Dealing with a stuck menstrual cup can be stressful, but rest assured, it’s a common issue with straightforward solutions. Whether you’re new to menstrual cups or a seasoned user, sometimes these reusable products can feel like they’ve disappeared inside you. Here’s how to handle the situation calmly and effectively:
First things first, remember: your vagina is a dead end. This simple mantra can help ease the panic if you’re feeling anxious about retrieving your menstrual cup. I’m Kim Rosas, a reusable period products expert, here to guide you through the process step by step.
Initial Steps
For some peace of mind, you will not be buried with a menstrual cup inside you; you will get this out. It cannot get lost; you are a dead end.
Relaxation and Preparation
So, if you are having a panic attack right now or you are just very nervous and tense, try to keep that in mind. Again, we want to take deep breaths because relaxing your body is going to help you in this process. All of the muscles surrounding the vagina are also toned and tight right now because you are probably a ball of stress.
So again, what is very important before we get started in going through the steps of trying to remove your cup is to relax your body and take deep, relaxing breaths. Your vagina is a dead end; repeat that after me over and over. This is your new mantra while we get through this together.
If You Can Reach Your Menstrual Cup
Now, if you can reach your menstrual cup and it’s stuck, keep watching. If you cannot reach your menstrual cup, skip to the chapter called “I can’t reach my menstrual cup.” Okay, let’s continue.
Breaking the Seal
The first thing to check is if you’ve broken your menstrual cup’s suction. Menstrual cups create a strong vacuum suction in the vagina; it creates a seal that has to be broken before you remove it. If you try to remove your cup and you haven’t broken the seal, it can feel stuck, and that’s going to immediately tense up your body.
So, number one is relax, number two is break the seal. You can do this sometimes by simply pinching the base of the cup; it does depend on the design of the cup that you have inside you as well. Some, all you need to do is pinch the base and this breaks the seal. But chances are, if you’re watching this, that’s not the case.
You will need to insert a finger much deeper into the vagina to break the seal by pushing all the way against the cup. And once you’re able, then you introduce the thumb to bring that lower out of your body. So, press against the cup to fully break the suction at the top of the rim; you may even have to reach all the way up inside and push the top rim in as you pull the cup down.
When you’re able, introduce a thumb into the scenario, but you probably just want to start with a single finger far up to break that suction. It’s a good idea to do this in a shower; obviously, if you’re not in the shower, over a toilet because if you’re inserting a finger and pushing against the cup wall very, very deeply, it’s going to possibly spill over and be a little bit messy.
And then, once you’ve broken that suction fully, you can either wiggle it down or just pull straight down if it’s broken and then remove the cup. Hopefully, the problem is solved.
Difficulty in Reaching the Menstrual Cup
Now, let’s say the menstrual cup is actually hard to reach. You can reach it, but it’s very difficult to do so. In this situation, you want to do something that will make the cup easier to reach so that you can break the suction. One of those things you can do is squat low.
You might want to do this over a towel in your bathroom on tile or maybe do this in the shower because squatting is a little bit difficult to do over toilet. But you could also do it over toilet if you’re that agile. Put your feet on the toilet seat and squat over the toilet.
Once you’re squatting, the cup could be easier to reach, in which case you want to do what I just previously discussed by breaking the suction with a finger and dragging it out of your body. At that point, if it’s still difficult to reach, you want to introduce pushing into your squat. So, while you’re squatting, go ahead and start pushing as if you’re having a bowel movement.
Do not do this red in the face pushing, not like super difficult, just gently bear down, just pretend you’re having a bowel movement but not constipated bowel movement, just a regular normal healthy bowel movement. So, go ahead and start pushing, and what this is going to do is hopefully push down the cup until it is easily reachable.
And then, we go back to the breaking suction part that I discussed earlier; insert a finger, push against the cup wall, and then begin removing the cup.
Further Steps
If you’re still not able to remove your cup, this is when we need to start talking about other solutions. If it’s hurting to remove the cup, if you are in pain, you need to take a break. If you are sore and swollen, you need to take a break.
