4 Things to Do If A Menstrual Cup is Uncomfortable

News Flash:

Periods, and all pelvic general things (doc exams, periods, tampons or menstrual cup use) should be PAIN FREE!!!  They might be embarrassing at first, but they should NEVER hurt.  When they DO HURT, it is often because of overactive pelvic floor muscles.  These overactive muscles are painful because they’re not healthy (think of a knot in your shoulder, it hurts to touch!), and “close the door”, essentially, making it hard to place, maintain and remove the cup.  

But don’t fret, here’s four things to do if using a menstrual cup is uncomfortable   

1. Check the size of the cup

Menstrual cups come in different shapes and sizes.  At a minimum, there is a “regular” and a “small” size, and some brands will have “teen” sizes, or “postpartum” sizes.  If you are using too large of a cup, this could irritate your pelvic muscles, nerves and even your urethra.  An incorrect sized cup could be painful to insert or remove, or it could even cause UTI-like symptoms of urinary urgency, frequency or burning, due to increased pressure on the “urethral-zone” nerves.

So if you are having discomforts like this, consider reducing the size of the menstrual cup.

2. See a trusted medical professional, in person.

This would be to check out your “down there”.  A medical doctor could check the skin on your vulva (part you can see) and vagina (part you can’t see, but your doc can, with a speculum). If your skin is irritated (from dehydration, trauma, lack of estrogen, or other things), the cup would hurt. This is regardless of if you have a prolapse or not, friend.

3. Work on relaxing your pelvic muscles

If the pelvic floor muscles that surround the entrance to the vagina are resting too tight, you might have pain with cup insertion/removal or use.  This is the most common cause of pain with any menstrual product, actually.  The good news is that by learning to find, and relax the pelvic muscles, then spending a bit of time focusing on keeping them relaxed while you insert and remove the menstrual cup, you can usually eliminate this pain in a short period of time. 

Double bonus–the relaxed and healthy the pelvic floor muscles are, the less period pain we’ll have in general!  YAY!!

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!!  Even just sitting on a rolled towel or a Cooch Ball, and trying to “relax your butthole” for 2-3 minutes can be a game changer for relaxing the pelvic floor muscles.  

4. See a Pelvic PT (or other trained pelvic professional) in person

If you've practiced relaxing your pelvic floor muscles on your own, and are still having issues, please see a pelvic PT in person or online. 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.  Pelvic Physios are trained to quickly identify these contributing factors, to get you to pain free menstrual cup use, ASAP!

Remember, the most likely cause of pain is overactive pelvic floor muscles, and if you can’t find relief of symptoms by trying to relax your pelvic floor on your own, you need a pelvic floor physiotherapist. This pelvic health professional will assess the health and resting tone of your pelvic floor muscles, and help train you to connect your brain to your pelvic floor muscles, improving their health and pliability, to allow you greater comfort in insertion and removal of the menstrual cups.

5. Consider a Pelvic Floored Online Course!

If you can’t physically, or financially, see a Pelvic PT or Physio in person, kindly consider one of my online programs to combat pelvic pain, and improve your awareness of your “down there.” Vag Lab is an amazing 2 hour lab, that includes education to ALL the things down there, including self vulvar and pelvic muscle assessments, to teach you how to find, and relax those pelvic floor muscles, for less pain with menstrual cup use, and Dr. Kelly’s Treasure Chest is a monthly subscription that offers training in pelvic floor self assessments, relaxation AND workouts to improve your core strength while keeping your pelvic floor muscles healthy.

Do I have any recommendations for other products or things to buy?

Because you asked, I do have an idea list of my favorite items on Amazon, related to pelvic pain, as well as other pelvic problems in general.  Feel free to purchase products wherever is convenient for you, but that list will show you the ones that I use and trust.  

Thank you for being here.  I am glad you are here, and grateful that I get to be a part of your journey and story.

Thanks for reading!

XOXO

Dr. Kelly 

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