Vaginal oestrogen and single use plastics

[ReallyRatherNerdy]

So I am head over heels for vaginal oestrogen. It's probably not an exaggeration to say it's changed my life. BUT - the applicators!!!! With Vagifem (who the flip made that name up?) you are chucking plastic applicators in the bin every day. I feel like collecting a couple of month's worth of applicators and posting them to the drugs company. With Ovestin you re-use the plastic applicator, but whoever designed it hated peri-menopausal women and decided to design a re-usable vaginal cream applicator that is effectively uncleanable. I haven't yet had the courage to stick it in the dishwasher...

Is there a product out there that won't induce rage in the idiot men(?) that 'designed' these ridiculous applicators?

It doesn’t solve the single use plastic.. but with the ovestin applicator don’t you just pull the plunger out and clean it in two parts?

Might be worth emailing whoever makes Vagifem with your feedback though!!

I don't clean the applicator between uses. It's all going in the same place for the same thing.

But I agree about the plastic waste. I swapped vagifem for the cream for the same reason. Now I'm also using HRT gel in daily foil sachets, plus a pill from a blister pack. It's a wicked waste.

@picklemewalnuts

I don't clean the applicator between uses. It's all going in the same place for the same thing.

OMG are you serious??? Do you change underwear? Same thing same place. Do you wash at all? Just body stuff after all. You seriously stick the applicator up your vagina night after night without washing it? Oh dear God

I've not had any repercussions. It's the same microbiome. Unlike underwear, which is in contact with me for about 16 hours a day, the applicator is there a second. So a year's worth of cream is about 6 minutes of pant wearing. Though in reality it's an applicator a month or so, 30 seconds of pant wearing.

Vagirux is the same stuff but comes with only one applicator for the whole pack. Instead of the one per tablet you get with Vagifem You just wash it.

Brewandhoney yes it comes apart in two pieces, but the cream is all gooped up inside and isn't water soluble.

pickle I like your style! Not sure I'm brave enough.

Have you looked at a vaginal ring? Still plastic but only changed every 12 weeks

Ovestin - warm water to rinse and use the plunger in a wiggle motion to get the cream residue out of the tube. Then use a baby toothbrush to clean the screw ridges 👍

Ah, right, I see you're taking about cream
OP. I have tablets which come with a single or multiple applicators, depending on the brand.

If I was taking it apart and washing it every time I used it I'd never use it, and that really would be uncomfortable. I fall into bed exhausted.

@ReallyRatherNerdy I don't find it hard to wash the applicator. I run it under hot water and open and close the plunger a few times, get any left over cream out with my hands, and then dry it. If there is a tiny bit of cream left at the end, just use a tissue or something similar to clean it out.

I assumed the applicator was recyclable! It is appallingly bad for the planet.

@Toomanyscentedcandles

I assumed the applicator was recyclable! It is appallingly bad for the planet.

@ReallyRatherNerdy Actually...why can't you recycle the plastic applicator? Certainly where I live, all hard plastic goes into the recycling bin. That would include a plastic applicator and certainly the one in the Ovestin pack.

I put my Vagifem applicators in the recycling.
My last prescription came as the reusable applicator and blister pack of pessaries and I'm finding them really difficult to use as my hands are arthritic.
Hated the cream that I had before, felt constantly damp.
I used to plunge the syringe in and out of some soapy water to clean it.

@thedevilinablackdress

Vagirux is the same stuff but comes with only one applicator for the whole pack. Instead of the one per tablet you get with Vagifem You just wash it.

My pharmacist changed from Vagifem to Vagirux because she was concerned about plastic waste. To be honest, I'm not sure why they include an applicator at all, I use my (clean!) finger rather than faffing around washing the applicator.

Sorry, crossed posts with Cherrytree. Apologies that I hadn't considered problems with inserting using a finger. Perhaps the applicator could be provided separately, as required, and not as a default.

blackdress you star! Just looked up Vagirux and it's the same thing as Vagifem just more environmentally friendly. I'll ask for that next time I speak to the GP.

I do recycle them, but recycling plastic is worse for the planet than not using it at all. It still takes energy and resources. As someone said upthread, I already feel bad about all the blister packs (oh for the old days of actual pills in re-fillable bottles).

However, inspired by this thread I just found out you CAN recycle blister packs... www.terracycle.com/en-GB/brigades/medicine-packet-uk Though my nearest superdrug collection point is quite a way away, I will be collecting mine and cycling them over on my newly oestrogen-enhanced undercarriage!

Awesome! And I will find out where I can recycle blister packs near me.