A moment for Menstrual Cups
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With the renewed discussion about the GST on women’s sanitary products, I was recently talking on my Facebook page about how few women are aware of alternative methods of managing their periods.
In school based, sex ed we learn about pads and tampons and we’re done. Between this and carefully crafted advertisements of women in white pants enjoying the ‘freedom’ of differing brands of tampons and pads you’d be hard pressed to know there weren’t other options to look for.
There are. I haven’t used or purchased pads or tampons in over 6 years.
In 2009, I switched to a menstrual cup. I did it for a number of reasons. One being the substantially lower impact on the environment of a reusable menstrual management tool. There are a number of reusable options for managing your period if you’re concerned about the environmental impact of all that cotton and plastic being used every month; the two most common being reusable pads and menstrual cups.
I am a very satisfied user of a menstrual cup. Quite apart from the lower environmental impact, it has saved me money. In the past 6 years, I have spent $60 to manage my period, assuming a regular 28-day cycle that is around 83 cents per cycle.
Even the cheapest tampons I could find in Coles were around $4; that adds up to over $1700 in the same period (see what I did there?). The medical grade silicon of which menstrual cups are constructed can be used for 10 to 20 years depending on the brand, at the end of its lifetime the final cost is around around 25 cents each cycle.
The other advantage to a menstrual cup is that you very quickly become intimately familiar with your cycle. Most brands have millilitre measures marked on the side allowing you to track how heavy or light your flow is from month to month and you can also note any changes in consistency or increased clots. This is particularly useful if you suffer from any gynaecological difficulties, it can be useful information for your doctor. They also don’t carry the risk of TSS (toxic shock syndrome) that can be associated with tampons.
Finally because my menstrual cup lives in my bathroom and in my toiletry bag I haven’t had to make an emergency dash to shops in 6 years (It’s also great for travelling, no trying to find tampons in country where you don’t speak the language!).
Like any menstrual management, tool menstrual cups are not going to be ideal for everyone. However, given the multiple advantages I always recommend that people try them.
If you’d like more information, the ANU Women’s Department is hosting AMP It Up! (AMPs = Alternative Menstrual Products) at the ANU with events running from 6-9 October including forums, workshops and talks.
“This will be a platform to share stories, think big and get critical when talking menstruation. Throughout the week we will have a few fun events for you and many tantalising reads. Students across campus have been tickling there brains to think menstruation and we’ll be launching a series of articles debunking myths and getting bloody.
The objective of the AMP It Up campaign is to help destigmatise menstruation, have more open conversations about experiences of menstruation, have students feeling more comfortable in their natural cycles and educated about Alternative Menstrual Products.”
RESOURCES
Menstrual Cups Australia’s website
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