Menstrual cup leaks suck and there's nothing worse than ruining a good pair panties. is not knowing why your menstrual cup is
or worse. Equally frustrating is not knowing why your menstrual cup is leaking and how to fix it.
[intro song plays]
drip- drop- drip-drippity-drop
-drip-drop
Today's video will offer some suggestions to help you
troubleshoot your own leaks and hopefully solve them. If you're new here
don't forget to hit the subscribe button! Now let's get to the good stuff.
General leak tips-if you're new to the menstrual cup and you're experiencing
some leaks that's completely normal- in fact there's
usually a learning curve where it takes somewhere between one and three cycles
to make sure that your menstrual cup isn't leaking. But if you are just having those
beginners leaks just try a few different folds- we have a video on YouTube with
different suggestions- and try different positions maybe put your leg up, maybe squat
as you're putting in your cup in- these are little things that will help get the
cup in the right way and if you're still having trouble and you've tried all
those this video is for you. The number one cause of leaks is that
the cup isn't opening all the way. Unfortunately our vaginas are not
see-through so we can't troubleshoot why the cup isn't opening or what part of
the cup isn't opening but the fact is if your cup isn't open all the way there
will be some leaks because of course there's a place for the liquid to go
around the rim, travel down... the best way to diagnose the leak is to feel around
inside the vagina and work your way around the cup to see if you can feel
any dents. This isn't always the best indicator because even as you move your
finger around it might be a dent at the very top that you just can't feel so
even if you are feeling around and it doesn't seem like there is a dent that
doesn't mean there isn't one it just means that you might not be able to
detect it, so this one is a frustrating problem to have. In order to get your cup
to open if it's not wanting to open at the top you can either try the punch
down fold or the labia fold, both of these folds will give you something to
push on from the base as you're inserting the cup so when you're putting
it in push from the bottom where it was folded. Another tip is
to reach inside your vagina and push against the vaginal wall with your
finger to allow the cup room to open- this is a tip that we've received from a
lot of different people who said that that's the trick for them. If neither of
these options work for you and you feel like you've exhausted your options but
you know the cups still isn't opening inside it might just be that you need a
firmer cup or you need a cup with a smaller diameter- both of those together
or one or the other could be the ticket to helping you get a cup that doesn't
leak. Another reason your cup might be leaking
is that the cup isn't sitting under the cervix to catch the flow because every
body is different the angle that you insert your cup at could make or break
how leakfree your cup is because if the cup is going past the cervix it
means that you're not catching all or even some of the flow. For those of you
who have been told or that know for a fact through your own checking that you
have a tilted cervix this is something to be especially mindful of if you're
experiencing leaks. Extremely tilted cervixes are the biggest culprit because
as they're pointed so close to the vaginal wall the cup could go past it
and you wouldn't even notice it, so if you're removing your menstrual cup and
it looks practically empty this could be one of the causes and
might be the most likely culprit so we would advise that you find your cervix,
if you can reach it, and knowing where it is in terms of the height and if it's
tilted or not so when you're inserting just make sure that you are staying
below the cervix and that the cup is either directly below it or that the
cervix if it is lower is dipping inside the cup itself this will make sure that
you are actually catching the flow and then should solve your leak. The next
reason your cup might be leaking is that you are overflowing your cup. If you have
a heavy flow or you just happen to leave your cup in a little longer than you
should the cause of your leak might be that your cup is actually running over.
Once the cup is completely full the blood does find a way to escape it's not
exactly like those commercials that we're saying on Instagram and Facebook where
there's a completely tight seal and nothing is able to escape. The seal on
a menstrual cup is pretty good but if you have all of this viscous
fluid sitting at the top it's going to find a way to escape. The idea of an
entire body cavity filling up with menstrual blood because the menstrual cup
is just that good does give us a giggle but that's just not realistic. So if you
have a super-heavy flow you may want to find a higher capacity cup that gives
you more time before you need to change to avoid some of these overflow leaks.