At this point, I need to tell you that even though menstrual cups say that you can only wear them up to 12 hours, if you are over 12 hours and you are at 12 hours, 1 minute, the menstrual cup is not a ticking time bomb. You are not going to explode.
Now, it is best practices to remove after 10 to 12 hours, but in this one instance, in this one situation, in this one day, it’s going to be okay. You do not need to panic. Statistically speaking, you need to wear your menstrual cup far longer than 12 hours for there to be a concern or a potential problem.
In fact, there are many, many stories on the internet of people who have worn their menstrual cup for weeks, for months, even for over a year, and they lived to post it on the internet. Now, we don’t want to do that, and we’re not going to do that. We’re going to get this thing out.
Horizontal Positioning
If all of your upright positioning attempts have failed, it’s time to go horizontal. Put a towel down on your bed, lay on the bed, and see if you can reach the cup that way. This also helps again to relax those muscles.
It might be time to call in a partner or a very good friend. Yes, this might be a little awkward, uncomfortable, or embarrassing, but it is less expensive than going to urgent care.
So, between you or the person who’s assisting you, hopefully, by being horizontal on the bed on a towel, this will be the trick to getting the cup out of you. But if no one, including yourself or your partner or your friend, can get the cup out, the suction will not break, or for whatever reason, it is just not budging, you do need to consider going to urgent care, especially if it has been closer to the 24-hour mark.
Specialized Tools and Alternative Options
I’m not advocating for this, but there is a product called Cup Buddy, which is meant to break the menstrual cup suction and help you remove it if you’re having difficulties or if you have certain disabilities. It has a little curve you break the seal, and in the instructions, it looks like you use a second hand while breaking it to pull the cup down.
Once you had the seal broken, which is hard with a cube, and admittedly, it was actually hard even when I wasn’t holding a cube and I was physically doing it myself. I ended up trying to push, and then with the same hand, pushing against the cup while moving it down and this looks a lot better and went a lot better than it did in my body.
A spoon, which happens to be in your kitchen and is also easily sanitized by boiling, is something that is out there. I’m not saying it’s a good idea, not saying it’s a bad idea, but especially if you do not have insurance, maybe a spoon.
Post-Removal Considerations
Once you have your cup out, whether you were able to achieve this yourself, which is the most likely scenario, or if you went to urgent care or your OBGYN for assistance or a family member, which is the far less likely scenario, understandably, you’re going to be a little traumatized and not interested in using this particular menstrual cup again.
For whatever reason, the cup that you were just using has a very strong suction or it’s very hard for you to remove, now there are other options, other menstrual cups that might fit you better. But in your scenario, you might want to consider a suction-free menstrual disc. This is going to be much easier for you to remove; there is no suction to break.
Or if you do know that cups just work better for you or prefer a menstrual cup, there is a brand called Flex that does break the seal for you, but it only works for those with a higher cervix or slightly higher than average because of the length of the design. A menstrual disc with loops like Hello Disc will work if you have a lower cervix and it is suction-free; you can wear it different ways.
And I did co-design this because I was looking to help people who had trouble removing discs and cups, and it has very easy-to-remove, reachable loops that you can just pull out again without breaking suction. So, if you still want to use an internal option, look at those brands.
Prevention and Conclusion
If you put your menstrual cup in a few hours ago and now it suddenly seems to have vanished, do not panic. If you cannot reach the cup, just try to relax your muscles, take a deep breath, and take a break.
To avoid this situation in the future when you are removing your cup, put a finger against the wall of the cup and pinch the base to break that suction and pull it out.
Sharing Knowledge
Now that you have some knowledge on what to do if your menstrual cup seems stuck, make sure you share this information with your friends. I think a lot of people I know who do not know this information because they were not comfortable talking about it for years and even up to date.
Closing Remarks
I hope this is a little bit helpful for you. What’s going to start on them going to break the country? Please comment below how you are made even got here and subscribe if you’d like to see me review my information on this subject with somebody you know who’s into services for it. For now, thank you for watching and enjoy the rest of the day. I am not happy, okay? Are you?
