I was 14 when Mother Nature decided to grace me with her presence. I remember being scared because I had no idea at first why I was bleeding, but then, it clicked in. My period had come, I was officially a woman…I guess. For the next 12 years, I would waste my money on pads and tampons, of all different sizes and brands, and still deal with leakage and the toss out of my favourite underwear. I grew increasingly frustrated every 3 weeks when I got my monthly visitor. Until I discovered the Diva Cup. This is why I have never looked back.
If you do the math, roughly, I was spending over $100 bucks a year on pads and tampons that weren’t doing their job. Not to add in the added cost of new underwear I would always have to buy. The Diva Cup is 40 dollars and is good for more than a few hours. You are in the clear for up to 12 hours, and you can reuse it. Over and over. Most women use their Diva Cup for 5 years before getting a new one. That extra money I was spending on tampons could go towards other things that actually served their purposes.
Yes, I am a tree hugger and I adore the fact that companies are coming up with more eco-friendly ways to deal with our womanhood. I cringe thinking about how bad those plastic applicators tampons come in are negatively impacting the earth. But, during this time, I knew no other option. Until the Diva Cup, which is rubber, made without the bleaches, deodorizers or absorbency gels that most tampons contain, and they are reusable and create less waste.
One of the biggest reasons, besides the discomfort, why I stayed away from tampons, was because I was terrified of the health risks. Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) was something I was so worried about, I couldn’t have a good night sleep with a tampon in, and pads never lasted the whole night, so what was a girl to do? With a Diva Cup, you are good for 12 hours, that is plenty of time to have a good night sleep without worrying about TSS.
There are three different kinds of Diva Cups, model 0,1 and 2. Model 0 is for girls who have just gotten their periods for the first time and are 18 and younger. Model 2 is for women under 30 who have never given birth vaginally or by cesarean section and model 3 is for women age 30 and over and/or who have had children vaginally or by cesarean section. By having these 3 different types of models, the Diva Cup is equipped to deal with specific body types and that ensures it really does its job.
With a Diva Cup, I can wear those white pants and not stress about bleeding through like I have done so many times with tampons. I can run, walk, jump, whatever activities I want with no worry that any minute I will be exposed. Swimming on my period was always a no for me, but I have comfortably been able to swim to my heart’s content with the Diva Cup and can also wear any type of bathing suit I want. I can sit on the bus, in class or at work and get up without having a panic attack that my seat is red. Ahhh, the freedom.
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