Menstrual Cups are an incredible option for the Earth-loving, money-aware, Period-having person…but a SUPER common question I get, in my professional practice, and in my informational-sharing social media persona, is “are menstrual cups safe for prolapse?”
Remember that I am here to give general information, not medical advice, but in general, the short answer, is yes, menstrual cups are safe if you have prolapse. Here’s a 2-minute video, or a 2-minute read follows.
Menstrual cups are, indeed, not vampires.
They catch blood. They don’t suck it.
This is important, because a major fear that individuals have when thinking of using a menstrual cup with prolapse, is they think “the menstrual cup will suck my prolapse out worse.” This is false.
Look at the cup. It has little holes all around the top, to allow blood to pass through if the cup gets too full. The presence of these holes prevents the cup from ‘suctioning’ your organs.
A pessary is a medical-item designed to support the vaginal wall and hold a prolapse (technically a -cele, usually, buy my Signature Series to learn more about the differences, and how to manage them without surgery!) in place.
A menstrual cup, since it is NOT a vampire and doesn’t suck the organs down, actually acts LIKE A PESSARY, and might even reduce your feelings of pressure during your period. Cool, huh!
So not only is a menstrual cup not bad for a prolapse…it might even be helpful! But if you are noticing reduced symptoms with a menstrual cup, please chat about this with your primary medical provider, so they can fit you (or get you connected with the proper person to fit you) for a proper pessary.
But just because, in general, the Cups are safe, there is, of course, individual considerations. If you have concerns, discuss this in person with a trusted medical professional. I am here to give basic information, not medical advice 🙂 🙂 Try these things if the Menstrual Cup is Uncomfortable:
This would be to check your vaginal skin integrity, amongst other things. If your skin is irritated (from trauma, lack of estrogen, and other things), the cup would hurt. This is regardless of if you have prolapse or not, friend.
My Signature Series, and other coming-soon Pelvic Floor Muscle Relaxation courses, teach you about self assessment, and other ways to ‘down train’ (fancy way of saying relax), your pelvic floor muscles.
If the muscles are too tight, you might not be inserting the cup deep enough, or the insertion might be painful, leading to reactive muscle spasm, and resultant pain.
Sit and RELAX when inserting and removing. Exhaling or making a low Grrrr or Hrrr sound helps.
Here’s a fun post I did on Instagram in February of 2022 that goes over basic pelvic floor exercises on a towel. If you’re having pain, focus on the relaxing parts!!
If you’ve seen your primary physician, practiced relaxing your pelvic floor, and are still having issues, see a pelvic PT in person. There are many other “pressure management strategies” related to how you functionally use the muscles of your whole body, that could be contributing to your discomfort.
Because you asked, the bottom of this recent post has some of my general recommendations for cups to purchase. Remember that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may receive a small commission for purchases made through links in my blog. I offer the links as a service, though, not to make $$.
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All information, classes, and products purchased are for information only, and are not medical advice or physical therapy advice.
