Ladies - if it frightens YOU off, then I'm disappointed, and feel bad for your poor vagay, who isn't remotely scary, and with whom you should be BFFs.
For a while now, I've been trying to find a better way of dealing with my period, as I find it completely unacceptable that we're expected to spend 1/4 of our days in misery. For 40 years. That's TEN years of menstrual f*ckery, and it's not cool with me.
While the birth control pill I'm on helps fix some of the problems (namely Von Willebrand's sponsored Niagara-level bleeding), it also brings with it a whole host of other issues (cramping, bloating, and digestive weirdness), so it's really only half of a solution. But I can live with that- although not ideal, the pill has at least brought my period into the realm of manageability.
So my next, and biggest, problem- what to actually DO with the blood. I've never really felt great about sticking factory-produced, bleached cotton up into sensitive body parts, and don't even get me STARTED on the scented ones. Blech. I just feel like it's a great way to throw off your pH balance at the very least, not to mention the possibilities of tearing yourself or TSS. But over the last couple years I've felt myself also growing uncomfortable with the thought of all the waste I was creating. Every tampon applicator I tossed away made me cringe guiltily. Even after a switch to applicatorless tampons, I knew I was contributing to a problem that's growing daily. So I researched other options.
I know a fair amount of women who swear by Moon Cups and Diva Cups, and while I very much trust their judgement, I have a couple qualms- the chance of me spilling blood on myself is NOT one I'd like to take. Also, I would feel a little weird rinsing it out in public bathrooms, though it does seem like they hold enough that this is something you could plan to avoid.
Then I stumbled across what seemed a potential dream come true- sponge tampons! These bad boys have no grody string hanging out of you, are pretty easy to put in, and, best bit of all, can be worn during sex. I tried a small box of Beppy tampons to test out, and was immediately sold on how well they work. Trouble is, these are disposable, too, and do nothing to keep more synthetic scariness out of our landfills, or, for that matter, my body; I still wanted a more natural solution.
Enter the natural sponge tampon. Sea sponges have been used this way for ages, which makes total sense. You can buy precut, individual sponges, but I opted to buy a large one and cut it down into six or seven.
It looks big at first...
While QUITE firm and rough at first, never fear- as soon as you get it wet, sea sponge becomes incredibly flexible and soft. Make sure to soak your sponge in warm (but not boiling) water and 1/8 cup of white vinegar when you first get it, so it's nice and clean for your sensitive bits.
To put one in, wet it, then squeeze out all excess moisture. Scrunch up as small as you can, pinched between two fingers, gently push inside, and then use one finger to push it all the way back. You'll feel it sort of...lodge itself. The sponge will expand perfectly to stay in place, and is good to go! Sex, yoga, and cardio haven't budged it.
Now, removing it is probably what wigs women out the most- it'll be messier than when you put it in, and there's a (completely irrational) fear that you won't be able to reach it. But we're not an endless tunnel, ladyfriends. While it's true that it's quite a reach, if you kegel down on that sucker, you can push it toward your fingers, and gently pull it out. You'll probably freak out a bit the first time, but really quickly it becomes old hat. Wash it out with warm water, squeeze out excess moisture, and pop back in! I find they last 5-8 hours. At the end of your period, wash it out one last time, and then leave it in 1 cup of warm water and 1/4 cup of white vinegar for 10 minutes.
Overall impressions: AWESOME. A million times more comfortable than cotton tampons, I couldn't even feel the thing. It absorbs blood a hell of a lot better than cotton, too, and unlike tampons, which I found were almost always either overflowingly wet or uncomfortably dry when I removed them, the sponges are so soft that it doesn't matter if you bled less that you expected, it's never dry and rough on the way out. And best of all, no waste!! I've read lots of different sources claiming anywhere from a 3-12 month lifespan for one sponge, so at the very inside number I've got almost 2 years of tampons out of one $15 sponge. I'll certainly take it.
So, that's the whole, bloody story. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, and would love to hear about your experiences with "alternative" period control!
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