Anything on my teeth?
Muah.
Alright now we're gonna start.
Hi this is Kim Rosas from Put A Cup In It and welcome back to our channel.
Today we're going to be talking all about menstrual cup firmness.
If you're new here please take a moment and hit the subscribe button down below.
Menstrual cup firmness is subjective and also pretty abstract.
When we decided to publish a firmness chart and establish ratings for menstrual cup firmness
it was something we did with a lot of deliberation because everyone has their own idea of how
to measure cup firmness and it's also subjective to the person doing the measuring.
When we're talking about menstrual cup firmness we're talking about the amount of resistance
as you are squeezing and squishing the cup.
As you squish the cup it will either push down easily and very lazily return or with
a firmer cup it will be harder to squish to the touch, you can tell as you compare, and
it will pop back with a lot more force.
This is especially coming into play when you fold a menstrual cup to put it in.
As you fold a cup that's softer it doesn't give you a lot of fight and when it opens
it's just a very lazy pop.
A very lazy opening.
When you fold and releaser a firmer cup it is a lot more resistance to your hands and
when it opens it opens with more of a POP and a bigger exertion of force.
The cup that didn't pop a lot is a cup we would consider "soft."
A cup that did give us a lot of resistance and popped open with force is a cup we would
consider "firm."
Menstrual cups have varying levels of firmness and this comes into play in multiple different
ways for you the wearer.
If affects if the cup leaks for you or doesn't, if the cup is comfortable for you or it isn't,
if the cup slips down during wear or doesn't, and if you can feel the cup as you're wearing
it or you don't.
The Put A Cup In It firmness scores go from 1-5, with 1 being the softest and 5 being
the firmest.
And in that middle range the 2, 3, and 4 those are the average cups.
With 4 being a "firm average" and 2 being a "soft average" and there are a few cups
in the middle, that kind of perfect 3, that are just that middle of the road perfect average
firmness.
The Diva Cup is one of those cups and we rate a lot of the cups off The Diva Cup giving
it that middle point of that perfect firmness which is really great for first-time cup users
and most people find it comfortable enough to wear like a softer cup but firm enough
that it opens inside so it is the holy grail of firmness.
But.
Everybody is different- there are some people that a 3 would be too firm for or too soft
for and then they want to go to those farther ends of the scale.
As a reminder if you want to look up firmnesses of cups and compare we have them listed on
our Put A Cup In It comparison chart and you can sort by firmness, lowest or highest, depending
on how you want to arrange them, and we also have a graphic on our website we will link
in the video description, with many of the leading brands, most of them, given a score
and you can compare those altogether.
And of course there's one other thing we have to mention when we're talking about firmness
and that's the material of the cup itself.
Silicon cups are always going to feel the same outside and inside.
Whether you're touching it with your hands or it's inside of you vagina that firmness
is about the same.
TPE is a different material, it's also medical grade, fewer cups are made with TPE, but it's
often firmer in your hand but as it warms it kind of molds and softens so while it may
feel very firm on the outside it often acts like a softer cup when it's inside your body
and it's warmed to your body's temperature.
There is one other type of material that cups are made from and that's natural rubber.
The only cup that I've personally experienced that's made from natural rubber is the Keeper
brand.
This was a 5 on our firmness scale- super firm- but I don't know about any other rubber
brands that are made and how firm they are so I can't really attest to how wear in the
body and how they feel because it's just not a cup I've used.
You might have seen other websites or other people talk about something called a "shore
score."
A Shore Score or a Shoer Rating is just how they rate the firmness of a menstrual cup.
And this is done with a device called a Durometer, where it actually measure the thickness of
these different materials, like silicone, and measure the shore rating- higher number
being a firmer cup.
But this does't give you the true overall impression of how firm or soft a cup is.
