Diva Cup
Well, I finally went there people. After two months of staring at my Diva Cup sitting in my medicine cabinet, I finally mustered up the courage to actually use it this time.
And, I’m in love. Seriously.
Let’s dive in and find out why the Diva Cup is so darn fabulous.
Why You Should Consider Menstrual Cups
I couldn’t believe how much response my previous article, “This One’s For The Girls: Green Your Period” got from readers. Many of us want to reduce our waste when it comes to our menstrual cycle, but, old habits die hard it seems.
When you think about it, we don’t really have any contact with our cycles using tampons or pads. We use these products and then throw them away.
This adds waste to landfills, puts a strain on water treatment facilities, and it’s just more product we have to spend money on each and every month.
But, menstrual cups eliminate all that.
For instance, I spend about $150 per year on pads and tampons. I spent around $23 on my Diva Cup. That’s the last thing I’ll have to buy until it wears out, so I’m saving money almost immediately.
Plus, you reuse a menstrual cup every month. This completely eliminates all the waste that pads and tampons produce.
If you’d like to learn the full skinny on why greening your period is the way to go, please check out my previous article here. And, tons of women wrote on about their own experiences using menstrual cups and reusable pads, so don’t miss what they had to say at the end of the article.
Now, on to the Diva Cup…
My Diva Cup Experience, Part 1…
I ordered my Diva Cup right when I wrote that last article on how to green your period. So, it took me about two months to work up the courage to actually use it.
Why was I a chicken?
- Fear #1- First, I was freaked that somehow it would “get lost” up there; that I’d put it in, and not be able to get it out. I could envision having to call my gyno to get the thing out. Not good.
- Fear #2- I was afraid that it would hurt or be uncomfortable putting it in or taking it out. I’d been lurking for months on Community LiveJournal and had read that this sometimes happen.
Important Side Note: Community LiveJournal is the BEST resource for finding out everything you ever wanted to know about menstrual cups. There are countless personal stories, troubleshooting topics, and you can ask any question on menstrual cups and get plenty of awesome answers. The women there are incredibly caring and open, so don’t miss this resource.
Anyway, so that’s why it took me two months.
Now let me say this: I’m glad I started using the Diva Cup when I felt ready. If I had “forced” myself to use it when it came in, freaked out as I was, I think things would not have gone smoothly. Because I had that time to obsessively read and re-read the directions, hang out at Community LiveJournal reading stories, and just get myself ready, my first time using the Diva went amazing.
My Diva Cup Experience, Part 2…
Since I had given myself two months to freak out about this, by the time I actually went in to try the Diva for the first time, I was actually very relaxed. And, I think that’s really important. From what I’ve read online, being relaxed is key.
If you end up getting one, you’ll see in the directions that they tell you to insert the Diva aiming it horizontally towards your tailbone, and I think this is another piece of vital information. I didn’t know this until I ordered the Diva, but the vaginal canal doesn’t actually go straight up; it’s angled.
So, I kept those two things in mind: stay relaxed, and aim for the tailbone.
And, it went in with no problems. I reached in and rotated it (which it says on the directions is another important step), and after that couldn’t feel a thing.
It didn’t hurt going in at all, it didn’t “get lost” in there, and I had no leaks all day. And, it only took a few seconds. Bliss!
Taking out the Diva is, for me, the most time consuming aspect. I’m still not very savvy at this part, but I’m sure I’ll get better. And it’s not like it takes five minutes or anything; I’d say it takes me about a minute to get it out, probably less.
It’s important when you take it out that you squeeze the base to break the seal; if you don’t do this, it’s like pulling out a plunger. It’s going to be hard, and it’s going to hurt. So, just give it a squeeze; you’ll hear it when releases.
Is There A Gross-Out Factor With The Diva Cup?
Some people might think that emptying a cup filled with menstrual blood is gross. And to be honest, in the past I might have agreed with them. After all, using pads and tampons keep us really removed from our cycles, and what we expel from our bodies each month. We’re not used to seeing our menstrual flow in its natural form.
So yes, some women might be grossed out by this idea.
