A PSA on Menstrual Cups

I'm no longer a candidate for menstrual products, but if I were, I'd be using a menstrual cup, especially after a recent review of the scientific research spoke highly of their safety and efficacy. They save the users a lot of money and are much more environmentally friendly, plus they work better. What's not to like?

Yet, "Even in high-income countries, where women have wide access to information about reproductive health, only between 11 percent and 33 percent of women are aware of the devices..."

Clearly, the old adage about building a better mousetrap doesn't hold up when "saving users money" doesn't line up well with "making a lot of money for the company who makes the product," especially by selling them products every damned month of their lives for 40 years."

When [researchers] looked at 69 websites that offer educational information about puberty to girls — websites run by professional health organizations or government agencies in 27 different countries — they found that less than a third (30 percent) mentioned menstrual cups. By contrast, more than three-quarters (77 percent) mentioned disposable pads and almost two-thirds (65 percent) mentioned tampons.

The perverse incentives at work when it comes to disposables vs. menstrual caps remind me all too much of pharmaceutical companies that try to come up with the latest chronic disease treatment, rather than vaccines or other cures.