# Do Menstrual Cups Hurt & Feel Uncomfortable? **Creator:** Kidsstoppress **Platform:** youtube **Duration:** 10m **Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4 ## Summary The conversation revolves around educating children about menstruation and the use of menstrual cups. Swati, an expert in applied psychology and lactation, shares her experiences with her daughter and emphasizes the importance of open discussions about periods, as well as the benefits and practicalities of using menstrual cups. - Swati introduced the concept of menstruation to her daughter in a simple, age-appropriate manner, fostering an open dialogue. - She emphasizes that menstrual cups are safe, comfortable, and environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional sanitary products. - Swati highlights the importance of understanding anatomy to alleviate fears about using menstrual cups. - Learning to use a menstrual cup involves a trial-and-error process, with many women taking several cycles to become comfortable. - She encourages parents to provide choices to their children regarding menstrual products, promoting confidence in their anatomy. - Swati notes that using a menstrual cup does not affect virginity and addresses common misconceptions about it. - The conversation underscores the significance of patience and education in overcoming fears associated with menstrual cups. ## Transcript [[0:00]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=0s) so i i was removing the menstrual cup and then she saw the blood and she said emma what blood i said uh no baby it's just periods when i was taking the cup out of the cupboard to go to sterilize i told her amma got my period so amma is taking the cup again and she said uh uh okay so she is not really bothered my job is just to make her understand that amma is open to these kind of [[0:21]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=21s) conversations he is swati so nice to have you hi mansi swati is an applied psychology and certified behavior profile analyst certified lactation expert counselor and is also dr sears lean health coach senior age campaign and it's very exciting to know have you been doing some incredible amount of work in in educating parents about how you should go about that conversation that there's so much curiosity about the period conversation or you know what is periods or whatever so tell me how have you [[0:51]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=51s) explained that to your child yeah so as i told you i didn't start off with the proper paragraph kind of explanation i just told her that amma is going because we were taking bath at that time she was around two and a half ah so i i was removing the menstrual cup and then she saw the blood and she said emma what blood i said no baby it's just periods so she said does it hurt and i said no [[1:13]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=73s) baby it doesn't hurt so that was the first conversation next what happened that that cycle she didn't ask anything the following cycle when i was taking the cup out of the cupboard to go to sterilize i told her amma got my period so amma is taking the cup again and she said uh uh okay so she is not really bothered my job is just to make her understand that amma is open to these kind of conversations so i just [[1:39]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=99s) told her about cup again and then uh the following conversation i told her that the blood comes from the uterus so again as you as i already told you they won't understand what it is like when you say neck or shoulder also they are actually not understanding anything you're just telling you're just pointing and just telling that's all similarly i just pointed and told her that the blood comes from the uterus so as i told you i [[1:59]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=119s) just kept building on to this conversation now she can take a full-fledged class on menstrual cups she's really aware of what happens during menstruation how long have you been using it i've been using it for six years now how were you first introduced and what got you to start using the menstrual cup yeah so when i started using cloth diapers for my daughter uh when she was around four months of age i got introduced to cloth [[2:21]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=141s) diapers so i stopped using disposable diapers at that time and i i continued uh using it till she turned 18 months she was potty trained by 18 19 months so till then i was using this but in the meantime i got my periods when i was around 10 m when she was around 10 months of age so that time i thought okay i've i've stopped using disposable diapers for her which takes around 500 to 800 years to decompose but [[2:45]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=165s) then i am using tantry napkins which takes the same 500 to 800 years to decompose so i should also make the change someday and then so i got into a facebook group called sustainable menstruation india and then they had been discussing about cups for a while then and i just got a cup and just experimented and then used after i think trying two to three brands i found what worked for me so now i take classes on [[3:08]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=188s) menstrual cups also there's always this fear that it's going to hurt um what do you say to to all the all the women who are you know who have a cup in there in their cupboard but they haven't even still tried it uh first thing i do in my my sessions are two one and a half to two hours long mainly because i talk a lot about the anatomy so once there is a clear picture about what happens inside [[3:30]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=210s) the body once the cup has gone in so what is the vaginal canal what is the cervix or the cervical canal where is the uterus what what happens inside the fallopian tube or the ovaries or whatever when the anatomy is explained in a very clear manner their fears actually go off so first of all they have to get to know what the anatomy looks like and where the cup sits inside the body number two uh cups are very [[3:51]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=231s) soft it's made of medical grade silicone um it's not even as hard as a penis uh so if uh sexual intercourse is fine and okay for them um menstrual cups will be uh actually simpler than that in fact not at all hurtful nothing you won't even feel that the cup is inside you so they should never compare the insertion of a menstrual cup with uh sexual intercourse both are different i think that's somebody else is doing it [[4:19]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=259s) you are doing it so there's a huge difference there yeah yeah yeah absolutely somebody's actually asked do menstrual cups work on vacuum yeah it it creates suction inside and that's how it's held inside the vaginal canal it's a habit change that we're talking about right swati because you use sanitary napkins always then you're