Mooncups - the sensible choice

Frequently Asked Questions

These are all genuine emails with genuine answers. If you have a question about the Mooncup you may well find the answer right here!

I have a query - how do you use it in public toilets?
Cheers,
Helen

You can still use your Mooncup in Public toilets. Simply take a small bottle of water into the toilet with you and rinse it with this. Alternatively you can wipe with toilet paper and give your Mooncup a thorough clean at a more convenient time.

My flow is very light and I find tampons extremely painful to remove. Is it ok to use a Mooncup with a light flow?

Kath

Yes it is fine to use the Mooncup when your flow is light. The Mooncup is not absorbent and will not cause dryness so you will find removal much more comfortable than with tampons.

Will the Mooncup fit through my letter box or should I get it delivered to work?

Dear Jo

The package will fit through even a very small letter box.

Hi.
I've just heard about your moon cup and it sounds pretty good. I'm wondering if it is recommended for use by a girl who has just started menstruating. Any caveats I should know about? My 11 year old daughter is not quite there yet but will be sometime soon and if this is as great as it sounds I would like to recommend it.
Thanks for your response.

Joanne

Dear Joanne
Yes young girls (New Moons!) are physically able to use the Mooncup. It is possible to use the Mooncup from the very first period as our bodies are designed to give birth to full size babies at this time! The more confident that your daughter is about her body the easier it will be for her. As with tampons, it will require practice at first. She may like to use a lubricant such as KY Jelly (not petroleum jelly) to make insertion easier to begin with. I hope that this helps.

I saw the Mooncup at the Mind Body & Spirit festival and was rather dubious about it but I have been thinking about it quite a lot as I want to become more active and learn how to swim. As far as I am aware my hymen is still intact, so I was worried about using it and wasn't quite bold enough to ask the lady at the stand.
Yours sincerely
Sharon

Dear Sharon
Thanks for getting in touch. If your hymen is still fully intact the use of the Mooncup is likely to cause it to tear or break. The hymen is a thin membrane, with a space or spaces for periods to flow through, which partially blocks the opening of the vaginal entrance. Hymens come in various shapes and designs. Your hymen may be shaped like a person-hole cover, or a septum (a thin line of skin which divides the centre of the vaginal opening, as does the septum of our nose), or you may have a hymen shaped like a crescent moon around the bottom or side of the vaginal opening. Interestingly, not all women are born with hymens, and hymens can break without women knowing it. Strenuous activities, such as bicycle riding, horseback riding, stretching, or dancing, can also cause the hymen to break. Also a woman's hymen could have been broken or stretched by sexual activity, even if she has not yet had sexual intercourse. Once torn or stretched, the hymen becomes an irregular ring of tissue around the vaginal opening. If you would like further advice I recommend that you pay a visit to your local well woman or sexual health clinic.

Hi,
Just writing for some advice. I bought a Mooncup at Glastonbury festival after wanting one for so long. I have been using it month after month and still I leak. I have to use pads as well, and my main reason for wanting Mooncup was for eco reasons. Please help me because I don’t want to go back to the old ways.

Yours Catherine

Dear Catherine
I am sorry that you are having problems. There are some things to try to stop the leaking. You need to check that the whole of the stem is fully inside you. If there is any sticking out this will make it leak as you move. You need to remove your Mooncup and cut the end with scissors a little at a time until it is fully inside you, and comfortable. Also check that you are aiming towards the small of your back along the slant of your vagina, and try not rotating the Mooncup after insertion, but clamp with your muscles instead. Sometimes a full bladder or bowel can dislodge the Mooncup and make it leak. If there is no improvement and you have the B model it may be that you need the A. Please email advice@mooncup.co.uk as we may be able to exchange your Mooncup for the model A. If you already have the Model A we recommend that you try some pelvic floor exercises to tighten the vaginal muscle.

How can I tell whether my Mooncup is the before or after childbirth model and what is the difference in size?
Hazel

Dear Hazel,
If you hold your Mooncup up to the light you will see an A or a B stamped in the bottom of the cup. A is after childbirth, and B is before. The length of the cup is 50mm for both models, and the diameter across the top is 43mm for the model B and 46mm for the A. The stem is 21mm long. I hope that this helps.

