Illustration by Marcelina Jagielka
Periods are the worst. I don’t know about you, but for me, something ALWAYS goes wrong. They are messy, uncomfortable, stressful, sad and just all round a pretty terrible part of my month.
I have a solution for almost all of these problems. Get a menstrual cup.
I got my first menstrual cup at the beginning of first year and my relationship with periods is entirely different now. I don’t dread them, I don’t feel uncomfortable, AND I feel greener and more ethical every month. A weird part of me even looks forward to them.
I am a huge advocate for menstrual cups. If you are someone who has periods, I really don’t see any reason for you not to get one, or at least try one.
Do the following apply to you?
- Do you want your periods to be more environmentally sustainable? (The average person with periods uses 11,000 tampons in their lifetime and they take centuries to degrade in landfill)
- Do you want to spend less/no money on your periods?
- Do you want to avoid toxic shock syndrome?
- Do you find pads uncomfortable?
- Do you want to be able to swim while on your period?
- Do you want to forget about your period when you are on it?
If you said yes to ANY of these questions, you should try using a menstrual cup.
Why?
- They are completely sustainable (you can reuse the same menstrual cup for up to ten years, washing it in between uses)
- Cheap (the average menstrual cup costs £15-20 and you only buy it once every ten years!)
- Comfortable
- Just like a tampon, you can wear it swimming
- Menstrual cups hold 3 times as much liquid as a tampon
- There is no limit to how long you can leave it in (on lighter days of my period, I leave it in the entire day)
I understand that some people find the idea of using a menstrual cup daunting. If you really don’t want to give menstrual cups a go, I urge you to try out other sustainable period products such as period underwear or cotton sanitary pads. Obviously, menstrual cups don’t solve all problems surrounding periods. For example, they don’t have an effect on cramps, endometriosis or PMS. They really do relieve a lot of discomfort and stress, though.