In the last fifteen days, I have touched the tip of my nose 736839 times. And no, I do not have a fetish for noses. However, I have been on a quest to find that one thing that could potentially solve many of my life’s problems. I have been using a menstrual cup for six months now. The last month unfortunately, has been a bit of rolling-in-the-bloody-fields as the cup started leaking and I was left completely flummoxed about how this could happen! Well, as I figured out several Google searches later, it’s all because of this little wad of gooey tissue called the CERVIX that is wreaking havoc inside some of our bodies. The mouth of the menstrual cup ideally needs to be placed facing the cervix so that the blood goes directly inside and mine, the last time, was a total hit-and-miss. In this journey of finding my cervix, I stumbled across several interesting websites, including the Beautiful Cervix Project that celebrates the diversity of women’s bodies.

Best way to talk to your daughters about periods

Ummm, so what is the cervix?

As Wikipedia very simply defines it, the cervix is a neck of tissue that connects the uterus to the vagina. It is the far end of your uterus that eventually tumbles down into the vagina. It also produces white discharge which makes the vagina a self-cleaning eco-system. Before I rant away about how to find your cervix, here is how it looks. Notice: Crooked Pointed Finger. Yes, that’s where the cervix is.

cervis

P.S: The internal organs are not to scale. This is for illustrative purpose only.

Okay. So how does it feel?

[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”null”]Women on the internet claim that the cervix actually feels like touching the tip of your nose.[/inlinetweet] Now you know why I touched my nose a gazillion times. Some others write that it feels like a donut with a dimple in the middle. Frankly, the only advice that helped me was that the cervix feels markedly different from the rest of the vagina. So, [inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”null”]the more you know about what your vagina feels like, the easier it is to find your cervix![/inlinetweet]

And… why should I know about it?

Firstly, knowledge about your own body is always empowering. It’s always exciting to know what any part of the human anatomy looks and feels like! In the last one month, I have gotten to know when I am ovulating and when my period is due, all because of the position of the cervix. The position of the cervix keeps changing throughout the month. Secondly, knowing your cervix helps you manage internal products like menstrual cups more efficiently. You can position your cup in such a way that there is no leakage of any sort.

In the backdrop of this very pressing need, I embarked on a journey to find this elusive little part of my anatomy, which I didn’t know existed until 6 months ago.The best way to chart this is to map the position and to ‘touch and feel’ your cervix for an entire month. Also, it is important to maintain the same schedule every day. This will give you an average estimate of how your cervix is on your period days and non-period days. As many women claim, the cervix is much lower and softer on your period days.[inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”null”] And just like the miraculous human body, cervices come in all shapes and sizes, textures and terrains.[/inlinetweet]

In the very beginning, I squatted, squirmed, stretched and mastered aerobics in the precincts of my bathroom, but my fingers couldn’t find anything cervix-y in there. Before you try and find yours, here’s what to do:

  • Firstly, relax yourself completely. Run around. Do a little jig. Listen to some music. Drink some warm tea. The logic is that if you are generally relaxed, your vaginal muscles also loosen up and this proves to be quite helpful.
  • Make sure your trim your fingernails before inserting your finger in. You don’t want to claw down your innards!
  • Wash your hands with soap and clean water.
  • After this, find a position that makes you feel thoroughly comfortable in preparation for any kind of insertion. Squatting worked for me!
  • Now take the plunge. Insert the longest finger into your vagina (preferably horizontally) and keep moving it onward until you can’t go any further. Somewhere in the vicinity should be your cervix. The cervix feels different in texture from the rest of your vagina. So prod and push around a bit. Feel everything in there, and that should help you distinguish your cervix from the rest of the vaginal canal. Once you find that, look for something like a dimple in the approximate middle of it. If yes, then Eureka! You have found it!

[inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”null”]Knowing where my cervix is has helped me figure out many things about my body![/inlinetweet] Instead of merely conjecturing, I now actually know when my period is due, when I am PMSing, and when my body is at its fertile best. If you want to find yours, you now know what to do!

Author: Sharmad1 (1)a Shastry

Sharmada is a reclusive writer and poet from Bengaluru. She is the official period scoop connoisseur for Menstrupedia and works on menstrual and reproductive health. You can drop her an e-mail at sharmadashastry@gmail.com

 Edited by – Divya Rosaline

Illustration by Aditi Gupta.

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