Hello!
I am about to order a Mooncup (just waiting for my next paycheque), and I have a question. I know that oil-based lubricants and latex do not mix, but I also know that one of the unique things about the Mooncup is that it is silicone, not latex. Does this mean that I can use oil-based lubricants to help with insertion, without worrying about damaging the rubber? Thanks so much for your help!

Kate

Dear Kate
We recommend that you do not use oil-based substances with the Mooncup as apparently they can weaken the material over time. Water based lubes are fine.

I've been using my Mooncup for the first time these past few days and it seems to be working really well. Everything everyone says about it on your site is true. I particularly like the idea that I can forget about it and just need to empty it once on waking and once before sleep. However I'm still a little concerned about the risk of toxic shock syndrome from leaving it in for a long time.
My cup only gets about half full in half a day, so is it okay to leave it in for those 12 hours without changing it?

Thanks
Lucy

Thank you for your email. I am glad that you are getting along with your Mooncup! You are right to be concerned about toxic shock syndrome, and with the Mooncup it is important to regularly remove and clean it as by doing so you prevent any build-up of the bacteria that cause this illness. We recommend that you remove and clean your Mooncup 4 times during a 24-hour day and that you boil it for 5 minutes between periods. TSS has been linked to high absorbency and prolonged use of tampons. The Mooncup differs from tampons in that the material that it is made of does not support the growth of bacteria in the way that the rayons and cottons used in tampons do. Menstrual cups have been around since the 1930s but have never been associated with toxic shock syndrome. TSS is most common in women aged between the ages of 15 and 19 and the risk of contracting it decreases with age. As a precaution, you should be aware that the symptoms of TSS could include sudden high fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness, fainting, or a rash rather like sunburn. Should you experience these symptoms during your period you should remove your Mooncup and contact your GP immediately. I hope that this information is useful for you.

Hi
Can you advise if the Mooncup is safe to leave in during penetrative sex (not obviously as a method of contraception)?
Thanks
Mickie

Dear Mickie,
No, the Mooncup is not for use during sexual intercourse. It would be in the way as it sits low in the vagina, not high like the contraceptive cap.

Dear Mooncup
I have just tried my Mooncup for the first time. Am I alone in having problems removing it?
Please help!
Helen

Dear Helen,
No! It is a question of practice, and some women find removal a little difficult at first! You do not explain what the problem is exactly, but there are two usual difficulties:

1 Too much suction: try inserting a pin into the small holes around under the lowest ridge on the rim of the Mooncup. These can become blocked, so wiggle a pin in each one to ensure that they are clear. You can always release the seal by inserting your finger alongside the Mooncup and squashing it sideways.

2 Not being able to get hold of the Mooncup: this is a combination of position, and, often, panic! Try to sit on the loo or squat, and use your 'bearing down' or pushing muscles to move the Mooncup down before you try to get hold of it. You should be able to move it down to the entrance to your vagina where it is easier to get hold of! Standing or lying down makes your Mooncup harder to reach.

And yes, staying calm is helpful too!
I hope this info is useful.

Hello,
I've been using a Mooncup very happily for the last year. I'm now expecting our first baby in October, and I wondered if I can use the Mooncup for the bleeding after the birth? I've heard that you shouldn't use tampons, but wondered whether the Mooncup would be OK.

Best wishes,
Kelly

I believe that it is not recommended to use internal protection immediately after the birth. It would probably be a bit too tender as well! I would use pads for this post birth bleed and leave your Mooncup until normal periods return, which may not be for a year if you breast feed!

The Mooncup sounds like a very interesting product, but I would like to ask you a question before trying it. When I used a diaphragm, I had problems with urinary tract infections. Have there been any experiences of women suffering urinary tract infections from the use of the Mooncup?

Many Thanks

Sarah

Dear Sarah

The diaphram is worn higher in the vagina than the Mooncup, which sits lower, where a tampon would sit. However it is still possible that the rim of the Mooncup may exert pressure on the urinary tract and if you have been affected by problems of this nature in the past we would recommend that you check with your GP before using the Mooncup.

Hi Mooncup!

I have always suffered with thrush and I find that using the diaphragm contraceptive cap makes this worse. Do you think that the Mooncup will aggravate the thrush too?

