Ode to my Diva cup

**Warning: This entry deals with gross TMI topics.**

I love my Diva Cup. It has to be the smartest $30 I have ever spent. But I have not always been a convert; no I am a very recent devotee of the Cup. It all started when I was reading a chat board and came across some posts about Diva Cups. I had no idea what this was so I looked it up on Metacrawler. The Diva cup is a menstrual cup made in Canada. It is a small cup (imagine a tulip shape) made of silicone that is put in your vagina to catch menstrual blood. Every 4-12 hours (depending on flow) you take it out, dump it in the toilet, wash it in the sink and put it back in. Well this looked interesting but I put it out of my mind and went about my life. Pads were what I have always used and I saw no reason to change.

Then, after I had my son, I stopped in a local store that sold cloth diapers. I came across the Diva Cup. I talked to the store owner who said that she loved hers. I asked how long the cup lasts and she said 10 years. I was amazed. That is 10 years of not having to buy tampons or pads. That makes the $30 worth it. This is what sold me at first, then I started using it. Menstrual cups have a wide learning curve very much like cloth diapers. It took me two and a half full cycles to get the hang if it and no longer need pads at all, but once I got the hang of it, I fell in love. My cycle is fairly even medium flow for 4 days then tapers off. I only need to empty the cup every 12 hours. This is wonderful! I no longer have to change pads in the middle of the night, or when I am out and about at the store or mall. I don’t have to worry when I am at a park with no trash can to put my garbage in. I only think about it when I get up in the morning and before I go to bed. I also love that clean feeling. No more slimy feeling down there. It is as if I am not on my period at all. You may wonder how this is any different from tampons; I hate tampons because they always feel so big to me (even the smallest size), they dry me out, when I take it out it chafes me and I hate when you pee and the string gets wet, so gross. I have none of those problems with a cup. I even cut off the little stem on the bottom of the cup so I don’t feel it at all. I also should point out that you no longer need to worry about carrying extra pads or tampons with you. If you already have the cup in you don’t need to bring anything and if you don’t, the cup is small and comes with a little bag that fits in a purse. Best of all I an reducing my foot print on the earth by reducing the amount of waste I produce.

Now just to be fair, menstrual cups are not a new idea, they have been around since the 1920s. There are many different kinds that come in many different sizes but mostly the same shape. There is one that is made in the US called a Moon Cup. I bought a Diva because that is what the store sold. I don’t like ordering on-line if I don’t have to but you can order any cup, from any country, on-line. I also should point out that the package for the Diva says that it lasts one year. All of the other cups say 10 and I was told the Diva used to say 10 but the health laws in Canada now require them to say 1 year. I see no reason why a silicone cup can’t last 10 years. If you have problems with your cup I would say keep trying and look up any questions on the internet. Diva did not come with very good directions so I had to find my answers on-line but it was worth the effort. My Diva is super easy to use now, super cheap, and I no longer dread that time of the month. I even converted my mom. He he he.