Posts tagged as:

contraception

And the most popular form of contraception is…

by Gabrielle Lichterman on June 1, 2010

…condoms if you’re new to sex; the oral hormone contraceptive pill if you’re under 30, and female sterilization (tubal ligation or tubal implants) if you’re over 30. That’s the news from a survey of over 7,300 women between 2006 and 2008 as part of a recent report sponsored by the National Center for Health Statistics.

If you’re looking for a hormone-free contraceptive, but don’t want to take the drastic step of having your tubes tied, I recommend asking your doctor about the ParaGard IUD. This soft, plastic T-shaped device that’s wrapped in copper is inserted into your uterus in your doctor’s office and blocks sperm from fertilizing your egg for up to 12 years. Once you want to get pregnant, you simply take it out and can start trying right away.

Side effects of the ParaGard might include heavier menstrual flow and cramps. You may also experience discomfort during insertion and/or removal of the device. The upside? Because there are no hormones in ParaGard, you don’t have to suffer from the emotional rollercoaster, weight gain, loss of libido, higher risk of heart attack and stroke and other side effects normally associated with the oral contraceptive pill.

I don’t get paid to endorse ParaGard, I’m not affiliated with the company and I don’t use the device (I tied my tubes before ParaGard was made available). I just think there’s not enough mention of a hormone-free contraceptive alternative that’s proven to be just as effective as the pill at thwarting pregnancy, but doesn’t have the pill’s negative side effects.

Hormone contraceptives up your risk of sexual problems

by Gabrielle Lichterman on May 6, 2010

For decades, women have complained that their hormone contraception was interfering with their sex life, lowering their libido, making it difficult to achieve orgasm or causing dryness or pain during intercourse. And, for decades, many doctors dismissed those concerns.

Now a study of over 1,000 women published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals these complaints were right. According to the results, women taking hormone contraceptives in any form (pill, patch, etc.) are at the highest risk of female sexual dysfunction (FSD), suggesting that the synthetic hormones block your body’s natural sexual response.

Now that doesn’t mean you should go without contraception if you don’t want to conceive. In fact, women using non-hormonal birth control methods (such as condoms and a non-hormonal IUD) were at lowest risk for FSD—more than women not using any contraception at all. The likely reason is that the fear of getting pregnant during unprotected sex leads to stress that understandably makes it difficult to enjoy the intimacy.

I’ll admit that I’m a longtime fan of non-hormonal contraception methods since they allow you the freedom of safe sex without having to put chemicals into your body. I recommend using condoms with spermicide lubricant for short-term partners and the non-hormonal IUD ParaGard for long-term, monogomous relationships. Avoid the Sponge unless you’re using it as a backup method for condoms since it has a much lower effectiveness rate, about 84% to 89%, which is way too low for my liking. And, unless you’re extremely diligent and don’t mind skipping sex on the days in your cycle when soaring testosterone makes it most enjoyable, I’d avoid the rhythm method as well.

[photo: Katie Tegtmeyer]