And I have already read the FAQ at
http://kuradi8.livejournal.com
Background:
34-year old first time user after 22 years of first pads, then tampon use.
Bought Diva cup size 1, since I figured my age was less important than my size. I bought it close to the end of my period, so fairly low flow at the moment.
Although average height, it's all in my legs and I am super compact from my shoulders to my hips and have tiny hands....my longest finger is 2.75 inches/7cm, my thumb is only 2 inches/5cm, so manipulating ANYTHING inside is quite difficult.
I *think* my cervix is about 3 inches in at the moment (end of period), pretty much as far as I can push my finger in. Which I read is low....don't know how people with a high cervix can possibly reach, but then again not everyone has such short fingers.
I'm not looking for a different model, as the comfort when wearing seems good. Rather looking for solutions to my short little fingers!
Although it was somewhat painful getting it in initially, I soon managed to figure out how to do it with minimal to no pain.
The first couple removals I *thought* I had broken the seal, since I followed the instructions to a T, but it caused horrible pain for a couple days, so I'm guessing I didn't. I gave my body a bit to recover, but am trying again. The problem is I can't get my finger to the top of the rim when inside to force the seal to break/make sure it really is broken.
This morning, I did get the seal to break, heard the noise, but it was SOOOO hard to manage. Manipulating it is nearly impossible and simply squishing the base DOES NOT break the seal. I'm really reluctant to actually take it out until I hear that noise now, since I know the pain when the seal is not broken, pre-removal.
I read that enlarging the holes in a diva cup helps create the seal AND in other places that it helps with removal/breaking the seal. Am I misunderstanding, or is this the case, and should help make breaking the seal easier for me?
The cups are expensive, so I don't want to make an adjustment that could potentionally worsen my issue. For example, making the seal even tighter.
Anyone with short fingers have any tricks to make sure the seal really is broken?
I have no issues getting the tip/base in a good position for removal by bearing down. It's more that pinching the base isn't enough to break the seal and I can't get my finger easily far enough up to force the seal to break. Or at least is takes A LOT of tusseling with the cup to get the noise.
Finger advice?
Hole advice?
Thanks in advance!