I don't know if all of you remember but a few months back, a lady came on here and wanted to pitch an article for First! magazine.  I answered her, and she did two interviews with me, as she planned on profiling 5 women.  I asked her to keep me updated.
I just got the email back.  Her editor cut her back to two women, and cut my story as well, but they did take the article.  It will be on the shelves 8/24/09 to 9/14/09. 
Ms. Maxbauer (the reporter) seemed very interested in getting this out there as not only a valid, but a very good alternative for menstrual products.  I don't know if she will think to let you guys know about the article being on the shelves, so I thought I'd do it for her :).

Hi everyone,

Haven't been here in awhile...things are going well, so there's been no reason.  I love my cup!  ;)

Reason I came by was to point out an article on the site/newsletter "Ideal Bite" here.  They offer daily tips on small things you can do to make your life more eco-friendly.  Yesterday's tip was about menstrual cups.  I usually enjoy their tips, but yesterday's was a bit weird.  They usually don't pass judgement or make opinion-based comments (unless they are in support of an item/method).  However, about menstrual cups, they said, "So the girls on the Bite team gave these contraptions the ol' college try, and we're sticking to eco-tampons. But seriously - you Biters rave about them. Talk pros and cons in the comments."  There are already four pages of comments and one link to this community, but maybe if we all head over there and talk about how great cups are, we can have an effect on how people view and deal with this topic.

Thanks! 

Hi lovely people!

First, and probably more interestingly, I want to point out this article.  It's poorly written and has some inaccurate information in it, but at least cups are in the media!  It's interesting to watch this Alicia thing progress...it seems to get more and more strange everytime I hear something about them.

Next, I finally got to try out my Mia and I LOVE it.  I have no other cup experience to compare it to, but it was fantastic.  Honestly, I don't bleed all that much, but through my entire first cycle with it, there was no leaking.  Also, it seems to instantly relieve my craps.  The moment I put it in, they go away and as soon as I take it out they come back.  Weird.  For me, both insertion and removal were very easy (tried both the c-fold and the punch-down fold and both worked well). 

For those who are following, my Miacup also has only two holes in it for some reason, I remember reading something here that implied that it's their new design.  I don't know about other people, but for me having only two holes doesn't seem to be a problem.  I'm pretty long, so I just bear down until I can reach the in-tact stem and pull until I can tilt the cup "sideways" a little to avoid the "whole rim at once" removal.  There doesn't seem to be any turbo-suction problem.

MODS: Not sure how to tag for the news article, there's no "news" or "media" tag.  I did activism, but if this is not correct, please change it.  :)  Thanks.

Hi everyone,
Here is the most recent version of the brochure I made to promote menstrual cups. Feel free to print copies and spread them around!

In this month's cosmopolitain, there is a small thing for diva cup!   It said something about "green" diva.
It's in the part that has the random 1/3 width ads next to 2/3 width ads. 

EDIT 3: I've removed the links in this post as the most recent version of the brochure in a different post.

EDIT 2: I finished the new version of the brochure. Please let me know what you think! Also, thanks purple_obsidian for letting me use her cup photos in the brochure!

EDIT: I want to thank everyone for their feedback! I have decided to remove the link to the brochure until I've had a chance to incorporate some of the suggested changes. I hope to have it back up by tomorrow evening (Thursday, PST). Thanks again!

Hi everyone!
Here is a menstrual cup brochure I made up to spread the word! Please let me know what you think and if anything should be changed. Also, I'm not too keen on the border colors, so suggestions for that would be welcome, too!

Thanks!

PS Please feel free to print out the brochure to use it yourself or link to it from your website, etc.

I'd just like to quickly post this link: www.gurl.com/findout/guides/articles/0,,716773-1,00.html

It's a history of menstrual products, and it mentions cups twice, both times pretty thoroughly. I thought the community might like it.

Hi Everyone

I designed a new coloured flyer that I'd like to distribute at my local highschools and universities. Since I don't have anywhere to link to show you I'm posting it as an image - I can't get it to a quality and size thats readable sorry! If anyone wants to read the content please let me know and I'll email you a copy of the PDF otherwise if someone knows how I can easily upload the flyer so everyone can view it let me know.