Cheers

Maia

Dear Maia

Thanks for your email. To the contrary, women who have suffered from thrush with tampons have reported an improvement with the Mooncup. The diaphragm is made from latex rubber, and many women have an allergy to latex, even a minor allergy, which may have contributed towards the infections. The Mooncup can be boiled between periods or soaked in sterilising solution to keep it clean. The most important way to prevent infection is to wash your hand before inserting or removing your Mooncup (this applies to tampons too!). I hope that this info is useful.

A friend passed on your web link to me - it's amazing. Please can you tell me whether it is perfectly safe to use with the IUD?
Thanks a lot and keep up the good work,

Kate

Dear Kate
There should be no problem with an IUD. I have used the two together myself as have hundreds of other woman. Its a good idea to ask your GP/clinic if they can trim the IUD strings to keep them short. You may also like to check your IUD strings periodically to make sure it hasn't been dislodged. If you have any queries you should check with your GP/clinic.

Hi
What happens to the Mooncups which get returned? Are they resold? If so, that means that a Mooncup I buy could have been used by another woman! I don't like the idea of that.

Jen

Dear Jen
No, we do not resell returns!!! They are punched with a hole immediately, sterilised and then used as samples.
Hope that this helps!

I am a little confused regarding silicone, with regard to problems women have with breast enlargements!!, I don't have much of an understanding of this, and am looking for some feedback. Thank you for your time

Anna

Dear Anna
The Mooncup is made from a very different material to the breast implants that caused so many problems. They were gel held in a bag and the gel started to leach out over time into the body. The Mooncup is made from a solid medical grade silicone, the sort of material that replacement heart valves or catheters are made from. I hope that this is useful.

ICan I sterilise my Mooncup in the microwave as I'm a bit shy about the guys I share my house with seeing it in a saucepan on the hob?

Ellie

Dear Ellie
We really wouldn't recommend sterilising your Mooncup in this way. It only takes 5 minutes of boiling in an open pan to do the job properly. Why not have a cup of coffee whilst your Mooncup is on the boil? That way if anyone comes in, you'll already be there if they should get nosey!

PS. We wouldn't recommend using the dishwasher either!


