For what its worth menstrual cups like the mooncup are not new - they have been around at least as long as we have been making stuff from rubber. They also have a pretty good track record in terms of infection risk.
They can be boil sterilised quite safely but if you use chemical sterilisation then take care as to which sort. The type of sterilisation used on baby stuff and nappies tends to be fine but some of the more aggressive chlorine based agents may affect the material. A quick email to customer support should be able to tell you catagorically which is which. It is important to sterilize regularly in addition to normal cleaning (between periods is enough for regular cycles usually) to prevent biofilm and the like building up. Also theladiesloos has a fair few mooncup/similar users - some of whom I know are medically qualified so it may be a question to ask there too.
I think it is a good idea to practice when you are not bleeding - much as I learned to use tampons as a girl. I wouldn't give up on it though and not just for ecological reasons (although if you have every tried surfing in sea which has tampons floating in it...). If you ever have the kind of dysfunctional cycle which entails very heavy bleeding for weeks on end you will find yourself trying to double up tampons in conjunction with heavy duty pads just to leave the house - extended use of tampons in this way does cause soreness and problems. If you can use a menstrual cup you have something which outperforms any tampon without causing the problems and can make life more liveable. Since many women suffer from this to some degree at some point in their lives its a useful thing to have even if it doesn't become your main method.
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Date: 2005-02-04 04:13 pm (UTC)They can be boil sterilised quite safely but if you use chemical sterilisation then take care as to which sort. The type of sterilisation used on baby stuff and nappies tends to be fine but some of the more aggressive chlorine based agents may affect the material. A quick email to customer support should be able to tell you catagorically which is which. It is important to sterilize regularly in addition to normal cleaning (between periods is enough for regular cycles usually) to prevent biofilm and the like building up. Also theladiesloos has a fair few mooncup/similar users - some of whom I know are medically qualified so it may be a question to ask there too.
I think it is a good idea to practice when you are not bleeding - much as I learned to use tampons as a girl. I wouldn't give up on it though and not just for ecological reasons (although if you have every tried surfing in sea which has tampons floating in it...). If you ever have the kind of dysfunctional cycle which entails very heavy bleeding for weeks on end you will find yourself trying to double up tampons in conjunction with heavy duty pads just to leave the house - extended use of tampons in this way does cause soreness and problems. If you can use a menstrual cup you have something which outperforms any tampon without causing the problems and can make life more liveable. Since many women suffer from this to some degree at some point in their lives its a useful thing to have even if it doesn't become your main method.