How to make inserting and removing a menstrual cup easier

How to Make Inserting and Removing Your LUNACUP Effortless

Work with Your Pelvic Floor Muscles

For every insertion and removal, working with your pelvic floor muscles makes everything so much easier! Think of them as your secret helpers.

Insertion - Your Step-by-Step Guide:

Insert the folded cup into your vagina as deep as feels comfortable (using your thumb and index finger to hold the fold). Don't try to push the entire cup in at once. Part of the cup will stay outside - usually about half. Now use your index finger to push on the very bottom of the cup to slide it fully inside. Here's where your pelvic muscles come in: while pushing with your finger, use your pelvic floor muscles to draw the cup inward. Continue until the entire cup is inside, including the stem. Finally, insert your finger where the cup was folded and check that it has fully opened. If it hasn't opened completely, it will still be folded inward at that spot - you'll feel the difference easily. No need to circle the entire cup to check if it's fully opened and created suction.

Training tip: Mimic sucking air through a straw with your mouth while drawing air from your lower belly up to your lungs. This naturally engages the correct pelvic floor muscle contraction.

Removal - The Gentle Way:

Contract your pelvic floor muscles in the opposite direction - you'll push the cup out until the bottom appears outside your vagina. At that moment, firmly squeeze the bottom of the cup (with thumb and index finger) to break the seal, then remove it while holding the bottom. If this feels difficult, use your pelvic muscles more actively or gentle side-to-side movements.

With this method, you don't reach deep into your vagina or use the cup's stem. You simply grab the bottom once your pelvic muscles have pushed it out. You could push it out completely (without breaking the seal first), but it would spill. That's why you only need to push about 1/3 out so the bottom is accessible.

Helper: When pushing the cup out, use your muscles similarly to pushing during childbirth.

How to Easily Learn Pelvic Floor Control

First, test where you're starting from:

The test is simple: insert a finger (index or middle) into your vagina and contract your muscles as if you're trying to stop urination. If you feel ring-like pressure on your finger, everything's working well. If you feel only slight or no pressure, start exercising and check your progress after a week.

Test Which Muscles You're Using:

You need to learn to contract only the right muscles - specifically, just your pelvic floor muscles.

During this test, also try contracting just your belly or buttocks - you'll notice no contraction happens in your vagina. When contracting pelvic floor muscles, keep your abdominal, buttock, and inner thigh muscles relaxed. Contract only your pelvic floor muscles until you feel the ring-like pressure. Maintain natural breathing throughout - don't hold your breath.

How to Recognize and Use the Right Internal Muscles - Practice Before Exercising:

Strengthening your pelvic muscles involves repeatedly contracting your pelvic floor. For beginners, it's helpful to practice during "small needs" at the toilet, stopping urination for a few seconds. It requires concentration because to control just the right muscle, you can't hold your breath or engage external pelvic area muscles - belly, buttocks, nothing extra. It's simple, just needs practice.

Once you've found and started controlling the right internal muscles, you've won! Now you just need to exercise them 2-3 times daily. These are small muscles that need gentle, mindful movement. The relaxation phase is just as important as the contraction.

Why Should You Care About Pelvic Floor Strengthening?
It can help with incontinence issues and serves as prevention. It contributes to better sexual experiences and helps with inability to reach orgasm. Strengthened muscles help with body posture and belly appearance. Your LUNACUP stays in the right position thanks to pelvic floor muscles - if it leaks, the problem is often weakened muscles.

Strengthening Exercise

You can exercise lying on your back with bent knees, feet at hip level, or standing. Best is lying down with legs on a chair at a right angle at the knees.

Exercise Process:

Hold the contraction for three seconds first, then three seconds of release. Gradually increase up to 10 seconds.

1.) Inhale through nose. Contract pelvic floor. Tilt pelvis forward.
2.) Exhale through open mouth (best to relax lower jaw and chin during exhale). Pelvic floor releases. Distinct pelvic movement backward.
3.) Continue this movement and breathing until you feel warmth/energy in your pelvis.
4.) After each exercise session, always relax for at least 10 minutes. During relaxation, legs are apart, knees separated, breathing deeply into the pelvic floor and lower belly to release everything.

Tip: You can combine this exercise with breath - during inhale, draw muscles inward and pelvis tilts forward; during exhale, release and relax as pelvis moves backward.

If you're unsure whether you're strengthening the right gentle internal muscles, we recommend quick status checks during strengthening. Place one hand under your buttocks and the other on your belly. If you feel contractions from either side, it means you're not focusing on the right spots. For truly effective exercise, lie on your back with legs on a chair so your hips and knees form right angles. In this position, it's harder for your body to compensate pelvic floor muscle activity with buttock and thigh work.

Warning:

Kegel exercises are often mentioned with pelvic floor strengthening. The exercises themselves are fine, but they're usually performed incorrectly. The instructions typically omit crucial information. Please note: In pelvic floor strengthening, release is as important as tension. These are delicate muscles requiring gentle, conscious exercise.

Overtraining can easily occur. Concentration and relaxed breathing are essential. We definitely can't recommend doing exercises on the tram, etc., as is often suggested.

Quality matters, not quantity of repetitions.

You're smart for wanting to master this. Your body will thank you. 🌙