making that the biggest fear is will i stain right will i am i bearing it right and therefore staining it right is it normal that the first couple of [[4:49]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=289s) times you will get it wrong and then you will get it right eventually absolutely absolutely absolutely there is a learning curve there is definitely a learning curve only some women figure it out in the first cycle most women take two to three cycles i myself took four to five cycles to figure out how to use cups so sometimes it will be the angle of insertion sometimes it will be a different fold that works for that particular brand sometimes they'll have [[5:09]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=309s) to go for a different material uh sometimes the size itself might be different but then my point is when they're using it and when they find something is not okay they have to figure out what is going wrong and what kind of cup should i buy next time so that is the kind of information that i put in my classes but they don't really need classes they can just watch some youtube videos and they can start [[5:30]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=330s) using only thing is when something is not working they have to understand oh the cup is slipping down so maybe the diameter is smaller i have to go for a bigger diameter for that first of all they have to understand about the vaginal canal only then they'll think about the diameter you get my point now so one is connected to the other funnel right it's like a funnel yes for correct kind of floating people have asked you for your recommendation on [[5:55]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=355s) which menstrual menstruation cups brands to buy so any recommendations no i i don't recommend any brands because all brands are working for different different women so for example when i tried soft cups it didn't work for me but my friends are all happy with soft cups so i cannot today just promote hard material cups and tell people that you know this will work for everybody that doesn't work that way infection and sterilization so does it need separate [[6:18]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=378s) equipment to sterilize or how do you sterilize it you can sterilize it with a normal steel uh bowl in a normal steel bowl you can if if water can immerse the cup just boil the water put the cup in for two to three minutes and it's fine see the the thing that they have to think about is does a penis go through sterilization before intercourse [Music] right so they really don't have to worry much about it soap and water is more [[6:46]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=406s) than enough but still just for safety sake we sterilize it there is no chance of infection or anything because of cups otherwise people won't be using it for 10-15 years continuously when i was on that group that facebook group there were people who were using it for seven years at that time which means now they're using it for 13 14 years now right also do you need to sterilize it like after every cycle or you sterilize [[7:11]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=431s) it every time you change your cup or no no no only no only only between cycles they don't have to use it sorry only after cycles they don't have to sterilize it in between cycles so on day one and day four day five whenever snu no no no you just need one what we've addressed is that there are no infections it's fairly simple to use uh you can watch a couple of youtube videos you're not going to get it right if [[7:36]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=456s) you've uh at the first go so there will be multiple iterations that will happen of course yeah and um and the last bit of it is that um the last bit of it is of course that you have to find your own to kind of um kind of know that which brand actually works with which actually it might take some trial and error but if they're patient enough they'll definitely figure it out into three cycles but let me ask you [[8:03]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=483s) this that when your daughter reaches reaches her menstruation would you advise a cup or a salary napkin or a cloth since i think she will be very confident about her anatomy if that's the case i'll get her a small size cup right do you feel like um you would want her like you know and this is a common thing that when girls are starting out do you feel like if you you introduce them to the choices and then let them make their own [[8:29]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=509s) or would you say that just start off with this and it'll work fine yeah see she's or she's always going to have choices always all the time so definitely i'm going to tell her these are your choices but my preference would be cups but then it it all depends upon how comfortable she is with insertion the only thing about first timers or young girls or 13 14 year olds have just started out is their confidence level about their [[8:52]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=532s) anatomy the youngest cup user who has attended my workshop was age 14 when she attended it it's two years since she's using she's very happy with it right so i'll definitely give her the choice if she wants to use organic pads or cotton pads or something let her start with that and slowly she can transition to cups by 15 16 years that's one thing that she can do if she's confident at age 13 14 except to use cups then i [[9:13]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=553s) don't mind which is which is incredible that you say that also uh has anybody you know ever hurt themselves using a cup like if they've not done it properly and because you know the the the area is so sensitive that even a slight flicker can hurt you so no no nobody has no nobody has hurt themselves but girls since my classes are attended by uh you know unmarried women or women who are not sexually active they have had a lot of inhibitions while [[9:44]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=584s) trying number one number two girls with girls who go through painful penetration or those who have vaginismus uh they have difficulty to use cups so if they have a pelvic floor tightness issue or any kind of vaginismus related issue then i ask them to seek help with the pelvic floor physiotherapist first sort their problem and then think about cups does menstrual cup effect affect virginity first of all there is no no such thing called virginity so [[10:13]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizG1axoWF4&t=613s) if they mean hymen they can watch one igtv video that i've done on hyman so they can they'll get a clear picture about what is hymen and whether it'll impact the usage of menstrual cup at all otherwise as i told you plenty of youtube videos that will clear up the concept but basically what they need to understand this there is nothing called virginity it's just a social construct [Music]