Because every cup is designed completely differently, the rims affect how firm or soft the cup is-
let's say for instance you have a cup with what we would call maybe a "2" on the body
but the rim is designed where it gives you more resistance and it acts more like a "4"
so there are all these things that when you overall feel and compare cups that's only
something you can do with your hands and by comparing it side by side- this is what we
do when we rate firmness scores- we go back and forth comparing all the different brands
that we have, which is most of them, to get that overall feel and impression of the cup.
It's not something a shore rating can establish for you.
Now this is also not a perfect way of rating firmness because we're going on all sides-
we're rating the entire feeling and how we thing it will open because that is really
what matters is how the cup opens and feels in the body and the rim establishes most of
that, moreso than the body.
All of this is subjective.
We know from our group and from our comments and comments on our website and YouTube that
people disagree with our ratings- and that's fine- because they have different experiences
with the cups than we do, but we do have all the cups and we do try our best to rate them
as subjectively as we can as we touch them which includes rating brands that are the
same but different sizes because that can also change.
I told you this wasn't going to be an easy thing to explain.
So let's talk about what this means to you as a menstrual cup wearer and user.
First we're going to start with softer cups, cups that come in at a "1" or a "2" on our
firmness scale.
Softer cups are generally more comfortable for you to wear.
Because they don't have the same amount of pressure inside the body as it's being worn,
most people wearing a softer cup don't feel the cup meaning that it just doesn't exist
inside them.
The cons of a softer cup- mostly- if you're new especially, when you try to use a cup
and insert it for the first time, you fold the cup and put it in your body, and softer
cups when they're inside and opening in a small space, they just don't have that force
to open and be open all the way.
So depending on the cup's size and you body and your anatomy, you may find that it's dented
and it's leaking, and you have a poor first experience with a menstrual cup.
They often need assistance, and we talked about this in that leaking video we just published,
they need assitance opening at the rim to seal and completely be leak free.
Another reason that softer cups aren't my favorite favorite for newbies is that when
you put it in for the first time it often opens low inside the body and a softer cup
is usually soft all the way around and if you tried to push this up it will collapse
as you're trying to push it up higher whereas cups like Diva Cup, which is an average cup,
or some of the firmer cups you could just nudge the cup from the base and it would go
right up.
So now let's talk about the pros and cons of a firmer cup.
Firmer cups are better for people who are new, in my personal opinion, because they
want to open inside you when you put them in.
So as it's in when you let it go at the base and allow it to unfold as someone who is new
it really pops open pushes against those walls which is why one tip is to make sure it's
high as you open it because it might, you might feel it, a little bit, as it opens on
a firmer cup- it might give you a little scare the first time.
But it is generally going to be a quicker, easier, leak free experience for someone who's
new because you don't have to worry that it's open it should probably, in most cases, just
be open because it's firmer and it [makes pop sound] opens inside.
Another reason I like firmer cups is for certain people who are more active and do a lot of
exercising they tend to stay in place against muscle movement so if you're running or if
you're doing yoga or if you're doing exercises where your muscles- your pelvic floor is pushing
against the cup during those exercises and you are stronger it tends to crush or push
the cup down and firmer cups are going to resist that more.
Now- the cons of a firmer cup are the opposite of the pros of a softer cup.
In many cases for some people you can feel the cup because it is kind of exerting a constant
force or pressure inside the body and this means that you might just notice the cup more
or you may even feel some sort of pressure like bladder pressure or even just a slower
urine stream because it is against the bladder and the uh the urinary tract exiting your
body, so if it's pushing against that tract you might have a slower urine stream.
This is the case with one of the cups I really like- it's not painful and it doesn't hurt
me but I do notice it and some people might be bothered by that.
And, in even rarer cases a firmer cup might make having a bowel movement harder because
it's pushing against the rectum.
So as you look at this chart and see all the different ways the cup comes into play inside
the body it is either exerting some force against the bladder, the urinary tract, the
rectum or all of the above depending on how your body is shaped.
So, a softer cup or just a little bit more average cup than whatever firm you're trying
might be more comfortable for you.
