Tag Archives: vasectomy

Sex Life Story

Safe Contraception Options: Who Should Use Protection

Who should use protection, men or women? It is an interesting question. Sex, contraception options and protection are mutual responsibility. Both men and women should know how to choose the right method. Both of them should think about their own and their partner’s health and well-being. It is not enough if one partner is responsible: both parties should know how to prevent pregnancy. Safe sex is not a matter that you can shrug away, saying that your partner is on the pill and it is not your problem. Contraception pill may not solve sexual problem and not forget about the side effect.

Honesty, Trust, Contraception Options and Your Health

Is your partner honest with you? Does your female partner tell you that she takes birth control pills – and is it true? Probably she has side-thoughts and she thinks it is time to settle down and have a baby, so she has just “forgotten” about her birth control pills. Maybe she is the happy-go-lucky one and she has skipped one or two days, so now both of you are at risk of an unwanted pregnancy. Has your male partner told you that he has undergone vasectomy, so he is perfectly safe for you; but what about sexually transmitted diseases? Would your partner tell you if they had some minor infection? Do you know your partner well? Are you in a serious relationship, based on trust? Are you into one-night stands or short-lived relationships? These questions are not moral issues. They have a lot to do with your health. Never leave protection to your partner! Whatever he or she says, make sure that you do your best to avoid an unwanted pregnancy or an infection. Has he had a vasectomy? Is she on the pill? Great. You should still use protection. Combined contraception options are safe. If he did have a vasectomy, you still can take your birth control pills and ask him to use a condom.

Prevent Pregnancy: Choose the Right Method

While hormonal contraception is unbeatable when it comes to avoiding unwanted pregnancy, do not completely dismiss barrier methods. Condoms protect you from sexually transmitted diseases, and even some kind of cancers like cervical cancer.

Prefer male condoms over female condoms. Male condoms have a lowest failure rate of the barrier methods. Use a condom with spermicide. Never restrict your protection methods to female condoms alone! They have the highest failure rate of all birth control methods (with the exception of coitus interruptus, the withdrawal method). For instance, diaphragms are not reliable when you want to avoid pregnancy. Neither do they protect you from the diseases of the upper genital tract.

The safest way of having sex is when both partners use some kind of protection. For women, combined oral contraceptive pills, implants, combined injections, intrauterine devices are the safest methods, and, of course, the irreversible methods: hysterectomy, tubal ligation, and essure. They should also insist on using a condom. For men, vasectomy and lubricated latex condoms will be the safest way (make sure that you use water-based lubes and avoid oil-based lubes that may damage the condom). They can use plastic wrap when giving oral sex to their partner. Oral sex may seem safe, but it can lead to ugly surprises – for instance, human papilloma virus that can cause serious sexual health issues.

Sex Life Story

What Is Vasectomy?

Many men don’t know what vasectomy is and many have heard about it but don’t know exactly how it works. Some of them think that it is a process for complete removal of the testicles; some think that it is a process that will deny the experience that leads to an erection and orgasm while others think about it as a simple removal of manhood. These assumptions are completely wrong. Vasectomy is a medical intervention that permanently ensures men that they won’t be part of any unwanted pregnancy. It is actually a form of contraception that should be taken only when you are sure that you don’t want children. In many countries this procedure can be performed on patients that are older than 30. The procedure is very simple and it is finished only after a few minutes and the good thing is that there are almost no side effects. The surgeon simply redirects, or gets the vas deferens ligated to be more precise, which stops the sperm from leaving the scrotum. Ejaculation during orgasm is still present just like before the surgery but the sperm now doesn’t contain seed that is essential for reproduction.

When a man starts to think about vasectomy it is a little bit different because first of all examinations are a lot more difficult for men compared to women. Women get used to gynecological examinations after their first sexual intercourse or even before. They are not afraid of the examination itself. When it comes to medical procedures of male genitalia the situation is different. Many men don’t even want to talk about it. It is certainly good to know that not every female contraception (designed just for women) brings only positive effects. Hormonal protection (birth control pills) for example can cause a lot of physical complications like migraine, breast cancer etc. while sterilization or intrauterine devices are much more complicated methods compared to vasectomy. Besides that these methods can cause severe inflammation of the womb, discomfort and bleeding during sex and of course unpleasant feeling for the partner. There are cases with intrauterine implants where a man can feel the implant with his penis. In all these cases it is certainly very important to talk about the various options that are available. Condoms are of course the simplest method.

Another not so well known fact is that vasectomy is a reversible process (in 95% of the cases) which is not the case with female sterilization (irreversible process). Of course before any of these two procedures take place the patient should be completely certain that he or she doesn’t want children. Since it is possible for men to change their mind, doctors can perform a procedure that is called vasovasostomy and procedure that can reconnect the seminal vesicles. However this procedure is not always successful and there is a chance that the patient will remain infertile. The process of vasovasostomy is an expensive and difficult and that’s why patients are advised to think about both vasectomy and vasovasostomy carefully.