I empty it in the morning and at night. If your worried about TSS, you don't have to be. None of the cups on the market (Moon Cup, Keeper, Diva) have been linked to TSS. The bacteria that cause TSS don't thrive in cup environments.

You really have to get to know yourself all over again. Remember when you first used tampons? It can be difficult, trying, but overall a good transition. Plus unlike tampons, the various cups wont: dry you out, make you poor, be full of pesticides, fertilizers, hormones, you wont make waste, less to carry in your bag, enlightening... etc.

[emily_in_nc]

Unless your periods are EXTREMELY heavy (as in: changing super-absorbant pads every 90 minutes) you shouldn't have to empty the cup mid-day, thus the bathroom problem is moot...

I don't consider my periods "super" heavy, but I do have one day per cycle where I found that I had to change the Diva Cup once during the work day (10+ hours including my commute), In a public restroom, that was just too difficult. I had the problem others have mentioned of messy hands and no way to get my undies and pants back up and get to a sink without worrying about blood getting here and there. I tried taking a water bottle into the stall to wash off with, but that was too hard to remember and execute. I like the idea of the cup for environmental reasons, but one day a month, it just doesn't work for me for this reason -- I went back to tampons.

I personally am looking forward to menopause!