Is the condom 100% safe?
MYTHS AND TRUTHS ABOUT THE CONDOM
Condoms
- Is the condom totally safe? The answer is no. No method is 100% safe to prevent diseases or pregnancies.
- The United Nations program on HIV / AIDS, UNAIDS, prefers to speak of "safer sex" rather than "safe sex".
- That said, for the World Health Organization (WHO) the male latex condom is the safest and most efficient available technology to reduce the transmission of AIDS and other diseases during sexual intercourse.
- With regard to contraception, according to UNAIDS sources explained to the BBC World, condoms are effective in 98% of cases if they are used correctly. That means that if they choose this method, two women out of every 100 will get pregnant.
- Although they have existed for a long time - the first ones date back to the 13th century BC - to prevent pregnancies and diseases such as syphilis, they have received more attention since the appearance of the AIDS pandemic.
Trojan Condoms Double Ecstasy Lubricated
Condom in your pocket
- Abstinence is the safest way to prevent the transmission of sexual diseases. That is, not having vaginal, anal or oral sex.
- Other techniques recommended by WHO to prevent them are to have a stable and faithful partner, reduce the number of sexual partners, delay the age at which they begin to have sex, have sex without penetration and use condoms correctly.
- The WHO also cites male circumcision as a strategy to reduce the risk of HIV transmission.
Condom
- According to UNAIDS, while scientists continue to look for new preventive technologies such as the AIDS vaccine and microbicides, condoms will continue to be the key prevention tool for many years to come.
- Despite all the available information, there are still many myths and misperceptions about the condom that generate misuse of them.
- The fear of breakage is usually present. And is that the wrong use of the condom can cause it to break or slip. In this way the protection decreases.
- According to the WHO, condoms are broken in 2% of cases. This is avoided by using them correctly.
Couple with condom
- And what does it mean to "use them correctly"?
- Always place them before penetration, when the penis is erect, and remove the penis after ejaculation, before it returns to the resting size, which can cause the condom to remain inside the body.
- To put them, you have to take them by the tip, to take out the air, and then slide them into the erect penis.
- The Argentine sexologist Juan Carlos Kusnetzoff, who attends to many young people and adolescents, explained to BBC Mundo that many of them use it badly.
- That is, they initiate intercourse without a condom and place it only for ejaculation, ignoring that before ejaculating the penis releases a pre-ejaculatory fluid that contains active sperm and can cause pregnancy, in addition to the transmission of diseases.
Condom envelope
- Always use condoms that are not expired. That is, not more than five years have passed after the date of manufacture.
- Nor should they be used if they have been subjected to high temperatures or if they present changes in color or texture. They should be stored in dry places, in low light and at room temperature.
- Care must be taken when opening them, as nails or sharp objects can break them.
- Many say that with a condom they can not feel pleasure. Nowadays there are condoms of infinite shapes, colors and even flavors that reduce discomfort.
Condoms
- So that they do not break, it is important that there is enough lubrication, either natural or in charge of special lubricants.
- In case of a break, the WHO advises taking an emergency contraceptive (the morning after pill).
- If this is not possible, recommend immediately applying a spermicide - other than nonoxynol-9 - to the vagina.
Condom and the red AIDS ribbon
- The condom protects against sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS, gonorrhea and chlamydia.
- However, it is much less effective against infections caused by organisms that live in inflamed or ulcerated lesions of the genital mucous membranes, such as syphilis, herpes and HPV or human papilloma virus, also called genital warts.
- That is why you should avoid contact with people who have injuries in the genital area until they perform the corresponding treatment and the injuries are cured.
Quality test of condoms
- A common myth is that condoms have tiny holes through which viruses pass, including HIV.
- UNAIDS strongly denies that myth.
- Both latex condoms - the most common material - and polyurethane or synthetic materials are a completely impermeable barrier method to protect against the AIDS virus. The same goes for female condoms.
- Condoms pass international quality controls that ensure their reliability.
- There are also condoms made with lambskin, which are not safe and should not be used.
- Another popular belief is that using two overlapping condoms (either two men together or one male man and one female woman) increases protection. This is false, since latex friction can cause breakage.
Condom
- Some conspiracy theories point out that AIDS is a plan of rich countries to reduce the populations of the poor and that condoms are a functional tool to that genocide.
- There is also the version that, for that purpose, HIV is purposely placed on condoms.
- The WHO points out that these theories have no real support. There is no evidence that this conspiracy exists or any motivation for someone to place a virus on condoms.
- He also emphasizes that the virus does not survive outside the human body, therefore it would be impossible to infect condoms.
Female condom
- Women often do not have access to condoms. Sometimes they can not negotiate condom use either, since in many cultural contexts men refuse to use them.
- Therefore, the female condom - like the one seen in the photo - is an option recommended by the WHO for those situations in which the woman can not get the partner to wear a condom.
- It also works in cases where the man is allergic to latex.
- For many, the female condom is something unknown. The WHO suggests practicing before using it in a relationship. Women should try to put it on and remove it before using it for the first time.
- Female condoms have a 95% effectiveness. That is, five out of every 100 women become pregnant.