Sponges can be pushed high into the vagina just before you have a client, and removed afterwards.

Looked after carefully, they are a safe, clean, convenient way of, hiding your period from clients so you can keep working.

Choose a natural sea sponge, as they absorb more than synthetic ones. They squeeze down smaller too.. which means your clients are less likely to feel them. if it is large, ordinary scissor-, will cut it down easily. I find that about twice the thickness of a tampon is about right. Rinse it thoroughly, as it might have irritating grains of sand in it, then squeeze it as dry as possible. Insert it as you would a non-applicator tampon.

Then use mu& more KY or other lubricant than usual, as the sponge tends to absorb that as well, leaving you dryer. Never work dry, and don't be shy to stop and put more KY if you start to get dry.

DRYNESS BREAKS CONDOMS!
Say things like "sex turns me on so much more when it's really slippery' and since most men want to believe that they're turning you on they accept this quite happily. Fishing it out afterwards can be tricky until you get used to it.

A couple of my friends have gone rushing off to the Sexual Health Service because they couldn't get it out! Either squatting down, or bending with one foot on the edge of the bath or loo seems to work well. Wash your hands, then feel up with one hand until you can touch the sponge.

Sometimes if the client was large, the sponge will be lodged up behind your cervix. Do not panic - there is nowhere else it can go! Use your forefinger and middle finger to grip it in a scissors action, and push down as though you are straining to go to the toilet. Pull it out , rinse thoroughly, squeeze as dry as possible, and reinsert.

At times when you would go through a super tampon in 3-4 hours, you will only get an hour out of your sponge, so rinse regularly. Rinse more often if you have a cold or hay fever - when you sneeze, your vagina muscles are likely to contract, and if your sponge is nearly full it will leak. I rinse mine out very thoroughly at the end of my shif and leave it in a weak Dettol solution overnight, At the end of my period I soak it for few minutes in a mild bleach solution, then squeeze it and leave it dry in a jar wit. no lid in the bathroom cupboard.

Some ladies prefer to get a new sponge for each shift, but personally I don't consider it necessary as long as it is cleaned thoroughly. Cleaning it in white vinegar seems to make it last the longest, but never use malt vinegar as the sugar in it encourages thrush to grow, I prefer bleach, because I know it kills all the bad bugs, and I suspect the dettol wasn't killing thrush earlier but bleached sponges fall to bits. after 2-3 months.

Chemists and some massage parlour operators can sell you a small sponge for $3-5. The really good news, if you're lucky enough to live near a Prostitutes Collective office, is that they sell a packet of 5 for $5.

Debra

August 1993 SIREN