But, this is a natural part of our bodies, and it’s part of being a woman. I think society, and the media, have subconsciously “shamed” women into thinking that this is a gross thing that shouldn’t be talked about in polite conversation. And that’s just medieval.
I was not grossed out in any way by emptying my Diva Cup the first time. In fact, it was kind of fascinating.
I think if you keep an open mind and you’re willing to be curious about your body you won’t be grossed out either. It’s part of you, which I think is kind of neat. You can look at it and say “Wow, I made that!”.
Why I Love The Diva Cup
Oh, let me count the ways…
- I will never have to spend money on pads or tampons again.
- I will no longer be adding waste to landfills and waste water treatment facilities by using pads and tampons.
- I will no longer be putting tampons into my body (some experts feel that tampons may be unhealthy for women to use due to the bleaching process of the cotton). There is no risk of TSS with the Diva Cup.
- I can leave in the Diva Cup for up to 12 hours at a time, which means I won’t have to nip into public restrooms to change a tampon (which I HATED doing). It’s rare that I’m away from home for more than 12 hours at a time.
- I will no longer be “surprised” by my period; I can insert the Diva before my cycle even starts.
- I feel more knowledgeable and comfortable with my body and its functions now. Using pads and tampons kept me at arms length with my body. Not with the Diva.
- I don’t even feel the Diva Cup when it’s in there. The only danger is that I’ll forget to take it out. Yes, it’s that comfortable.
- I don’t have to worry about leaks, which happened all the time with tampons. My Diva hasn’t leaked once. When it’s inserted correctly it forms an incredibly tight seal.
- I can wear the Diva Cup at night while I sleep. I hated using those “night pads”; they always felt like a diaper to me. I am so thankful to be free of those!
- When I travel, I will no longer have to carry a huge ziplock bag filled with tampons, pads, and panty liners. All I need is the Diva Cup, which fits in the palm of my hand.
Last Word…
So, there you have it. I’m seriously in love with this product. It’s a great way to save money, and reduce a ton of waste from your life. I will never, ever go back to using tampons again.
I give the Diva Cup 27 stars out of five.
Post Publication Note: You might also be interested in reading my latest review on the Lunapads, a brand of reusable menstrual pads. You can see that review here.
Want A Diva Cup?
If you’d like to get a Diva Cup for yourself, then you can click on Diva Cup Model 1 Pre-Childbirth
I’m bordering on 30, so I bought Diva Cup #2 Post Childbirth.
As you can tell from the review, this model fit just fine even though I’m not quite 30, and I haven’t had children.
If you’d like to go directly to Amazon’s site to buy a Diva Cup instead of going through The Greenest Dollar’s Green Store, you can click here.
Republishing Policy:
Like this post? Great! You’re welcome to reprint anything that’s posted on TheGreenestDollar.com, as long as you link back to the original article. Please see my Republishing Policy for more information.
{ 8 trackbacks }
{ 78 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
I recently bought a diva cup and this is the first cycle I have used it on…and WOW!!!! I will never go back!
I am a virgin and the first time I put it in and took it out it hurt like HELL!!! After a few tries I finally gave up on the first day, I was sore and beat up (probably). But I tried again the second day and it was WAY easier and I haven’t stopped using it since then! Once you get the hang of it, it is so easy and SO much more convenient than tampons, and it feels cleaner! (TMI ALERT – none of that ‘squishy’ feeling you start getting after a couple hours of having the tampon in).
I have slept in the Diva, ran three miles, did Jillian Michaels’ The Shred workout, etc etc with no slippage or leaks. I’m in lovvve. <3
@Kelly, I’m so glad you’re happy with it! The Diva is definitely better than tampons. I’m still in love with mine too.
And another delight about this product; it’s great for travelling! One small cup and you’re set!
Question? ok im convienced it is good and all , but during your changing experience, how do you not get that muck on your hands? with the pad i dont even have to touch it,
then, the sanitary part is when you dump it and your in the bathroom, how do you wash that durn thing out so it will be clean when you reinsert it? and not drip on the floor…lol
Christina, I just wash my hands in the sink. Once you the hang of it, your hands won’t get that messy at all. Washing it out is done in the sink too, with just soap and water. That’s really all you need!