To alleviate some of those cons on the side of the softer cup and the cons on the side
of the firmer cup while getting the pros of both we like to recommend more average cups,
especially if you're brand new to cups.
This is why when people take our quiz they often get very similar results and this is
because they don't know the specifics because they've never used a cup before, or they're
kind of taking a stab at some of the questions and answering or leaving blank and this really
just funnels you into this average category.
And some of the cups you're going to see often recommended if you take our quiz is the Saalt
Soft which is the "average soft" quiz result and the Lena Cup which is more of an "average
firm" result and several in those categories.
If you go for or receive the quiz result or you're just looking now and want something
to start off with Saalt Soft is a really good cup to start with because it's average but
on a slightly softer than average scale.
So it still has some resistance and it still has some pop but it's soft enough that you
shouldn't feel that pressure, it's going to be more comfortable for anyone who's had that
pressure before or if you're recommended this cup and you're new you shouldn't ever feel
that.
And then the Lena Cup or the Saalt Cup (regular) it's a little firmer than average but by much
and it just gives a little more pop so if you're more active that might be your result.
But it's not so firm that it's just really hard to fold.
If you can't fold the cup, like this is a cup from Selena Active, I have a very hard
time folding this cup especially with nails because it's so firm, but with the Lena Cup
it's a little bit easier.
And of course with the Saalt Soft it's quite easy to fold but it might not open and pop
as much as the Lena or some of the other average firms.
We measure everything off firmness from The Diva Cup because it's the cup that I believe,
and others believe, that is the most perfect average firmness in terms of the body, the
design, everything feels just right.
It is a little long for most people but it is that perfect firmness.
Diva Cup is a 3, the Lena or the Saalt is a 4 os it's on that "average firm" side, and
the Saalt Soft is a 2.
If you're trying an average cup, let's say you tried one of the 2's, 3's, or 4's in that
range, and you're getting some of the cons of what a firmer cup would cause- pressure
or noticing it or any discomfort in that way, you want to move to a softer cup.
If you're trying an average cup and you feel the cons of a softer cup where it's going
down, it's not staying in place, and you're having a hard time with it opening inside
you, you want to go with something a little firmer.
So these are the ways that you can take previous cup experience and use your knowledge of firmness
to decide what's going to be best for you.
It is definitely safer if you're brand new to cups, to start with something in that 2,
3, or 4 range going maybe towards the firmer average if you know you're more active.
Going towards the softer average if you know you're just a generally sensitive person;
softer cups tend to be more comfortable for people who have a lot of cramps and bladder
issues.
One more thing to mention about firmness is that over time menstrual cups can soften,
this is especially the case for medical grade silicone.
So if you've started with a cup and a few years down the road you find that it's not
staying in place, it's slipping down, and it's just not working for you as well as it
used to one of the causes could be that it has softened over time and it's not fitting
you the way it used to when you first started with the cup.
It also could be that your body has changed.
So it's really hard to pinpoint years down the road why a menstrual cup is not working
the way it used to.
And this is also the case of frequently boiling your cup, it can prematurely soften them more
than just years and year and years of use.
A menstrual cup, as a reminder, should last you about ten years.
Menstrual cup firmness is such an important aspect to the menstrual cup itself.
Hopefully you're watching this video before you've run to target to select your cup or
gone online, before you take the quiz, some of these things can really help you as you're
picking your very first cup.
And if you're an experienced cup user and you're watching this video hopefully this
information about firmness really helps you understand your cup better.
Thanks so much for tuning in to Put A Cup In It- if you're new here don't forget to
hit that subscribe button, give this video a like, and leave us a comment.
Thanks so much.
Now give me a kiss,
you can make it loud enough so it's uh
[muah]
I just fucked up all those
numbers earlier didn't I?
heavy sigh
One more thi- BLAH- SCREAMS- HEAVILY SIGHS.
This collar is giving me shit.
Menstrual cup p--- - blah!