What is Iriscup?

It’s one of the many brands that are selling menstrual cups.

What is a menstrual cup?

A menstrual cup is a feminine hygiene product that is inserted into the vagina during menstruation. Its purpose is to prevent menstrual fluid (blood containing uterine lining) from leaking onto clothes. Menstrual cups are usually made of flexible medical grade silicone and shaped like a bell with a stem. The stem is used for insertion and removal. The bell-shaped cup seals against the vaginal wall just below the cervix. Every 4–12 hours (depending on the amount of flow), the cup is removed, emptied, rinsed, and reinserted.

Unlike tampons and pads, cups collect menstrual fluid rather than absorbing it. One cup is reusable for up to five years or more. This makes their long-term cost lower than that of disposable tampons or pads, though the initial cost is higher. Menstrual cups are also promoted as more practical and eco-friendly than pads and tampons.

Source: Wikipedia

I discovered menstrual cup by accident in 2016. I researched more about it and after I settled on the brand that I wanted to buy, I made my purchase and it arrived in October 2016.

For the first few months of using Iriscup during my period, I was struggling to get it “right”. It was challenging for me to make sure that the mouth of the cup to open once it was inside my vagina. Due to my inexperience of using the menstrual cup, I leaked at least once month. It was rather messy to be honest. These were the few times when I had the thoughts of wearing tampons or just switched to pads.

I read someone else’s experience in the internet, she said to use menstrual cup, best start with using tampon. I guess this is to get women to familiarise themselves with the process of inserting feminine product into their body. I do feel using a tampon is so much easier than the Iriscup and I had been using tampons back in A levels in 1999 and restarted to use them in 2014.

I find that inserting either tampon or Iriscup isn’t the problem for me. I could insert them easily. With tampon, once it’s inside my body, I’m done. I don’t have to worry about leakage etc. However, with Iriscup, after I insert it, I had to “work” it so the mouth opens up so that it collects the blood into it. Otherwise I risk of leakage.

If you aren’t getting it, here’s a wiki info on how to use menstrual cup with pictures.

Despite my struggles, I persistently use Iriscup every time Aunt Flo is coming to town. Iriscup isn’t cheap and I do want to get my money’s worth. I, of course, had to work on a few tricks of my own to make sure the mouth opens up after inserting Iriscup into my vagina.

I finally found the one trick that works every single time and I had been testing it for a few months now.

Here’s what I do.

I fold the cup using the C-fold (refer to the wiki info above if you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about) and then insert it into my vagina. After that, I insert one finger to check whether the cup is still folded or not. If it still is then I slowly pull it out using the stem and push it back in and again I insert one finger to feel the cup. If the mouth of the cup is opened then I can feel the roundness of the cup. If not, I repeat the pull out and push in movement. Most of the time, I just do this once and it works and I haven’t had leakage incidents so far with this trick.

After more than a year of using Iriscup, I am finally consistently leakage free!

Why I choose to use menstrual cup?

Because I don’t prefer to use pads. Using pad is annoyingly uncomfortable for me which was why I used tampons. However, there are risks of infection with wearing tampons. Plus my favourite brand isn’t sold in Brunei anymore. I personally feel using menstrual cup is a lot safer than tampons. I also save money from buying tampons and pads. I stopped buying pads and tampons for over a year now since I use Iriscup.

Here’s the best part of using menstrual cup during my period, I sleep comfortably with it without worrying about infections and such. Pretty cool huh.

Why I choose Iriscup?

Because it’s made from 100% silicone platinum, it is an inert material (does not react with anything) and is completely safe in contact with the body. It has been certified with ISO 10993 Biocompatibility. This guarantees that the material used in its manufacture, 100% silicone platinum, is safe in terms of cytotoxicity, hypersensitivity and irritation of the vaginal mucosa. It has an exceptional shelf-life of 10 years. Cheaper than other menstrual cups in the market (at the time that I bought it).

I can’t say much about other menstrual cups as Iriscup is the first menstrual cup that I’ve been using so far.

If you are interested to know more about menstrual cups, you can just google it. There are so many brands popping up now with so many designs.

Kindly do your own due diligence before switching to menstrual cup.

I’m sharing for the purpose of information only. This is not an advice nor recommendation.

 

Until next time