Public bathrooms are a bit more challenging. But because you can leave it in for up to 12 hours, I rarely have to rinse it while I’m out.
Good luck!
Heather, I can’t believe I didn’t find out about this blog sooner –
http://menstrualcups.wordpress.com/ – and there’s something of an intro site over here – http://menstrualcupinfo.wordpress.com/ – and I can’t believe I didn’t *start* that type of blog, for that matter! Anyway, my cup and I just celebrated our 6th anniversary and it still cleans up like new* (with the help of an occasional peroxide rinse) but does show a few hairline “cracks” when folded, but the structural integrity is intact. Happy trails!
Heidi, Thanks so much for posting that link! And for that tip about the peroxide…I was about to start searching online for how to clean mine.
I use about a 1:5 peroxide to water ratio, my sister uses vinegar (I just can’t stand the smell), I used to boil mine back in the day, but the soak (overnight at the end of my cycle) is just so much easier. The DIVA has obnoxious little words inside the cup, but scraping those with your finger nails should do the trick.
Btw, I think the “recaptcha” word thingy is a bit peculiar; at the moment it is “labium Swiss” …ah, robots.
Heather, thank you so much for the extensive review! I cannot wait to try this! I’ve always been grossed out by the concept, but am now convinced. I’ll have to follow up with you.
Thanks again!
Claudia, that’s awesome! Please keep us updated on how it goes.
Thanks so much!
Heather, I have a diva cup this will be my second cycle with it and I must say the first time I had all the fears too. But I love it, I have it in my pocket now waiting for my cycle now, TMI I know, but how knew I’d be waiting for it to come. HAA! Great Blog
The only thing that I could see worrying me about this product. Is that I had serious trouble with the nuva ring, every time I used the bathroom (and especially when I did #2) the nuva ring would pop out. It was extremely uncomfortable for me and I gave up after 3 months of trying to get used to. It just wouldn’t stay put for me. So I do wonder if I would have trouble with the diva cup.
I got mine about two and a half years ago after reading about it online, and it is the best decision I ever made. I can’t even begin to express my love for the divacup, it has completely revolutionized the way I think about my period. Honestly, it’s like you’re not even having one with the divacup!
Unfortunately, not a lot of people are open to the idea…but I definitely agree with what you said. Why do people think it’s so gross, it’s coming out of YOUR body. It shouldn’t be seen as gross! I think people just need to get over that, and think of how much waste tampons and pads are! They’re both an impact on the environment, and not NEARLY as comfortable as the divacup. I will never go back!
I have to say last month was the first time I tried the Diva Cup. Unlike Kelly, I am no longer a virgin and it hurt like hell the first time I pulled it out nonetheless! (so don’t feel too bad Kelly). Then I pushed it up too far and I could not get it out (yeap, it happened to me); it kept slipping in between my fingers and I started sweating I was going to have to go to a doc to get it out. The idea made me feel so horrible I kept trying to grab the cup until I finally succeeded but men it was haaaard!
Because I was VERY determined, I decided I was going to retry. This month is the second time and now, I have no problem. Practice, practice, practice! =)
For me, this is the way I found works best:
1. I warm up my fingers and the cup under hot water to make the cup more comfortable to insert
2. I sit on the toilet seat to insert it and I make sure I am very relaxed and comfortable. The very first time I pulled it out, I was so stressed out because it kept slipping out of my fingers and I started panicking which did not help at all.
3. Now when I pull it out, I insert my index finger and my thumb as deep inside as I can so I can pinch the cup in the center to undo the vacuum.
I hope this helps those who have never used it before.
Chantal
Thanks for the post. I recently heard about Diva Cups and I was Googling to find more info. I’m definitely going to give them a try. I’m almost anxious to start my period this month so I can try them out!
