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Diva Cup Question!
Before a month ago I knew basically zero about what a mestrual cup was, I think I saw a post on here about them and immediately went off to research them. I fell in love with the idea and almost just as quickly bought myself one. I have to say I have never ever been this excited to start my period because I desperately wanted to use it. I did do a short practice run when I first got it just to see about putting it in... I love the thing, I can't feel it I don't have to worry about it, no more carting around tampons, which I always manage to forget. I put it in beautifully from the start, no leaks. It's great : )
I use the punch down fold, because the other fold is just too big for me to even think about me getting it in there comfortably... which leads us nicely into my problem. I am rather small and a virgin, which I am sure is the reason I am rather small, and so on. But getting it out HURTS! I have a difficult time breaking the seal because I feel like I can't get my fingers up in there enough, pinch it twist it, whatever I do I still feel like I am trying to rip a suction cup out of my vagina. Pretty sure that's not right... Getting it out this morning was a lot better than last night, but it took FOREVER because I was trying to figure out how best to do it. Which is good because I do need to figure it out, I am just pretty much failing on my own. Getting it all the way out was still pretty uncomfortable because when the cup is all the way open the stretch is a little painful. When I took it out I tilted it so that it didn't slide out all at once but it was still a bit much. I wanted to try and take it out with the top slightly folded so it was smaller, but like I said, there's not a lot of extra room for my fingers and I just end up pushing the thing back up inside of me.
I've googled stuff and read the menstrual cup threads on here, but they're not really directed entirely at this issue... I am wondering if it will just get better with use, or if I should just put it back in it's nice little cloth bag and try again in whatever amount of time my little ticker says I have, lol. Because after that I won't be a virgin and maybe that'll help. I would really like to continue using this, but I also don't know how I feel about possibly ripping my hymen with it, which it may already be gone for all I know... I honestly have no clue. It just hurts very much out of proportion when taking the cup out. And takes a riduculously large amount of time.
Has anyone had any experience with this? Any advice?
Re: Diva Cup Question!
Not a virgin, but I remove it by slowly pulling it down so it's partially out (the narrowest tapered part at the bottom is out- bearing down with your vaginal muscles helps to get it down without breaking the seal), and then pinching the base and folding it up to make the top part narrower. It took a bit of practice and before that I was just yanking it out, which did hurt a bit.
Hang in there, you'll get it.
You need to fold it more. You can grab it from the bottom and put enough pressure on it that the upper edge folds as well. That's how I get it out.
Could you empty it in the shower? That way you can get your form/procedure down without worrying about making a mess.
Best sound ever: baby's heartbeat! (Heard @ 10w1d)
You might check out this link - seems like it has some helpful info. Sorry, my links are never clicky.
http://menstrualcupinfo.wordpress.com/virgins-and-menstrual-cups/
I have had the same problem. I have only used the cup for about 3 months but I am not a virgin. Here is what I did this past cycle that helped me considerably. Rather than pulling it straight down I tilt it and pull til the "seal" breaks. The suction was intense for me as well and very uncomfortable to just more or less rip it outta there. Felt like I was gonna turn my vag inside out! So I started to pull it down while also tilting it forward or backward and that was a MUCH gentler break of the seal. Granted this doesn't work so well if it is super full so I emptied it more often so I had some room to tilt w/o spillage. Hope this helps! There is definitely a learning curve to it.
Best sound ever: baby's heartbeat! (Heard @ 10w1d)