	Frequently Asked Questions Click here for our Users Guide These are all genuine emails with genuine answers. If you have a question about the Mooncup you may well find the answer right here! I have a query - how do you use it in public toilets? Cheers, Helen You can still use your Mooncup in Public toilets. Simply take a small bottle of water into the toilet with you and rinse it with this. Alternatively you can wipe with toilet paper and give your Mooncup a thorough clean at a more convenient time. My flow is very light and I find tampons extremely painful to remove. Is it ok to use a Mooncup with a light flow? Kath Yes it is fine to use the Mooncup when your flow is light. The Mooncup is not absorbent and will not cause dryness so you will find removal much more comfortable than with tampons. Will the Mooncup fit through my letter box or should I get it delivered to work? Jo Dear Jo The package will fit through even a very small letter box. Hi. I've just heard about your moon cup and it sounds pretty good. I'm wondering if it is recommended for use by a girl who has just started menstruating. Any caveats I should know about? My 11 year old daughter is not quite there yet but will be sometime soon and if this is as great as it sounds I would like to recommend it. Thanks for your response. Joanne Dear Joanne Yes young girls (New Moons!) are physically able to use the Mooncup. It is possible to use the Mooncup from the very first period as our bodies are designed to give birth to full size babies at this time! The more confident that your daughter is about her body the easier it will be for her. As with tampons, it will require practice at first. She may like to use a lubricant such as KY Jelly (not petroleum jelly) to make insertion easier to begin with. I hope that this helps. I saw the Mooncup at the Mind Body & Spirit festival and was rather dubious about it but I have been thinking about it quite a lot as I want to become more active and learn how to swim. As far as I am aware my hymen is still intact, so I was worried about using it and wasn't quite bold enough to ask the lady at the stand. Yours sincerely Sharon Dear Sharon Thanks for getting in touch. If your hymen is still fully intact the use of the Mooncup is likely to cause it to tear or break. The hymen is a thin membrane, with a space or spaces for periods to flow through, which partially blocks the opening of the vaginal entrance. Hymens come in various shapes and designs. Your hymen may be shaped like a person-hole cover, or a septum (a thin line of skin which divides the centre of the vaginal opening, as does the septum of our nose), or you may have a hymen shaped like a crescent moon around the bottom or side of the vaginal opening. Interestingly, not all women are born with hymens, and hymens can break without women knowing it. Strenuous activities, such as bicycle riding, horseback riding, stretching, or dancing, can also cause the hymen to break. Also a woman's hymen could have been broken or stretched by sexual activity, even if she has not yet had sexual intercourse. Once torn or stretched, the hymen becomes an irregular ring of tissue around the vaginal opening. If you would like further advice I recommend that you pay a visit to your local well woman or sexual health clinic. Hi, Just writing for some advice. I bought a Mooncup at Glastonbury festival after wanting one for so long. I have been using it month after month and still I leak. I have to use pads as well, and my main reason for wanting Mooncup was for eco reasons. Please help me because I don’t want to go back to the old ways. Yours Catherine Dear Catherine I am sorry that you are having problems. There are some things to try to stop the leaking. You need to check that the whole of the stem is fully inside you. If there is any sticking out this will make it leak as you move. You need to remove your Mooncup and cut the end with scissors a little at a time until it is fully inside you, and comfortable. Also check that you are aiming towards the small of your back along the slant of your vagina, and try not rotating the Mooncup after insertion, but clamp with your muscles instead. Sometimes a full bladder or bowel can dislodge the Mooncup and make it leak. If there is no improvement and you have the B model it may be that you need the A. Please email advice@mooncup.co.uk as we may be able to exchange your Mooncup for the model A. If you already have the Model A we recommend that you try some pelvic floor exercises to tighten the vaginal muscle. How can I tell whether my Mooncup is the before or after childbirth model and what is the difference in size? Hazel Dear Hazel, If you hold your Mooncup up to the light you will see an A or a B stamped in the bottom of the cup. A is after childbirth, and B is before. The length of the cup is 50mm for both models, and the diameter across the top is 43mm for the model B and 46mm for the A. The stem is 21mm long. I hope that this helps. Hello! I am about to order a Mooncup (just waiting for my next paycheque), and I have a question. I know that oil-based lubricants and latex do not mix, but I also know that one of the unique things about the Mooncup is that it is silicone, not latex. Does this mean that I can use oil-based lubricants to help with insertion, without worrying about damaging the rubber? Thanks so much for your help! Kate Dear Kate We recommend that you do not use oil-based substances with the Mooncup as apparently they can weaken the material over time. Water based lubes are fine. I've been using my Mooncup for the first time these past few days and it seems to be working really well. Everything everyone says about it on your site is true. I particularly like the idea that I can forget about it and just need to empty it once on waking and once before sleep. However I'm still a little concerned about the risk of toxic shock syndrome from leaving it in for a long time. My cup only gets about half full in half a day, so is it okay to leave it in for those 12 hours without changing it? Thanks Lucy Thank you for your email. I am glad that you are getting along with your Mooncup! You are right to be concerned about toxic shock syndrome, and with the Mooncup it is important to regularly remove and clean it as by doing so you prevent any build-up of the