Fewer visits to the drugstore.Д®ven if you replace your cup once a year, youвЂ™ll still make 11 fewer trips to the store than you would if you used disposable, paper-based methods. Tampons absorb your vaginal fluid along with the blood, which may disturb the vaginaвЂ™s delicate pH and bacterial balance. Vaginal pH and beneficial bacteria also stay in place. With menstrual cups, you wonвЂ™t have to worry about embarrassing odor wafting out at the most inopportune times since the fluid doesnвЂ™t get exposed to air as it does with pads and tampons. Make sure you read the label carefully before buying if you want a reusable one. Keep in mind that some cups are designed to be disposable. Since you can reuse them, thereвЂ™s less waste to clog up our landfills and fewer trees sacrificed to make the paper-based alternatives. Some cups are designed for long-term use вЂ“ even years вЂ“ providing significant cost savings over tampons and pads. Here are a few pros for using a menstrual cup. Higgins.ДЄdvertising Policy Advantages of using a menstrual cup To do this, just remove and rinse your cup after 12 hours, or when leaking occurs,вЂќ says Dr. вЂњYou can use a cup all the way through your cycle, but you might need to change it more often on heavy flow days to guard against leaking.

If you are sensitive to latex, youвЂ™ll want to buy silicone cups to avoid any issues. Most menstrual cups are made of silicone or rubber. The cup doesnвЂ™t absorb your menstrual flow like tampons or pads do. How a menstrual cup worksДЄ menstrual cup is a flexible cup thatвЂ™s designed for use inside the vagina during your period to collect blood. And while sales didnвЂ™t take off when they were first introduced commercially, the global market for menstrual cups is now expected to hit $1.89 billion by 2026. Another benefit of using them - theyвЂ™re more eco-friendly than pads and tampons. TheyвЂ™ve been proven to be safe and very effective. Today, more and more women are using menstrual cups. As a result, the menstrual cup category as a whole faded into the background until the late 80s. However, women during this time opted for menstrual pads instead of tampons and menstrual cups which were viewed as risquГ©.Д®ven though menstrual cups were around in the 50s and 60s, they still werenвЂ™t widely embraced. She called her creation the вЂњTass-etteвЂќ and claimed that it made her monthly struggle more of a carefree experience.

One of the first commercial menstrual cups was developed in 1937 by Leona Chalmers. The menstrual cup could then be pulled out by a cord that was attached to it. This early version was meant to be inserted into the vagina to collect blood. The first patent for a menstrual cup design was awarded in 1867 and the prototype was pretty much a rubber sack that was attached to a ring. While it might seem like menstrual cups popped up overnight, theyвЂ™ve actually been around in some form since the 1800s. But should you make the switch just because everyone seems to be doing so right now? Keep reading to learn more about these not-so-new feminine products and to get some helpful tips from gynecologist Erin Higgins, MD. Some are long-lasting and reusable while others are disposable.

Menstrual cups have quickly become a popular alternative to tampons and pads.

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