Menstrual Cups welcome women’s business

Feminine hygiene products have been a relatively standard offering for many years until menstrual cups hit the shelves, offering a real and different alternative to pads and tampons.

There are a number of brands available, all working on the same principle. The cup is inserted inside the vagina to capture menstrual flow over a period of up to 12 hours. The cup is then removed to be emptied, rinsed and used again. Let’s look at what people love about menstrual cups, and what they don’t love so much.

REUSABLE: Menstrual cups mean there’s no more panic when you have run out of tampons.

COST EFFECTIVE: a one off cost means you aren’t paying for your period each month, and takes only a few months to be in front.

ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPECTFUL: Less waste created, less chemically treated hazardous waste contributing in landfill, through not buying chemically treated hygiene products you are contributing to a cleaner, safer, healthier environment.

HEALTH: Our vaginal walls are thin and permeable. Tampons and pads contain a cocktail of chemicals. Petroleum products, plastics, synthetics – these toxins are known to cause endocrine disruption, immune suppression and are independently carcinogenic – just think about the effect when all combined together!

Women on the menstrual cup bandwagon aren’t looking back any time soon, but we have identified one potential drawback that can affect some users.

POSITIONING: While there are some great youtube videos to help you get started (there literally is a youtube video for everything, right?) there are a few people who can experience leakage despite best efforts in positioning the menstrual cup, likely due to the individual shape and nature of their cervix. For some this is a deal breaker, and others have found it well managed together with specialised underwear available like modibodi or THINX, who support Afripads to help teach women to sew and reuse cotton pads.