If you feel like your menstrual cup is stuck or lost I’m here to walk you through step by step.
Whatever you are experiencing Just know that you won’t be buried with a cup inside you – menstrual cups are never truly stuck and they also can not get lost inside of you. Your vagina is a dead end.
There is no cause for panic so continue to remind yourself that the cup is not lost and the cup is not stuck. Continue to repeat after me “My vagina is a dead end”
If Your Menstrual Cup Is Stuck
The number one thing to do at this moment is to remain calm. Your vagina is surrounded by muscles and your stress could be causing your cup to be even harder to remove. If you are tense your muscles are tense and thus “clenching” the cup tighter. Take deep breaths before you try to remove it again and try to relax your body.
Have you fully broken your cup’s suction? This is the first thing to check. If you’re new to cups you might not know that they create a vacuum suction and this must be broken to remove it – your cup may have a very strong suction.
A simple pinch of the base might work but if the cup feels stuck you need to reach higher and fully press in the side of the cup. Since this can get messy you might consider trying this in the shower. Showers can also help you relax.
Insert a thumb and finger, push the wall of the cup fully, and try to grasp the base of the cup. Pull the cup side to side if you can.
Can Barely Reach? Squat or Push
If it is difficult to reach the cup and breathe seal try squatting down in the shower or over a towel – this brings the cup lower and makes it easier to reach.
Still having trouble? Give the cup gentle pushes like you’re having a bowel movement. Not *red in the face* pushes. Gently push and help lower the cup and if you can reach more of the cup’s body it’s easier to push the wall to break the seal.
If the suction is super strong you may find that you need to insert a finger as high as the rim to break the suction.
Take it Easy and Don’t Injure Yourself
Give yourself breaks especially if you’re becoming upset or sore. Keep in mind that the maximum wear time for cups is 10-12 hours but also take comfort in the fact that your cup is not a ticking time bomb that explodes after wearing it for 12 hours and 1 minute. These guidelines are important to follow but many users, myself included, have worn their cups over 12 hours by mistake. It is important to remove and wash your cup before that time but today is different and you will be ok. Statistically speaking you need to keep your cup in for far longer to see ill effects, and let’s just say there are multiple people online who wore a cup for months, even a year, and lived to post about it on the Internet.
Phone a Friend
If all else above has failed lay a towel down on your bed and try to remove the cup from a horizontal position. Again – relaxing your body helps because the more relaxed your muscles, the grip around the cup is looser. If you can’t reach and have a partner or family member you trust intimately now would be a good time to call in a favor.
If your suction will not break and the cup cannot be pulled down it may be time to call for help, especially if you are approaching 24 hours or longer of wear. It is extremely uncommon to need to visit the ER or your OB/GYN for aid but it has happened. If trying to remove the cup has become painful, caused swelling, or your cup has been in for too long it could be time to make that call. And while I am not advocating for using kitchen tools, a spoon looks an awful lot like a menstrual cup removal aid called a Cup Buddy which is a product meant to help break a cup’s suction. And spoons can be boiled for sanitizing. I am not mentioning this to people without insurance or a partner at home to help.
Tips for The Next Cycle
Understandably, when your cup is out you may be unwilling to try a cup again, even a different brand or size that is less likely to cause the same outcome. Instead, if you’d like a different internal reusable product, consider a menstrual disc. These do not create suction. A Hello Disc has loops that make it easier to find and pull out.
Can’t Reach Your Menstrual Cup
What if your issue is that the cup seems to have vanished into thin air? You put it in hours ago and now you can’t find it?
Do not panic. As I’ve said before you are a dead end and the is not lost, it hasn’t traveled into your body cavity nor did it find its way up to your brain. The cup is THERE but your fingers cannot get to it. Relax your mind and body and remind yourself that the cup is going to come out. Deep breaths.
Lower The Cup With Squatting Or Pushing
Try squatting low in the shower or over a towel. Or put your feet on the rim of the toilet and squat that way if you’re able. Squatting brings the cup lower
If this doesn’t work begin gently pushing like you’re having a bowel movement. The muscles can push the cup to a lower station where it will then be easier to each. Pushing a cup lower is often the best way to retrieve a cup that is “lost” in the body. Many of us rely on gentle pushes to remove our cups even when they’re reachable because it’s just easier. The longer the cup is in the more likely it is to get heavier as it collects more blood, then bringing it a bit lower. Perhaps low enough to reach it.
If your cup is unreachable and you are well past 12 hours of wear it’s time to consider other options such as calling in a partner or family member to help remove it or going to the ER or your OB/GYN. Again, I am not saying this is a great idea but I am saying that a kitchen spoon looks remarkably similar to a menstrual cup removal tool and happens to be in your house. And that it can be boiled for sanitizing. It is also long and might work to pull the cup low enough to reach it. I’m not saying those things but I am making an observation.
Tips For The Next Cycle
Once you have successfully removed the cup from your body you will understandably be worried about this happening again. Your cervix is either very high or you selected a very short cup or all of the above. Cups can “walk” up higher during wear even when you insert them lower. You will want to look for a cup with a long stem and or a long body, cups like Lily Cup, KIND Cup, Flex Cup, or DivaCup are longer cups. You can also look at discs with easy-reach removal aids like Hello Disc, which has a tab that can be worn dropped down for easy reaching, or the Lumma Disc in size High which has a longer stem. There is an option for Canadians now by a brand called Fornix which is sort of a hybrid of the Hello Disc and Lumma.
Informed Product Selection
I didn’t make this video to scare anyone but I want to talk through the panic and present the best options available in the very small chance you are in this situation. If you are watching this and considering a cup don’t let this video scare you away – knowing your body well and reading your cup’s instructions before using it can avoid the cup feeling stuck or “lost.” Be sure to always break your seal before trying to remove the cup, and pick a cup length that aligns with your cervix height. Measure your cervix height and then explore your options. One of the reasons I advocate for menstrual discs is that they are less likely to have fit or removal issues and that is also why I helped design the Hello Disc with the double removal tab, to have an option to recommend that is easy to remove and reach for all anatomies. Try the Period Nirvana Quiz to help find the product most likely to fit you best.
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