Menstrual talks, tampons/pads the only option?

[jane a white]

let me first say that i am not a nurse of any kind and nor am i a student having just turned 30yrs of age. What i would like to ask is weather school nurses are giving their students all the options when it comes to advice about menstral protection? I have just personally descovered a product called a moon cup and while not wishing to advertise the more i look into it the more other alternatives i find. I now feel cheated that i was not given all the options when i first started to mensturate - has this changed? I think not! I have a friend who is a school nurse herself and while out with her one evening she menstioned that she was to give a talk about periods to a group of young girls the next morning. I told her about the moon cup i had just started to use and to my surprise she had never even heard if the product and was just going to sugest the use of pads / tampons without i suspect even considering the alternatives. I do understand and indeed remember that this is a delicate subject with girls this age but i do also think that with the amount of waste materials which end up in land fill or washed up on beaches the other greener and often cheaper options could do with a quick description. Hope this coment is useful to someone who is a school nurse.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

I just don't think the average school aged girl who starts school at probably 7:30 am and ends up staying there until 4:30 or 5 pm for sports or play practice or whatnot is going to find keeping a cup of their own menstrual fluid in place for 8 hrs convenient. The website itself make it pretty clear that removal and clean up can be messy. So you have a mess in the stall...

then there's the fact of cleaning it if necessary during the school day. How do you think other girls are going to react to seeing someone rinsing their menstrual fluid out in the shared sink. Then theres the residual mess in the sink...

OK, then use the nurse's bathroom will probably be the next response... nope - My office is jam packed with kids all day long. If I now have girls coming in to rinse their fluids out it's going to create too much traffic in the office and disturb the legitimately sick kids. Plus let's get back to the issue of the mess that it can make. I have kids that won't clean up the sink if they have a bloody nose - let's not extend that to my toilet and floors too. Cause I'll have to be the one to clean it up if it's left behind.

If parents want to teach their kids alternative methods of sanitation when it comes to their menses, then be my guest. But i'm not going to endorse anything that's going to make my work day any busier than it already it. Oh, and by the way, OP, the moon cup has only been around 4 years or so - you haven't been cheated - that technology simply didn't exist when you would have learned about your menstrual cycle. You were 26 when it came out.

[jane a white]

im not sugesting its for everyone i was originally just asking if alternative methods where even mentioned in class that's all. Im glad i seam to have got everyone to talk. You are right i would have been 26 when mooncup came out but my point was that other similar products where out which where never talked about in my class i just wondered weather that had changed that was all. Im really glad i got so meny comments from nurses.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

on the other hand, Jane -while I was already aware of the moon cup and devices like that i do appreciate you bringing it to light so I could take the opportunity to educate myself further and have a discussion with a student who may have questions about it.

[jane a white]

that was my only aim. I am not a nurse as i pointed out and didn't realise i would ruffle so meny feathers however i am now glad that i did.

[talaxandra]

I use the keeper, a product that sounds similar to a moon cup. It's made of natural rubber and is reusable, so it's environmentally friendly, which is why I started using it. It's also really economical - more than five years in and it's still as sturdy etc as when it was new, working out at less that $10/year.

I discovered the keeper on nights, when a friend and I were bored at work at surfing online. At first we both thought the idea was a little gross, but were swayed by the guarantee of a thre month trial period - I only needed a day to be swayed! I find it really convenient when travelling, or even those busy shifts when you can't get away, and was surprised to find how little blood loss I actually have.

I recommended it to another friend, who has menorrhagia, who swears by it. Once I got the hang of removal I found it pretty mess-free, even in public toilets - because the cup forms a seal, there's rarely any blood on the outside.

All that said, I don't think I would've been able to use the keeper when I was at school, and certainly not in the first couple of years after I started menstruating. It requres a little finesse and... elasticity, and I almost caused a prolapse the first time I tried removing it (without breaking the seal!).

My friend has discussed the keeper with her daughters, who are in their early teens - it's on their radar but not something they're interested in just yet.

[jane a white]

yes i find the same thing with the moon cup. I think they r the same really but the mooncup is medical grade silicon and not natural rubber. I was quite shocked to find that my school nurse friend didn't seam to have a clue what i was talking about and glad i got to her before some teen did - my friends reaction was 'a what?' - not that helpful really. I do agree that the cups need a degree of how did you put it 'finesse' but just also feel girls and women too should be aware/informed about all options. Well done to your friend i say and even if her girls are never interested in anything but tampons and pads at least they have had the information.

[jane a white]

also can i point out that i too descovered the alternatives while surfing the internet! While a young girl may not have the finesse of an older lady i am very sure that the night before their little talk some of them may google tampons! If they where to find some little link titled alternative tampons etc its not too big a jump for the questions to be asked in class is it? I just hope the adult in charge has all the answers.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Jane,

No disrespect was intended. It's just that message boards are victim to trolls of all varieties, and AllNurses is no different.

Let me say a few things, though.

I would say that most nurses are not "up-to-date" on these items because most of us don't work with menstruating females. My patients are usually too old to menstruate, a lot of nurses have patients too young to menstruate, and women who are pregnant or post partum that wouldn't be using internal protection...as well as women way too ill (as in, sedated and vented) to be educated about feminine products.

Those of us who know about them have used them for ourselves, and it has nothing to do with being nurses.

Also, I know that in my experience, we had sex ed taught by our Health teachers, who weren't nurses. I don't remember learning about feminine products at all in school. All of my knowledge came from friends, my mom and YM magazine. Then again, I had my period in elementary school and BOY was that fun!

And when girls first begin to menstruate, internal protection tends to not be the best option. Due to anatomical reasons, newly pubescent females are not the best users of these products.

I know you posted this in "School Nursing," but it comes up on the "What's New" page, so most of us who read it will not be, in fact, school nurses.

Cheers!

[bunsterj]

There is also the Diva Cup which is made of silicone as well.

[jane a white]

point taken!

[jane a white]

maybe my comments should have been aimed at gyn/family planning/womens health nurses. I aimed them at school nurses due to this being brought to light in my mind by my school nurse friends reaction to me. My point is one of education however and my own school talk is the only one i have ever had. Also if girls/women/females r not told EVERYTHING is school it seams meny r just not told at all. I mean to highlight the general female populations lack of education (where ever it could/should have come from) on this subject which i feel i have most certainly done.

[jane a white]

im sure i will now be attacked by gyn nurses telling me they have no time! This im sure is also true they r too busy dealing with stds etc! It seams its once again up to the internet.