Why I Switched From Tampons to Menstrual Cups

I Switched From Tampons to Menstrual Cups, and I'm Never Going Back

By Shanelle Drakeford, Allure

I've been getting my period since I was 11 years old, and it's been through plenty of changes in the 15 years since then. Soon after it started, it went from three days to five, and then to seven a few years later. As a young girl, I felt more "grown-up" having my period for a whole week, only to now wish it still lasted just three days.
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Another change happened a year ago, when I developed a recurring problem that soon became the bane of my existence: I started getting bacterial vaginosis (BV) at the end of my period. BV is an infection that happens when there's a shift in the balance between the good and bad bacteria found in your vagina. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms include vaginal itching, thin discharge that is gray, white or green, and an accompanying fishy smell.



For me, the smell was always the most prominent symptom, followed by annoying white discharge stains in my underwear. Anyone who has dealt with it knows it can be super annoying, and getting it right after having your period for seven days can make your cycle feel like an eternity.

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It was time to try something new

Frustrated and confused, I vented to one of my close friends, and as it turned out, she had been having similar issues right after her period. She mentioned that after she stopped using tampons and switched to a DivaCup, she experienced both less frequent yeast infections and fewer cases of BV.



Before talking to my friend, I had heard of menstrual cups, but I didn't know much about them. My friend's recommendation piqued my interest, which led me down a rabbit hole of online tutorials, articles, and testimonials on all the different kinds.

Getting BV right after your period can make your cycle feel like an eternity.

The benefits were surprisingly better than I suspected

[post_ads]After exploring, I found that there are actually some upsides to using menstrual cups instead of the tampons I'd been using. For one, I learned that certain kinds of menstrual cups can be left in for up to twelve hours, which instantly put my concerns of having to empty mine in a public place to rest.



Also, some menstrual cups are made out of silicone or latex, making them washable and reusable. This was a huge factor in my decision to try them, because buying tampons can be expensive as hell: Paying 40 dollars once a year for a DivaCup versus ten dollars every few weeks makes a huge difference. What's more, menstrual cups are better for the environment, since they lead to less waste. I can't begin to imagine how many tampons and pads I've thrown away over the past fifteen years.



There was another part of my choice to try a menstrual cup: the hope that it would cut down on my BV. When I explained my problem to my gynecologist, she brought to my attention that period blood can be very acidic. I wondered: Was my period giving me infections, and could a cup prevent them by keeping period blood out of my vaginal canal?

Putting the menstrual cup to the test

[post_ads]Soon after my gyno appointment, there I was in my bathroom with one leg hiked up on the tub, inserting my new DivaCup for the first time. I took extra time to make sure that it was placed properly, low in my vaginal canal and under my cervix, and then went about my day. After that first day, I noticed some leaking, a sign that the cup wasn't sitting correctly. But after some more practice and patience, I got the positioning right and there was no more spotting.



The rest of my period was a breeze. It felt so freeing to not have to keep a tampon on me at all times, and I no longer had to constantly check between my thighs for leakage. The menstrual cup passed the period portion of my trial run, but the real test in my mind was to see if I would get BV again after this cycle as I normally did. After my period was completely over, I waited for the smelly discharge to arrive, but to my pleasant surprise, it never did.

It felt so freeing to not have to keep a tampon on me at all times.

So could I conclude that menstrual cups are the answer to BV? Well, not exactly, says board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist Ana G. Cepin when I call to ask her. "We don't really know what causes bacterial vaginosis. The reason why these bacteria grow is because the environment in the vagina changes, but we're not really sure what causes that change," she tells me. "So for some women, [it] can certainly be hormonal and can vary throughout their menstrual cycle."



She adds, "Basically, you were just one of the unlucky people who would have that environmental change trigger that overgrowth and shift in the bacteria that gave you symptoms of bacterial vaginosis." It doesn't look like I can pin this on the presence of period blood in my vaginal canal, though. There is some research suggesting that using menstrual cups may be linked with lower rates of BV infection, but more is needed to establish a causal effect.

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The choice is yours

While I started getting fewer infections when I switched to a cup, this was my personal experience, and everyone's body is different. Christine C. Greves, board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, agrees with this take. "There's no proven benefit" of using cups in terms of BV recurrence.



She says, adding, "I like to say, just try it and see what's right for you. Whatever somebody's doing, if it's not working, then just try something different." That's exactly how my menstrual product journey went, with me using trial and error to find something that works for me.

I used trial anderror to find a menstrual product that works for me.

It's 2018, and there are numerous options for dealing with periods, including pads, tampons, menstrual cups, cloth pads, and even period underwear. It's up to us to find the best products for our bodies, with the help of a gynecologist if we need it. For me, that's my DivaCup. After 15 years of tampons, I'm never going back.

See more at: Allure