link between the cups and endometriosis

I am a little bit concerned that there may be a link between menstrual cups and Endometriosis (sorry if i have spelt that wrong) what are you thoughts on this?

Well, I have a family history of endometriosis, however, there is no substantial proof that cups are linked to it. I'm guessing if I ever do get endo it would be caused by my genetics and not the cup.

slovaksiren wrote:Well, I have a family history of endometriosis, however, there is no substantial proof that cups are linked to it. I'm guessing if I ever do get endo it would be caused by my genetics and not the cup.

I totally agree. My sister and a friend of mine suffer from endometriosis, but they have never used Cup (my sister don't use even tampons). So I suppose that endometriosis and Cup are two separated concepts. I mean, you can be a Cup user and have endometriosis; or you can have endometriosis without using Cups; or finally you can be a Cup user without suffering from endometriosis.

And about endometriosis: the doctor who cures my sister simply admits that, nowadays, there is no sure explanation about why there are so many women with that illness. Maybe the stress, the environment, smoking or drinking alchool...they are still researching.

i asked my gyn specifically about this and she said that it's really hard to force anything back up thru the cervix. so she said not to worry about it.

The reason some people "think" that there "might be" a link between cups and endo, is because of this notion some people are pushing about a thing called "backflow".

In other words, they think that cups may cause your blood to flow back up into the uterus, when they get too full.

Normally your uterine lining/tissue only grows inside the uterus. Its meant to be something for a fertilized egg to latch onto. At the end of your period, this tissue is shed, which is why you see bits of tissue in period blood.

Endo is caused by Uterine lining/tissue growing outside the uterus; it latches onto your other organs and causes painful pulling and tugging on other organs. It can also form little sacks that fill up with liquid (cysts), and these cysts can weigh down heavily on your organs and cause discomfort. They can also rupture, and cause a lot of pain.

Some believe that endo is cause only by hormonal imbalances. Some think it is genetic. Some think it is caused by uterine lining traveling up the fallopian tubes and getting outside the uterus. But really, nobody is sure of any of this.

Based on the "tissues creeping out the fallopian tubes" theory, some people suggest that using a cup can cause your blood to flow back up into your uterus, and cause the uterine lining to go up and out the fallopian tubes... Problem is, thus far, no cases of endo have been linked directly to cup use, AND medical professionals are still unsure of exactly what causes uterine lining to grow outside the uterus...

Besides, even if "backflow" were possible... Still, that's BLOOD, and DEAD uterine tissue backflowing. But blood doesn't cause endo. And dead tussie doesn't grow. Nothing about the mythical "backflow" would cause your living tissues to relocate. That's a completely different matter in itself.

It seems the individuals who are pushing this idea are not too familiar with cups, and possibly not considering the way the female body works.

What I mean is-- the hole in our cervix is what the blood comes out of. It starts off up in the uterus, but the uterus has to cramp down rather hard, and do a bunch of pushing and squeezing to get that blood through the cervix and eventually, out the vagina. There is also gravity, pulling everything down.

Now, in order for your menstrual blood to go back up into the uterus, like these people are claiming, it would first have to fight against gravity. Then it would have to force itself back through the cervix (with no strong muscle such at the uterus to push it though). Then it would have to fight gravity some more, to get all the way up through the uterus, through the fallopian tubes, and out. And again, this is just blood, not living uterine tissue.

Furthermore, any woman who has ever used a cup, can tell you from first-hand experience that when a cup gets too full-- first, it will start to "purp", that's basically when the air that was holding the cup open starts to break the suction and bubble out. It feels like a leak, but its not. And then finally, if you have a heavy flow and you leave the cup in much too long, again, the suction will break and the blood will leak out. Sure the cup forms a seal and light suction... But its not like the cup is a die-hard cork that nothing can ever bypass, or something, lol. A cup will buble over and leak LONG before it would ever cause enough pressure to force blood back throught he tight, tiny cervix hole, and against gravity.

Knowing all this, and the fact that there have been no solid documented cases, coupled with the fact that professionals still don't really know what causes endo--- The whole idea sounds pretty crazy, far-fetched, and well... Silly, lol.

I hope that helps

That was helpful thankyou, sorry if it seemed like a silly question but it was a genuine concern to me esp as there is a family history for me

That's okay, I have a history of endo too so I was scepticle at first too..

But I'm proud of you for being a smart consumer and getting the facts straight before buying.

True, it is always good to check everything out, before buying. Good job on that, I'm actually glad you brought it up. Now if someone else is curious about that, we can point them to this thread. I also made sure to research everything before I bought my first cup, I wanted to make sure I was being safe and all.

Also, you know what they say-- the only silly question, is the one you never ask