Read the reviews, thought it might kind of work, but probably not worth it and then totally bought it on a whim at whole foods. OMG, It totally works, and just like the some of the reviewers said — with this thing, I forgot that I even had a period! It is awesome and I am totally mad I didn’t know about it until now! Putting it in and taking it out was a little bit weird the first couple of times, but then I figured it out. Like the other posters said, practice.
My yoga teacher in Winnipeg got me to buy the diva cup, and ever since my first use, I’ve never looked back. There is a small learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, the cup is comfortable, safe, odor-free, easy to use and DOES NOT LEAK. I could have wept for joy.
Let us face it, periods have been a raw deal for women, and this is the first break you’ll catch in that area.
For women who are hearing about it for the 1st time, or on the fence, or waiting and watching, just get the damn thing.
Oh, and a note about grossness: What grossness? You are really not likely to spill anything onto yourself while removing, has never happened to me. yes, you do have to touch the tail of the thing, which is the outside of it anyway, and if that bothers you, oh come on. Just be a little careful and you wont have blood on your hands. literally.
Speaking of gross, hey, with a pad, you are sitting on a great squelching mess of ick for hours. That Ok?
I have been seriously considering the Diva Cup, but I found out that using menstrual cups MAY increase a woman’s risk of getting endometriosis. http://www.mum.org/fdacups1.htm
Basically, the theory goes that the Diva Cup merely holds the blood and does not absorb it, like a tampon/pad does. That blood, remember, isn’t simply blood, it is the shedded uterine lining. When using the Diva Cup, there is a chance that the blood will flow back into the body, and the particles will embed itself into the body, and cause endometriosis. Obviously, it’s more complex than this, but the possibility that the blood will flow back into the body had never occurred to me before. I don’t want to risk introducing back into my body what it had gotten rid of in the first place. It is something to think about.
Hey girls!
I just want to spread the word on this wonderful device!
I found out about the diva cup and contemplated using it for about a year. Finally I became a really broke college student and decided to save money in whatever way I could….
Tampons = $10/month (not cool!)
I used it once and fell in love, I mean seriously! I literally forget I am on my period now. I honestly do not know why more women don’t use this thing!
For me the hardest part was getting it out…. I usually pull it down a bit and push it out like I’m giving birth or something and then pinch it together and pull a little bit further, then once it is out all the way I use the other hand to squeeze it into a “U” shape and pull it out.
If you have problems being relaxed enough to get it in or out, do it in the shower! I take a nice hot shower and then put it in or take it out. Also running hot water over it makes it more flexible and easier to put in.
I used to have terrible cramps when I used tampons but now…. Im golden! Oh and I can snowboard all day without having to go into the trees and dig a hole and awkwardly change my tampon!
Re: endometriosis
With the cup, blood *MAY* flow back into your body. With a tampon, the bloody clumps of goo are not directly absorbed into the tampon; it’s merely “bottled up” with some blood being absorbed (menstrual blood isn’t all free-flowing blue liquid as tv commercials would like us to believe; more like a cracked egg!)
Pretty sure the misuse of tampons in society is a much greater threat than cups (tampons are to be alternated with pads; something I hadn’t even thought of until I switched and realized I’d spent years “doing it wrong” and massively increasing my risk for TSS). The argument that the fellow petitioning the FDA makes is one that he obviously hasn’t tried: tampons and cups pretty much serve the same purpose in keeping blood from exiting the body until the object is voluntarily removed. The cups just keep the blood a bit more free-flowing. I’d even argue that the slight suction increase upon removal miiight even remove a bit more of the blood than the gravitational drop after tampon removal.
Just sayin’
Pretty sure all of the menstrual ails are far more likely in bleached cotton tampons that the FDA is so darn happy about; they also approve of BigMacs and other such savory delights. I’m not trusting either side on this; don’t make me stockpile menstrual cups just in case!
Ok – I am definitely getting one of these. I’ve read nothing but rave reviews.
