Is Your Menstrual Cup Too Long?

Menstrual cups that are too long can be very uncomfortable.

Even cup users who have never had a problem with cup length can experience a lowered cervix for example after pregnancy and child birth.

How would you know that your cup is too long? Generally when cup users can feel the handle of the cup or the bottom of the cup at their vaginal entrance, they assume the cup is too long.

A lot of times this is correct. Sometimes however there is a different issue.

One way to differentiate between the two problems is timing:

How quickly can you feel your menstrual cup?

a) right away. It's simply too long from the start

Yes. If your menstrual cup simply does not fit comfortably beneath your cervix, your menstrual cup is likely too long for your anatomy

b) after awhile. It fits fine at the start

If your cup drops after awhile but fits at first, the likely culprit is insufficient diameter. In other words your cup does not make a sufficient seal and a cup with a slightly larger diameter could seal better.

Your Menstrual Cup is Too Long

Your menstrual cup does not fit comfortably below your cervix and you can feel either the bottom or the handle at your vaginal entrance. Now what?

After consulting the internet many cup users have resorted to turning the menstrual cup they own inside out.

This blog post is about why this is a bad idea. Turning your menstrual cup inside out can be:

• harmful to your cup
• harmful to you
• ineffective

For all these reasons we strongly suggest you do not turn your menstrual cup inside out.

We will show each of these points as well as things that work better and safer than turning your menstrual cup.

What's Bad About Turning Menstrual Cups Inside Out

Turning the Cups will Harm your Menstrual Cup

Because the menstrual cups are made in molds allocation of the material is determined as soon as the cup is made.

By turning your cup inside out you are compressing the larger outer surface area into a smaller space and forcing the smaller inside surface area to stretch over the bigger volume now located inside.

This leads to cracking of the cup.

(actual customer cup, cracked from turning inside out)

Turning the Cup can Harm You

If you do wish to turn your menstrual cup inside out it is very important to remove then handle first.

For many users with very low cervix part of the cervix could end up sitting in the cup.

Depending on your anatomy and the style of your cup a very long handle remaining on the inside of the cup can point towards your cervix and potentially may make contact with it.

This is not safe. Please always remove the handle first if your cup is too long.

Turning Cups Is Often Ineffective

Once you remove the handle (and you should!) there will only be a height difference after turning the cup inside out, if there is significant material in the cup's bottom compared to the side walls.

Turning menstrual cups inside out will only result in a shortening effect, if there is much more cup material on the tip than there is all around.

For example turning a MeLuna menstrual cup inside out will result in exactly the same measurements as they were before.

Only if you have a menstrual cup that has more material in the bottom, will turning the cup inside out be effective in shortening the cup at all.

The Two Things You Do If Your Cup Is Too Long

Trim off The Handle on Your Menstrual Cup

The most cost effective option is to shorten your menstrual cup by simply removing the handle. It's a great first thing to try if your cup is uncomfortable because you can feel the handle when wearing it.

Be careful not to cut a hole in the bottom!

If you are unsure of how to do it, we have a tutorial for you here. Feel free to watch the whole video, if you like. We have the link set to start right at the trimming section!

Purchase a Menstrual Cup for Low Cervix

Of course MeLuna is famous for being the menstrual cup with the most options for low cervix.

If cutting off the handle was not enough to make your current cup work or you simply would like to make it easier on yourself and get a menstrual cup made for low cervix, you can learn more about MeLuna's low cervix menstrual cups, called Shorty, here:
Menstrual Cups Perfect for Low Cervix