Note: The images on the front page have NOT been cleared for copyright - I am waiting on responses from all the people I got images from so please do NOT reproduce this at this point in time.

Thanks! 

( Pamphlet )

I get a listing each day of reporters and writers looking for sources. One came up today:

17) Summary: Do "menstrual cups" work for you?

Category: Lifestyle & Entertainment

Name: Lisa Maxbauer

Email: lisamaxb@yahoo.com

Title: Contributor, writer

Media Outlet/Publication: FIRST magazine

Anonymous? No

Specific Geographic Region?  No

Region:

Deadline: 2:00 PM EASTERN - February 27

Query:

"I'm working on a health article about women who prefer using
menstrual cups (rather than tampons or pads). If you would like to
share your perspective and educate other women about these
products, please email me. I'm interested in learning exactly why
these disposable or washable/reusable cups fit your lifestyle.
Thanks for sharing!"

I've been working on a website on menstrual cups, and I just finished writing up this section in response to a question I've seen asked here, on other websites, and in my personal life. I just thought I'd share it with you all.

I can get a bit windy, so beware. I'm also a student of history, women's studies, anthropology, and sociology, so this reflects that.

It's basically my thoughts about the question, ( If menstrual cups are so great, why haven't I heard about them before? )

*Whew*

PS-Not sure how I'd tag this one, so I didn't.

Here is a link to an article that mentions the environmental impact of disposable menstrual products and introduces the reader to the two alternatives of cloth pads and menstrual cups. I thought others in this community would enjoy reading it and perhaps sharing it with other women: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090112_theres_no_delicate_way_to_put_this_/

I'm trying to make a slightly updated version of the flyer I once found on http://menstrualcups.org/activism.php to hand out at campus etc. One of the reasons I want to make a new one is that there are several new brands of cups that didn't exist when the last flyer was made. So, I don't want to miss any. Can you help me by listing brands (with website URL) that I'm forgetting?

On the top of my head I remember:
LadyCup
Diva Cup
Lunette
Miacup
Femmecup
Mooncup UK
Keeper and Mooncup US
(Insteads)

Also, which of the brands and/or vendors offer money-back guarantees/size change etc?

Is it ok if I use one or two of the images found in the community info? (I think the last flyer did) I will of course credit menstrualcups.org for the image, as well as generally recommending it ;)

Otherwise, I don't really intend to change the original flyer very much, except my version will be in A4 paper size.

Edit: Found original flyer, thanks!

Edit2:
What I have so far is found at http://folk.ntnu.no/lundanes/cupflyers
If there is anything I'm missing, or something else, let me know. There's a pdf version for easy printing (A4 paper, print double-sided and fold. Page two is the inside.) and a .doc version if anyone wants to change bits before they use it. I hope the .doc version looks right in Word, as I made it in OpenOffice.

I just had to share, I was reading the January issue of Redbook and came across a mention of menstrual cups in a little article titled "5 Easy Ways to Live Healthy in January".  I was super excited to see them mentioned in a "mainstream" mag as we all know that many people have never even heard of cups.  I sent them an email to tell them how awesome I thought it was.  I certainly never thought I'd be emailing a magazine over excitement about a period product, haha! 

So in one of the last issues of Parents magazine (November 2008), there was a question posed in one of the sections about wearing a tampon too long (too busy to remember to change it) and the person advised to just remember to change it or use pads. I immediately jumped on the computer to write them and suggest a menstrual cup. While they didn't use my comment, someone else got their published in this current issue (January 2009). I'm happy that menstrual cups are making their way into magazines--I just wish it was mentioned as an option in the original article.
( See the page here... )

Hi everyone, longtime lurker here. :-)

I just found this very interesting article in the Montreal Mirror newspaper (written by their fabulous sex columnist Sasha) regarding the lifespan of Diva and Keeper cups, and what Health Canada says about it.

