Menstrual Cups, Sanitary Pads or Tampons – Which one is the Best Choice?  : We have a lot of options available in the market for usage during our periods, them being plastic sanitary napkins, cotton sanitary napkins, tampons, and menstrual cups. Everyone has different priorities and requirements from certain products. Hence, I can’t tell you what is best for you. Which is why I have compared all of the products down below, go through the points and choose what you think is best for you.

Chemicals:

1. Cotton sanitary napkins: only 3 brands in India produce cotton sanitary napkins and none of them make use of any chemicals.
2. Plastic Sanitary napkins: they do contain chemicals that can cause rashes and dangerous problems to your uterus.
3. Tampons: tampons contain chemicals that are supposed to absorb the blood in your uterus. While doing so, they absorb the moisture present in the walls drying your uterus. This can also lead to a lot of dangerous problems.
4. Menstrual cups: they do not consist of any sort of chemicals.

Eco-friendly:

1. Cotton sanitary napkins: cotton is a biodegradable material. Hence, the pads that you use and throw away get decomposed into the soil making it a very eco-friendly product.
2. Plastic sanitary napkins: we all know that plastic takes 1000s of years to decompose. On average, a single woman makes use of 8000 pads in her lifetime. All of these 8000 pads are going to take 1000 years to decompose into the soil. Until then they’re just going to lie around producing toxic fumes.
3. Tampons: as long as you are using 100% cotton tampons, they’re not entirely bio-degradable either.
4. Menstrual cups: they last you for up to 10 years, so there is no need for throwing it away.

Odor:

1. Sanitary napkins: napkins are exposed to air causing them to react. Hence, it does produce odor.
2. Tampons: it does smell when you remove your tampon to dispose of it as it reacts with the air and the chemicals present in it.
3. Menstrual cups: they don’t produce any odor as there are no chemicals present in the cup.

Price:

1. Sanitary napkins: If you look at it on a short-term basis, they’re the cheapest products available. If you look at it on a long-term basis, they can get very expensive. If on average one pad costs you ₹10 then it will cost you ₹80,000 for your entire lifetime.
2. Tampons: Tampons as well cost more on a long-term basis.
3. Menstrual cups: Cups are a one-time investment. They cost you ₹250-500 for about 10 years. They are the cheapest option available in the market in the long term.

Comfort:

1. Sanitary napkins: You can always feel them when you move. They are not at all comfortable. They can even cause rashes.
2. Tampons: Once you insert it, you don’t feel the presence of it.
3. Menstrual cups: Same with cups, you don’t feel the presence of it once inserted properly.

Availability:

1. Cotton sanitary napkins: they are available only online.
2. Plastic sanitary napkins: They are available at any chemist or drug store.
3. Tampons: Maybe, not all stores sell tampons, but they are available at supermarkets and online.
4. Menstrual cups: they are available only online and in very few supermarkets, which is very rare.

Hygiene:

1. Sanitary napkins: They are very messy as the blood can stick to your butt area. That can react with the air and can produce odor and stickiness. This is not hygienic at all.
2. Tampons: As the tampons stay inside, there are no hygienic problems you would face with this product.
3. Menstrual cup: The same way, it stays inside, so it doesn’t leak or get messy.

Comfort:

1. Sanitary napkins: You will always feel the presence of a napkin. So they are not very comfortable while playing or if you are going on an adventure trip.
2. Tampons: You won’t feel the presence of it until it gets full and heavy and it is time to throw it, you might feel a little heaviness but it is not unbearable.
3. Menstrual cups: You don’t feel any discomfort for about 10-12 hours after which you will have to remove it, it might pain very little.

Spotting:

1. Sanitary napkins: They get saturated very quickly after which they will start flowing through your panties. Spotting is more often in this method if you don’t change very frequently.
2. Tampons: They as well will show some spots once they’re saturated but it can be prevented by using a panty liner.
3. Menstrual cups: Leaking through a cup is very rare. They hold up the most amount of flow out of all the options and they usually don’t leak unless places wrong or not using the correct size.

How to prevent period infections and rashes?

Use unscented products: Some products consist of some scents to prevent odor but as they are chemicals they can lead to rashes or infections.

Wear loose cotton underwear: There will be no friction between the product, skin, and your underwear. Hence, no rashes.

Change the brand: It probably is just because the brand is not working out for you.

Pro tip:

The environmental crisis has been increasing rapidly. The smallest thing we can do is to use organic products. Usage of cotton sanitary napkins, 100% cotton tampons, and menstrual cups are very eco-friendly. They are not widely available in stores nearby but they are available online. Please do stop using plastic products and switch to organic products. This small change can help the earth a lot.

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