Invention solves one of sex’s ickiest problems
Periods. No one particularly likes them. For women, they are annoying at best, painful at worst and for men, they can be slightly confusing.
They also mean that for one, sometimes awkward, week a month, we all have to navigate the sometimes uncomfortable issue of sex during your period.
Enter (slight pun intended) Flex, a single use disposable menstrual product. It not only offers an alternative to tampons or pads but means that you can now have sex during your period without any mess or fuss. Made of medical-grade polymer, Flex does not sit just inside the vagina, a la a tampon or menstrual cup. Rather, it fits far higher up in the vagina, covering the cervix, therefore stopping any fluids entering the vaginal canal. It can be worn for up to 12-hours, is BPA-free, and reportedly won’t cause Toxic Shock Syndrome.
The brainchild of Lauren Schulte, she started researching alternatives after getting sick of tampons. She was horrified that the invention millions of us turn to monthly was actually invented in the 1930s.
“When I learned that,” Schulte has said, “I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to making something better for women.”
After two years of research and prototypes, Flex is now ready. More than 20,000 people have already signed up to trial Flex, 25% of which are reportedly from men, and pre-orders will open soon. While there are no plans to ship to Australia, yet, Flex is looking at expanding their offering globally.
“We’ve built a product that allows couples to increase their opportunity to have sex by 23 percent,” Schulte explained in a pitch to investors. “ The great tragedy of people avoiding sex on their period is that this is really the time when women want it most.”