Apparently the Divacup company now says you should replace your cup every year (just checked the FAQ on their website, and yup, it says once a year). This is news to me, since when I bought my Diva three years ago, their official position was that it should last MANY years with proper cleaning and care. Before the Diva, I was using the Keeper (since 1993!) and I distinctly remember the Keeper people were adamant that it could be used for up to 10 years. (I think my first Keeper lasted about 6 years before the rubber started cracking, but that's another story. ;-)

Does anyone else have info about this? I'd like to know WHY the lifespan policy has changed. From the article, it seems like there's a lot of conflicting information.

I didn't see this in the archives, so I thought I'd share this New York Times article about menstrual cups. .

It's from 2003(!), but I thought it was well done and worth the read.

http://www.miacup.co.za/talk/index.php?s=f2392c2352c72c759c02736c8c2086e3&showforum=15

List of essays:

* Women's cycles up for sale: Neo-medicalization and Women's reproductive health
* Suppressing periods: haven't we learned our lesson?
* If not a blessing, then not a curse (by Nigella Lawson!)
* Earth democracy
* What's a modern girl to do?
* The slow enlightenment
* Shadow of extinction
* Bodies without evidence

I'll see if it works this time. Sorry you folks that tried to read what was behind the cut the other day and nothing came up...

( graphic in places, also contains history! )

Hopefully it will work second time around. If it doesn't show up, the only reason why I can think of is that my copy/past is carrying over some script that prevents my copying to other sites...

EDIT: So far, so good. Let me know if it decides to disappear again!

I know I'm still new here and I haven't really introduced myself, but I need help, kinda ASAP. So, to get this out of the way...
Hi, semi-newbie to the community and using cups. I'm so glad this community exists and that cups exist. I doubt there will be any personal questions, but ask away if you want to.
Here's my crisis - I've got the OK from my english professor to write an analysis report regarding the environmental and health effects of disposable menstrual products and I get to "solve" the issue with introducing the alternatives (yay!) but he told me I need AT LEAST 10 reliable sources (scientific studies, landfill reports, etc., but surveys and interviews aren't really good for this sort of project) on these effects and why alternatives are so much better. I'm desperate as my project is due this coming saturday night. Can you guys help? Pretty please? If you know of any sources I could use, could you post them?

Edit: Thank you all SO MUCH for your help and support. I emailed all of the companies I could find regarding this (MiaCup is a fantastic company BTW, I feel like I need to buy one of them now that they've helped me so much!) I've found almost 10 usable sources thanks to all of your suggestions. If I can get all of this information sorted out, I'll post the analytical report in my journal within a week if anybody would be interested in it. THANKS AGAIN! Oh, and I can use more than 10, so if anybody thinks of any more, just post it and I'll see what I can do to add it.

Hello everybody! I hope you are all well today (unlike me, who is sick at home with a sore tummy).

So as I've mentioned to sweetrush, I'm working on a menstrual cup user's guide of sorts. As we know, the little booklets that come with the individual cups are a bit spotty and can have some instructions that are just plain wrong for some women (such as "if you can't rotate it, you're doing it wrong").

The writing stuff isn't an issue for me - it's what I do for a living AND what I do for joy. However, I'm a little concerned about the graphics. I have very little experience with them! So I was wondering if there are any graphically-inclined folks in this community who might be willing to help with this little project? I was thinking line drawings for illustration of cups and diagrams for insertion and the like. I'm planning on releasing the final product under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license, so you'd have to be cool with that.

On a sillier note... I've decided to name my Mooncup Batman, because I've decided it would be hilarious if more women called their vaginas THE BATCAVE. And then last night I had a dream that I named my cup Barack Obama, which is more than a little creepy. (THANKS, BRAIN.) So who else has named their cup something amusing? I know there's an Anastasia Beaverhosen in here...

Taken from The Local, which is an English-based Swedish newspaper: http://www.thelocal.se/13036/20080714/

Climate concerns are never far away it seems. Even the most intimate of female monthly rituals carries an eco-friendly alternative.

According to the state pharmacy chain Apoteket the average woman uses a whole room full of tampons in her lifetime. The "menstrual cup" is a reusable device designed to replace this tampon mountain and provide an eco-friendly alternative for the climate-conscious modern woman.

The "menstrual cup" is normally made out of silicon, measures 40-46 millimeter in diameter and is 45-50 millimetres long - slightly shorter that a tampon.

