How to get started inserting a menstrual cup
Helpful beginner guide to using a menstrual cup. How to insert a menstrual cup for beginners. Tips you haven’t heard before. Learn exactly where to place it in the vagina, how to get your cup to open, and how to get your cup to stop leaking.
I have been using menstrual cups on and off since 2006. It took me a few years to finally get the hang of them and now I absolutely love them.
Back then, it was really hard to find information on how to use a cup correctly. I used to have to dig through pages and pages of chats on forums.
I hope to put this information out there so you have a shorter learning time than I did.
Once I learned a few tricks of using the menstrual cup, it made my periods completely effortless.
Menstrual cups are safe, reusable, and eco friendly according to this New York Times article. They will also save you tons of money since one menstrual cup can last you 5-10 years.
#1 Completely relax vaginal muscles
If you’re having a hard time inserting your menstrual cup, it may be because you’re clenching up your vaginal muscles.
It’s really important to completely relax the vaginal muscles the whole time that you’re inserting the cup. This will help to make it painless.
Keep reminding yourself to relax as well, because it’s really easy to unconsciously tighten up when the cup is in you.
#2 Try inserting in the shower
An easy way to insert the cup, especially if you’re a beginner and this is your first time, is to try it either squatting down in the shower, or standing with your leg on the back of the tub.
Inserting the cup in the shower helps to lubricate everything up, especially the cup, and it makes it a lot less painful.
Another option is to get your cup wet, and try inserting it while sitting on the toilette.
#3 Pick your favorite cup fold
So, we’re relaxed, the cup is lubricated and it’s time to insert.
Pick your favorite cup fold. Mine is the punch down fold because it folds the cup into the smallest width and it’s easier to get it to open once it’s inside of you.
To do the punch down fold, punch down one side of the lip of the cup with your finger and then squeeze the sides together once the lip is folded down. Watch the video for a demonstration.
This is my favorite menstrual cup. It’s called the Super Jennie. I love it because the large size is a high capacity cup and it’s soft and comfortable.
So we’re relaxed, and the cup is lubricated and folded up. It’s time to insert the menstrual cup.
Keep in mind that your vaginal canal goes back toward your tailbone and it doesn’t go straight up. So when inserting, insert the cup back toward you tailbone.
Keep pushing the cup up until it’s all the way inside of you.
The lip of the cup will pass the pubic bone shelf, and once it does, the vagina opens up into a little more space.
Once the lip of the cup passes the pubic bone shelf and the cup is all the way inside of you, it’s time to get the cup to fully open.
#5 Get the cup to open
To get the cup to open, pinch at the base of the cup, twist and you push the cup high into the vagina, and then twist as you pull down, pinching at the base of the cup the whole time.
Repeat this movement until the cup opens.
You may have to do this movement 10-15 times before the cup fully opens.
You know the cup is open completely when you feel the sides of the cup and you won’t feel any indentations.
One thing to note is that the cervix is at its lowest point on first day of period.
Because of this, you may have less room to get the cup to open on the first day of your period, as opposed to the last.
It will feel slightly different every day that you insert your cup because the cervix slowly rises every day until you ovulate.
So be aware that on the first day of your period, it may take a little bit of time to get your cup to open completely.
#6 Make sure cup is placed in the right position
Now that the cup is fully open, it’s time to make sure that the cup isn’t placed too high in the vagina.
If the cup is too high, it will go past the the opening of the cervix, and you will bleed right outside of the cup and leak everywhere.
To get your cup in the perfect position, so that it sits below the cervical opening:
- push the cup up one more time
- Grab the stem of the cup and gently pull the cup down until the lip of the cup catches on something
- That something that it catches on is the pubic bone shelf.
- We want the lip of the cup to rest right above that pubic bone shelf. This is the perfect position to place the cup. Watch the video above to see graphics of where the cup is supposed to sit.
#7 Create a suction seal
This is the step that no one really talks about.
To stop cup leaks, you need to create a suction seal. When you do this, you expel the air out of the cup, creating a seal, and it will make it virtually impossible for your cup to leak.
To create a seal you can do one of two things:
- Squeeze your vaginal muscles tightly around the cup 10 times. These are called Kegels.
- Or (my favorite way that gets me a leak free cup every time) place your thumb at the base of the cup, but still on the side, not the bottom, and place your index finger on the opposite side, higher up on the cup.
- Press your index finger into the side of the cup, using your thumb for leverage, until you push in the side of the cup and you hear a slight sound of air releasing from the cup.
- Release your fingers and check one more time that the cup is still open, and in the right position.
#8 Wear menstrual underwear for spotting
Spotting is normal on the heavy days of your period, especially after you empty your cup and reinsert it. Sometimes there is blood on the vaginal walls below the cup and it will spot in your underwear.
This is normal so it’s a good idea to wear menstrual underwear on the heavy days of your period.
Period underwear are also good to wear overnight, in addition to your cup. Since you’re not able to empty your cup for at least 8 hours, this will protect you in case you leak overnight.
This is my favorite leak proof period underwear. It holds about the same amount as two regular sized tampons plus they’re soft, comfortable and can be cleaned in the washing machine.
#9 You won’t get it right every time in the beginning, it takes practice
Learning how to insert a menstrual cup the right way every time takes practice. It may take you a few cycles before you start to get it down.
As I mentioned before, your cervix slowly rises up every day of your cycle until you ovulate (about two weeks after the first day of your period). Because of this, it will feel slightly different every day that you insert your cup.
To sum it all up, here are the steps to inserting your menstrual cup:
- Relax your vaginal muscles the whole time
- Get your cup lubricated with water
- Sit on the toilette or squat in the shower
- Fold your cup
- Insert until the cup is all the way in and the lip of the cup passes the pubic bone shelf
- Get the cup to open by pinching at the base of the cup, twisting as you push up and twisting as you pull down slightly (all while keeping the lip of the cup above the pubic bone shelf)
- Repeat this motion until the cup opens up. You know it’s open when you don’t feel the sides indented in.
- Now that the cup is open, make sure it’s not placed too high.
- Push the cup up one more time, grab the stem of the cup and gently pull down until the lip of the cup catches on something. That something that it catches on is the pubic bone shelf.
- Create a suction seal to prevent leaks by either squeezing you vaginal muscles tightly around the cup.
- OR (my favorite way) place your thumb at the base of the cup, but still on the side, not the bottom, and place your index finger on the opposite side, higher up on the cup.
- Press your index finger into the side of the cup, using your thumb for leverage, until you push in the side of the cup and you hear a slight sound of air releasing from the cup.
- Release your fingers and check one more time that the cup is still open, and in the right position.
- Once the cup is opened, sitting so that the lip rests right above the pubic bone shelf and you’ve created a seal, you’re good to go!
I hope this article helped you to fall in love with period cups as much as I love them. Leave me any questions you have in the comment section below and share this article with a friend who is just starting out using cups.
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