Now, as for the endometriosis, I just wanted to say that if there is any risk, it can’t be any greater than using a tampon. And endometriosis is not caused by “blood flowing back into the body”, because blood left within any body cavity (such as in surgery) will be reabsorbed and taken care of by our body’s own cells and tissues. Also, there are hormonal factors that contribute to endometriosis which obviously don’t apply here as menstrual cups do not contain hormones. Also, I don’t think that this cup completely occludes the opening of the cervix, but rather sits below it, sealing off the vaginal opening. Consequently, I don’t believe any “pressure” would be exerted to force blood back into the uterus.
I think that the best thing to do would be to consult your OB/GYN if you have any concerns… In the meantime, I’m heading to amazon to buy one of these!
This review has made me a bit less freaked out about buying my first Diva. I’ve only ever used pads the idea of a tampon has never stuck to well with me. But, I don’t want to “not” be able to enjoy trips to the beach, or the swimming course that I’m really looking forward to (and paying for!!!!!). Mostly though when I detach myself from my hysteria and fears about “challenges,” its just a matter of becoming more comfortable with myself, and my body.
Okay, the Diva Cup is the best thing that ever happened to me as well (as far as my “monthlies” go anyhow). I too waited for a few months before working up the courage.
And I can fully sympathize with Kelly.. because I didn’t read about the different types of “folds” when inserting the cup, it hurt crazy when putting it in (the fold promoted in the Diva Cup leaflet is not the only way to go.. google for “diva cup folds” for more info). Also, it truly is easier to insert when your cycle has started or is at the point of starting.. a “dry run” is slightly more difficult literally because your insides are “drier”.
Here’s why I love the Diva Cup.
1) For the past 10 years, I’d get excruciating cramps on the first day – and would end up sleeping the whole day to escape them. Since using the cup, I get very mild to no cramping at all. I don’t know if its related or if some other environmental change had an effect on my body but I do think its at least partially due to the Diva Cup.
2) My muscles and skin does not feel sore and tensed up – this happened all the time when I used pads. I can stand for long periods of time – where as previously, I couldn’t stand in one place for more than a couple of minutes.
3) No leakage, no smells and no leftover wrappers. I can sleep in any position and know nothing will get stained!
4) Its so comfortable, I truly forget I’m using it – and more importantly, I forget I’m even having my monthlies.
Once my cycle is over, I just soak it in freshly boiled water with a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide (easily available at any pharmacy) mixed in. Couple of hours later, it’s clean and white. Then stored in a ziplock waiting for its next use.
Its amazing and I wish every girl were presented with the option to choose. I myself learnt about the Diva Cup by accident on the Internet.. I know of no other person in my family / friends who are using it.. and unfortunately, asian culture is such that these things are not discussed.
But, I hope things will eventually change.
Just as another thing about tampons, my nurse explained to me why tampons are not good for you and why they have to be regulated by the FDA. It is because if the tissue that the tampon is made of is not soft enough it irritates the Vagina by causing a ton of mini incisions all over (infection from them is part of what is involved in TSS). Even with regulation by the FDA, a normal tampon is still going to cause some mini incisions. Ah what they do not tell you on the box at the store….
I recently bought one of these while I was at whole foods. I have had friends tell me that they’ve used them before and they’ve all liked them, so I figured ‘why not?’. I’m SUPER glad I decided to…It only took me two tries to get the hang of putting it in and I haven’t experienced any leaking or anything unpleasant so far. As so many of you have said already: I wish I knew about this sooner!!!! I love it.
I am using the cup for the 1st time. I really like the idea of this item. I wanted to mention, the Diva cup website says NOT to use vinegar, tea tree oil, scented soap, antibacterial soap, hydrogen peroxide, bleach, rubbing alcohol or harsh chemicals as these may damage the silicone and ruin the cup.
The Diva Wash seems expensive. The company recommends a product that is natural & fragrance free? Do you have an alternative, to the Diva wash, that is safe for me and that won’t (over time) damage the Diva cup?
PS: the company does recommend replacing it once a year.
I picked up the Diva Cup a few weeks ago and recently gave it a try. I followed the directions to a tee, but I just could NOT get it in there. Just couldn’t. Have been able to insert tampons and other menstrual cups but jeez, the Diva Cup is just too enormous for me. I guess I’m just on the smaller side!
← Previous Comments