Photo: Elena Graham (Shutterstock)
If you’re familiar with a menstrual cup as an alternative to pads and tampons, you might start wondering about this newfangled menstrual disc that’s being advertised all over the place. They’ve been around a long time, actually, but are seeing a surge in popularity. Here’s the lowdown:
The biggest advantage of discs over cups—and one of the main benefits that companies like to tout—is that you can have penetrative sex with a disc in. That’s because the ring portion is out of the way, and the cup-like portion is soft and flexible. (The vagina also tends to expand and elongate when you’re aroused, which helps make more room.)
The discs’ manufacturers say that most people either don’t feel it during sex, or feel it but don’t find it uncomfortable. Everybody’s anatomy is different, though. And be aware that even though it fits like a diaphragm, a disc is not considered to be a type of birth control.