The cup can contain 15-30 millilitres of menstrual fluid and should be emptied once or twice a day. The cup can be reused for several years.

Despite being conscious of the impact of tampon-use on the environment, Apoteket does not however stock the product.

"It is a new product, isn't it, and I don't even know if it is on sale in Sweden. We had a similar product in our assortment in the 1960s but it went out of stock, probably due to low demand," said Kerstin Lindgren at Apoteket to The Local.

"We conduct quality controls of all new products and then decide if it is anything that we should stock. We have not taken any decision yet over whether to test the menstrual cup," Lindgren added.

Aside from its environmental benefits the menstrual cup is useful for training, as its sits tight to the body, and is particularly useful in the summer as women can swim even during their time of the month without worrying about the risk of embarrassing leakages.

Menskoppen.se, a company that distributes the popular Mooncup in Sweden, claims that period ache is also eased.

"Many women say that their period ache has improved or disappeared altogether since they made the switch to the menstrual cup. This could be because the menstrual cup sits significantly lower down than regular tampons."

The menstrual cup retails at around 260 kronor ($44) in Sweden and is available online and at ten alternative pharmacies and organic health stores across Sweden.

Peter Vinthagen Simpson

Hello all!

A long time ago, I promised to scan and post some old medical journal articles I'd found in my grandfather's office on the subject of menstrual cups. So here is the first of them. I think it's very interesting as it talks about how menstrual cups can actually promote healthier conditions than pads as they do not promote bacterial growth, among other things. For those having a hard time convincing their parents to let them get a cup, maybe print this out and let them read it for themselves?

Keep in mind, though, that this is an article from 1962 (from the Obstetrics and Gynecology journal)...so some of it may feel a bit dated.

"Menstrual Protection: Advantages of the Menstrual Cup"
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Reading it through again, however, did bring up one question/concern I've had (as much as I love my cup). On my last visit to a gyno, she noted that I had a retroverted uterus--which the authors of this article comment at the end may counter-indicate use of a cup (because of the "absence of free space in the upper vagina"). I'd never seen note of this in any cup literature before, but it's left me wondering if that's why I have some trouble with suction with my cup on heavy days/frequent overflow.

Also, more seriously, I was recently diagnosed with a "complex" ovarian cyst of fairly large size (which I'm seeing a specialist about in a couple weeks to see if it needs to be removed surgically/possibly biopsied, or whether we can wait and see if it will resolve on it's own.) I've read that these cysts/endometrioma can cause retroverted uteruses, but I'm also now being paranoid, as I never have had a problem like this before, that somehow my cup usage might be linked to the development of the cyst? I really hope not and maybe I'm being paranoid (let's just say paranoia has been high on my mind since my initial diagnosis). But now I'm wondering if I should continue using my cup at all or not, at least not until I've talked to an ob/gyn about it.

Like I said, paranoia, maybe, but just wondering if anyone else here has had experieces/information about cup usage both with retroverted uterus and/or ovarian cysts...

I've kept in touch with this one Professor at Vermont College, and he likes to read my research papers and give me feedback. Right now I'm writing one on alternative menstrual products, when I'm finished do you guys want me to post it or something? I'm trying to spread the word about cervical/uterine/ovarian cancer and how real a threat it is in our society today, so I'm going to be distributing it throughout everywhere really. It's titled "DO YOU WANT TO PUT THIS IN YOUR VAGINA?" anyways..I'll post or send it to whoever is interested.

I'm still looking for a smaller menstrual cup, if you guys have any suggestions I'd greatly appreciate them!

let me know what you think!

( Read more... )

Picture this: a tightly wound wad of pesticide-laden cotton and chemically processed rayon that has been whitened with chlorine bleach. During use, this wad sloughs off tiny fibers of abrasive plastic. It also releases small amounts of dioxin, a carcinogen known to harm the body through bioaccumulation. Now imagine this wad stuffed into a bloody orifice and left to fester for 8 hours. This increases the dangers of the wad, which absorbs fluids and provides a terrific breeding ground for the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, which causes the sometimes-fatal disease Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).

( more here )