That extra capacity can make all the difference for someone who is filling a
cup in just a few hours and gives you a little more time before that potential
leak springs. Low cervix capacity issues are another reason your menstrual cup
might be leaking. If you have a lower cervix and it happens to dip into the
cup it could take some of the capacity so all of the things we said previously
about your cup overflowing, it's the same scenario. You do want something that will
have a higher capacity that doesn't overflow as quickly so that you're not
leaking but because you have a lower cervix this does pretty severely limit
your options. You need something that is both short enough to fit inside the
vaginal canal that also has a higher capacity- one of the cups that is on the
market that has both a higher capacity and is a shorter cut is the Merula One
Size. So you would be able to wear it with a lower cervix even if it's dipping
inside the cup and get to go as long as someone who has an average cervix
because this holds 30 milliliters. Unfortunately if the cup doesn't fit
well or is comfortable for you that's not going to solve your problem. There
are some other options such as a menstrual disc if that works for your anatomy as well. A
heavy flow and a low cervix is actually the worst possible combination for
someone who wants to use a menstrual cup however a lot of our community members
have found a way to make it work and if you're struggling with this particular
issue we would really advise you to join our troubleshooting group, the link is in
the video description, and ask people what they did to solve this problem. The
next cause is the unknown cause- the leaks that
happen with no explanation, they're just leaking and you've checked everything
and you still find yourself needing some sort of backup. These are the leaks that
happen despite all of your best efforts and this is why they are especially
infuriating. These mystery leaks are hard to pinpoint especially for those who
feel like they've tried everything but we're going to offer some suggestions
that will, fingers crossed, help you out. Beat your period. This is
one of those suggestions that doesn't seem to make any sense and yet it also
makes perfect sense. If you put your menstrual cup in before your period
starts it can actually reduce your leaks or eliminate them completely. For those
of you who track your cycles or you just happen to know that when you start
bitching out your entire family that today or tomorrow is the day you can go
ahead and put in a menstrual cup before your period starts. Same rules apply that
you would want to remove it and wash it every 12 hours, but putting it in before
your period starts does no harm, it's still completely comfortable, and
completely safe. What this does is it allows for you to catch the very first
little leaks that happen and it prevents these walls from being completely coated
and that mucousy menstrual fluid which, when you're putting in a menstrual ,
can sometimes contribute to leaks because it's already coated and things
are getting by and allowing for more things to get by. This is at least what I
think and it makes sense in my head and I personally do prescribe myself to this
method and it works great. This bearing down trick is one that we've mentioned
in multiple other places but it's worth repeating because it can really help you
with your unexplained leaks. As you are inserting the cup you will bear down
with your vaginal muscles like you're having a bowel movement... all of this is
that same muscle group so pooping, giving birth, bearing down your vaginal muscles-
it's all the same. So as you bear down you will push the cup up, so you're
continuing to bear down, pushing the cup up. You here. Cup here. As you get it to
the height that you want as high as you can possibly get it then you release the
muscles... so as you've been pushing down cup is high... you release the muscles and
this will go and kind of pull the cup upwards to give it a better fit and give
it a better seal and hopefully solve those unexplained leaks that you're
having currently. This is a twofer tip because it also helps keep the cup in
place if it happens to be sliding down during your wear during your activities
or just from normal everyday walking or movement, so this is another good one to
try just as a general good practice to help your cup stay in place, stay fit, and
stay leak free. Try another cup or try another product. This is our least
favorite recommendation because it means spending more money and it also means
sort of admitting defeat. Sometimes you can troubleshoot your cup to perfection
and it's still leaking and at some point you just have to throw in the towel
because it's not getting any better. This either means that you need a
different cup or that your body, despite what looked to be all signs pointing to
this cup working for you, really needs something special and you don't know why
and we don't know why. Our quiz is pretty accurate and does do a good job pointing
people to the right cup but there are some things that we just will never
understand and why a cup that looks like it should work for you isn't working is
one of those. It's a rare occasion but it definitely happens. Some people need a
more uniquely shaped cup and in this case some of our community members have
said that even though they've tried all these different bullet shaped cups some
of the rounder cups like the Femmycycle or the Formoonsa or the Merula were
just the ticket for their bodies. And then also there are some people that
cups in general just don't work for. No one knows why. Everyone has a vagina
that's kind of similar and yet they're completely different and one person can
use the menstrual cup perfectly the other person can never get it to work. If
you're one of those people that just can't use a menstrual cup for some
mysterious reason but you really want to use a reusable menstrual product you
might also want to consider something like a reusable disc, something that sits
inside completely different and doesn't suction, and we
definitely have a lot of resources available on our YouTube channel about
discs. I'm someone who my body works really great for discs. I have an absolute
dream of a period with them they're messier to remove, I will 100% fully
admit that, and I still prefer menstrual cups for that reason, but they're great
if you are really having trouble and you want to make something work that is
waste free. You can also look at cloth pads and period underwear as well for an
external solution. We know that trying multiple cups can be frustrating but
also expensive and not everyone who has the income to drop on multiple 30-40
dollar cups. That's one of the reasons we do have a buy/sale/trade for our
community members. It is something that we offer so that you can try a few
different cups at a lower cost or completely free and just trade with
other group members. It's not for everyone
it is totally sanitary if you boil them, but if you're going to spread your
nonsense in the comments about thinking how gross that is save it because we
don't want to hear it. We think it's a great opportunity for people to try cups
and get something that works for them and not have to spend five hundred
dollars to do so and it's also less wasteful so that all of these used cups
that didn't work for people aren't gathering dust in a bathroom drawer
somewhere. We're gonna link all of the cups that we've discussed by name in the
video description. We'll also have those linked up in our
blog post that accompanies this video also a link in the video description. We
encourage you if you know your body well to really explore our other resources
like our menstrual cup comparison chart or our shop and compare tool to really
narrow down what cup is gonna work best for you especially after troubleshooting
and maybe deciding you need something slightly different for your body and of
course as always we encourage you to join our group on Facebook which is
private. We'll link in the video description below or you can just search
on Facebook "put a cup in at community" Thanks so much for tuning in, if you
haven't already make sure you subscribe to our channel on YouTube. Give this
video a like, and we would love to hear your feedback on leaks whether you've
beaten your leak and have a great tip to share that we missed or are looking for
some help. Leave a comment below. Thanks so much
[bleep] before we begin (rolls eyes) [bleep]
Put uh cupbp PUT UH CUP INIT [bleep]
If you're new here make sure you tu-
[laughs] fuckin-A
[bleep]
are you fucking kidding me?
{bleep]
motherfucker fuck fuck fuck