Almost There! But one slight problem...

Hi everyone, I haven't introduced myself but have been reading the topics today - a really, really useful forum to have, and very easy to join. I'm 23, Scottish and have a femmecup. I also seem to have problems currently with dryness, a bit of inflammation and intercurrant infections (being treated with cannestan), and have had trouble with UTIs in the past but not recently.

I am quite sensitive down there in general and still suffer from slight vulvodynia just around the very outer rim of my vagina when I try and insert/remove anything. Tampons were a nightmare - used them only a coupke of times, never went back to them. And the first two times I tried my menstrual cup were AWFUL. So much pain in both insertion and removal that I felt psychologically traumatised and my legs actually went weak. I've only had one go with my period, and although I didn't spill anything the pain was absolutely horrendous. However, I really wanted a fail-safe menstruation protection method. One that was environmentally friendly, logical, non-restrictive, safe and didn't mean always being stocked up on sanitary products in advance.

All my initial problems only make me that bit more proud to say I can now insert the menstrual cup largely pain free, even when not using artificial lubricant (I discovered I slope back a LOT, which really helped). I can also break the suction, and am getting a lot better at removing it thanks to all the tips here and elsewhere! I now feel like there is hope for the femmecup yet, and the process is also giving me hope for other things like penetrative sex (also currently painful and uncomfortable for me). The pinch and twist method of breaking the suction, the punch-down fold and helping it migrate down by bearing down and pushing have helped a HUGE amount too.

However, I have a slight problem which causes me mild pain during, and for about five minutes after, removal. I find the rim of my femmecup gets stuck on the inside of my vagina right at the entrance, and since the opening of my vagina is so sensitive, this makes removal very difficult:



I've tried achieving the punch-down fold inside, as this worked before for me on one occasion, but all that generally seems to happen is that the silly thing collapses flat at the top, which is just more uncomfortable. I've also tried slotting a fingernail in at the side of the rim to help ease it out, but the rim seems to be quite pronounced, and my walls there are that thin and stretchy that I just end up nipping myself with my fingernail, even though they're currently very short - ouch!

Any suggestions?

Think I'm getting the hang of it now...but will update if any more problems!