Menstrual cups

This article is also available in Italian.

I recently discovered the “menstrual cup” and after much research and opinions from those who have tried, I decided to buy the mooncup. There are different types.

• The Mooncup is made from soft silicone, and it has a duration of a period of 10 years, has notches measurement practices for those who must control the amount of blood lost. Beppe Grillo has also spoken of Mooncup in his Tour 2007 “Reset”. The Mooncup is manufactured in the United Kingdom:
  • English website

  In sites above you can find all the information necessary for use and for purchase. There is also a video demonstration. I add only a note that you will not find at Italian site: The Italian site has the exclusive for sale in Italy but can not make shipments abroad, and for residents abroad or for who want to send it outside Italy, please contact the English headquarted.

  

• Keeper is the precursor of the Mooncup, has the same shape but is made of rubber, then a little more rigid of Mooncup.

  

• Instead it is an American product, is disposable and can be used during sexual intercourse. It can be worn a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 12 hours, depends on the amount of flow.
  Might be more difficult to extract due to the absence of “stem”.

With none of them has ever reported the problem to be “Toxic Shock Syndrome”, as can happen with tampons. Products are hypoallergenic, non toxic, non irritant, non-absorbent, no latex. All cups are made of materials used for more than 20 years in the health profession.

They hold twice as much menstrual fluid than regular tampons and you can practice all sports activities, including swimming, without any loss and without feeling anything. Who has tried it say only “they are fantastic and now that I know them, I can not do without.”

Read italiansonline, the forum dedicated to health to hear the many positive testimonials and informations about these products.

You should also read the article in the Tribuna di Treviso. The town Maserada sul Piave, to reduce trash, on 8 March 2008, decided to launch among the women of the country, the Mooncup, a cup for menstruation “environmentally friendly”, reusable cycle after cycle, replacing the conventional sanitary napkins.

Always the same town, before making this proposal, interviewed Dr. Evelina Bertolissi, medical expert in natural medicine. I repropose to you, below, the interview translated into English:

Why many women during the cycle, have annoying problems such as redness, itching, burning?

If women are metabolically balanced, responsible for this disorder may be linked to the fact that tampons and sanitary napkins or pantyliners are produced with materials chemically treated, with synthetic fibers which increase the absorbing power: in manufacturing processes also using bleaching of cellulose. During this process dioxins are formed that remain trapped in the product and can be absorbed by the body through the skin and particularly through the vaginal mucosa, in the case of the use of tampons. Some women have no problems, others are more sensitive and have problems of various kinds.

What are the materials responsible for the trouble? And why?

Rayon, for example. It is a material more absorbent and less expensive than cotton, and so we find it as component of sanitary napkins and tampons. But its remarkable capacity of imbibition determine the possibility of a super concentration of proteins in the tampons, which can be used by Staffilococcus Aureus bacterium to produce toxins responsible for Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS), characterized by sudden onset of fever, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, skin rash similar to a sunburn.

The panty liner not be outdone: same materials of sanitary napkins, the same toxic substances, even if absorbed a lesser extent.

And the natural products?

In natural products, such as pure cotton or silicone surgery, do not focus useful substances the metabolism of bacteria and do not release toxic chemicals absorbed by the body.

Numbers

The average age of first menstrual cycle is about 12 years, while that of menopause is about 50 years.

Then calculate 38 years of fertility and about 456 menstrual cycles. For 5 days cycle, we assume the use of 25 sanitary napkins. 456×25 = 11,400 sanitary napkins only for one woman!

Italian data are lacking, but we groped a comparison with Spain, where, in 2006, were sold 3,343,000,000 packages of sanitary napkins (source: AC Nielsen). In Italy, presumably even more, because the female population in both countries in 2005: about 22 million in Spain and 30 million in Italy.

The estimated that for disposal of sanitary napkins (for example in landfill), are necessary 500 years. Disposable sanitary napkins are an environmental cost, a cost to your health and your wallet.