Whether you’re an avid fan of swimming, planning a sunny vacation, or just musing about changing your menstrual care, the question of whether you can swim in a menstrual cup is bound to come up. The answer, in short, is yes. You can go swimming while wearing a menstrual cup.
There are a lot of myths about swimming during your period
Swimming is an activity that seems to have a lot of myths surrounding it. It starts with tales we hear as children. We hear how eating before swimming causes us to drown and that sharks will seek us out on our period mistaking us for lunch. No evidence exists that either of these things is true. A few people remain hypothetically cautious and avoid ocean swimming near sharks during their period.
As adults, we hear tales of how we should avoid swimming as it worsens our cramps. The truth is that gentle exercise during our period, including swimming, helps to make our PMS symptoms less severe. We still have to be aware of our hydration levels when we swim. We dehydrate more easily while menstruating. When surrounded by water, we often don’t feel like we’re losing hydration as we don’t feel ourselves sweating.
Taking a dip while having your period
When we swim in a pool or ocean, we experience the same effect that we do in a bathtub. The pressure from the water tends to temporarily slow or sometimes stop our menstrual flow in the water. Regardless, most people having a period will still need protection while swimming to prevent any leaks, especially for entering and leaving the water. Because of this, pads are the only product incompatible with swimming. Nobody wants a water-inflated sanitary pad in their swimsuit.
Wearing a tampon can protect you from leaks but will absorb the water around you, sometimes making the tampon feel uncomfortable and heavy. Because the water in a pool is treated with chemicals and still has traces of bacteria, change a tampon soon after leaving to ensure everything stays clean and healthy. This can sometimes be an inconvenience at a more remote beach.
A menstrual cup can make swimming easier
Because it forms a tight seal inside the vagina, a menstrual cup, when we use it use correctly, will create a perfect barrier to either escaping blood or water coming in. A medical-grade silicone cup like CapdCup is soft and flexible enough that you can’t feel it while swimming. It has no string that could get tangled in a swimsuit. And because a menstrual cup isn’t an absorbing product, it doesn’t feel heavy when in the water.
At Capd Period, we developed our cup with enough capacity for heavy periods. If you enter the pool with an empty cup, you can stay for hours of fun. The first cup that you don’t need to remove to empty it, CapdCup is the perfect partner for a long day at the beach or poolside.