bacteria that cause this illness. We recommend that you remove and clean your Mooncup 4 times during a 24-hour day and that you boil it for 5 minutes between periods. TSS has been linked to high absorbency and prolonged use of tampons. The Mooncup differs from tampons in that the material that it is made of does not support the growth of bacteria in the way that the rayons and cottons used in tampons do. Menstrual cups have been around since the 1930s but have never been associated with toxic shock syndrome. TSS is most common in women aged between the ages of 15 and 19 and the risk of contracting it decreases with age. As a precaution, you should be aware that the symptoms of TSS could include sudden high fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness, fainting, or a rash rather like sunburn. Should you experience these symptoms during your period you should remove your Mooncup and contact your GP immediately. I hope that this information is useful for you. Hi Can you advise if the Mooncup is safe to leave in during penetrative sex (not obviously as a method of contraception)? Thanks Mickie Dear Mickie, No, the Mooncup is not for use during sexual intercourse. It would be in the way as it sits low in the vagina, not high like the contraceptive cap. Dear Mooncup I have just tried my Mooncup for the first time. Am I alone in having problems removing it? Please help! Helen Dear Helen, No! It is a question of practice, and some women find removal a little difficult at first! You do not explain what the problem is exactly, but there are two usual difficulties: 1 Too much suction: try inserting a pin into the small holes around under the lowest ridge on the rim of the Mooncup. These can become blocked, so wiggle a pin in each one to ensure that they are clear. You can always release the seal by inserting your finger alongside the Mooncup and squashing it sideways. 2 Not being able to get hold of the Mooncup: this is a combination of position, and, often, panic! Try to sit on the loo or squat, and use your 'bearing down' or pushing muscles to move the Mooncup down before you try to get hold of it. You should be able to move it down to the entrance to your vagina where it is easier to get hold of! Standing or lying down makes your Mooncup harder to reach. And yes, staying calm is helpful too! I hope this info is useful. Hello, I've been using a Mooncup very happily for the last year. I'm now expecting our first baby in October, and I wondered if I can use the Mooncup for the bleeding after the birth? I've heard that you shouldn't use tampons, but wondered whether the Mooncup would be OK. Best wishes, Kelly I believe that it is not recommended to use internal protection immediately after the birth. It would probably be a bit too tender as well! I would use pads for this post birth bleed and leave your Mooncup until normal periods return, which may not be for a year if you breast feed! The Mooncup sounds like a very interesting product, but I would like to ask you a question before trying it. When I used a diaphragm, I had problems with urinary tract infections. Have there been any experiences of women suffering urinary tract infections from the use of the Mooncup? Many Thanks Sarah Dear Sarah The diaphram is worn higher in the vagina than the Mooncup, which sits lower, where a tampon would sit. However it is still possible that the rim of the Mooncup may exert pressure on the urinary tract and if you have been affected by problems of this nature in the past we would recommend that you check with your GP before using the Mooncup. Hi Mooncup! I have always suffered with thrush and I find that using the diaphragm contraceptive cap makes this worse. Do you think that the Mooncup will aggravate the thrush too? Cheers Maia Dear Maia Thanks for your email. To the contrary, women who have suffered from thrush with tampons have reported an improvement with the Mooncup. The diaphragm is made from latex rubber, and many women have an allergy to latex, even a minor allergy, which may have contributed towards the infections. The Mooncup can be boiled between periods or soaked in sterilising solution to keep it clean. The most important way to prevent infection is to wash your hand before inserting or removing your Mooncup (this applies to tampons too!). I hope that this info is useful. A friend passed on your web link to me - it's amazing. Please can you tell me whether it is perfectly safe to use with the IUD? Thanks a lot and keep up the good work, Kate Dear Kate There should be no problem with an IUD. I have used the two together myself as have hundreds of other woman. Its a good idea to ask your GP/clinic if they can trim the IUD strings to keep them short. You may also like to check your IUD strings periodically to make sure it hasn't been dislodged. If you have any queries you should check with your GP/clinic. Hi What happens to the Mooncups which get returned? Are they resold? If so, that means that a Mooncup I buy could have been used by another woman! I don't like the idea of that. Jen Dear Jen No, we do not resell returns!!! They are punched with a hole immediately, sterilised and then used as samples. Hope that this helps! I am a little confused regarding silicone, with regard to problems women have with breast enlargements!!, I don't have much of an understanding of this, and am looking for some feedback. Thank you for your time Anna Dear Anna The Mooncup is made from a very different material to the breast implants that caused so many problems. They were gel held in a bag and the gel started to leach out over time into the body. The Mooncup is made from a solid medical grade silicone, the sort of material that replacement heart valves or catheters are made from. I hope that this is useful. ICan I sterilise my Mooncup in the microwave as I'm a bit shy about the guys I share my house with seeing it in a saucepan on the hob? Ellie Dear Ellie We really wouldn't recommend sterilising your Mooncup in this way. It only takes 5 minutes of boiling in an open pan to do the job properly. Why not have a cup of coffee whilst your Mooncup is on the boil? That way if anyone comes in, you'll already be there if they should get nosey! PS. We wouldn't recommend using the dishwasher either!

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