After 11 years, the contraceptive sponge finally makes it way back onto the shelf this summer. The sponge comes as an alternative to the condom and is almost as effective in normal use.
Women like it because it’s female controlled (no more – “Oops, I forgot the condom!)… guys like it because they don’t have to worry about condoms. Of course, the sponge is only good preventing pregnancy, not for the protection from sexually transmitted diseases.
According to Wyeth Pharmaceutical, the sponge will be available in June, and is about as effective as other female-controlled barrier methods, such as the female condom, or the diaphragm… but it won’t be as messy, or hard to insert. It doesn’t require and special jellies and once in, it’s impossible to detect…
Under normal usage, it has a failure rate of 16%, compared to 15% for condoms. Under “perfect use” situations, the sponge has a 9% failure rate, compared to 2% for condoms.
Compare that to some other forms of protection, such as the newer IUD, which boasts a 0.6% failure rate under ideal conditions (0.8% under normal conditions)… or the pill which has a 0.3% failure rate under ideal conditions (8% under typical use conditions)….
I would probably tend to want to use it in conjunction with a condom to not only prevent STD’s, but also pregnancy. Always better to be double safe than pregnant when you don’t want to be.
Ladies, you can start picking them up next month… they’ll cost about $10 for a three pack of single use sponges.
Enjoy!
29/05/2005 at 12:38 pm Permalink
hi! came via michele’s meet ‘n’ greet!
your post reminded me of pamphlets i used to read in my dad’s clinic. he was an ob-gyn so i had a lot of access to this info. even played with some condoms! LOL!!
29/05/2005 at 1:40 pm Permalink
Did you ever see that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine gets worked up over a shortage of sponges?
Why did they take these things off the market to begin with?
Here via michele’s meet&greet. You’ve got an interesting site so I might poke around a bit, if that’s OK with you.
29/05/2005 at 2:00 pm Permalink
That’s fine with me…
I did see the Seinfeld episode in question… Remember, she ranked men based on “Spongeworthiness?”
The original manufacturer had a contamination problem in their factory and they were forced to recall thousands of them. Wyeth bought out the previous manufacturer and decided rather than clean up the factory where the sponge was produced, they discontinued it. They have since reengineered the sponge and this is supposed to be a new and improved sponge. We shall see.
29/05/2005 at 2:06 pm Permalink
Thanking God I don’t have to worry about birth control anymore…LOL.
29/05/2005 at 6:15 pm Permalink
Bisch, you may not eat grits or pork rinds (I wouldn’t eat rinds if you paid me) BUT, if you eat Bo’s biscuits with honey, and McD’s sausage, egg and cheese - you ARE Southern!!
My doctor once said that sausage and egg biscuits are like adding insult to injury - healthwise. Wonder what he’d think about adding cheese?
29/05/2005 at 10:19 pm Permalink
I’m with Kenju . . .Glad I don’t have to do the birth control thing anymore!
Michele sent me!
29/05/2005 at 10:32 pm Permalink
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I refuse to be southern. I am a Yankee, dammit!
BTW - Birth Control is a good thing… I’m all for it. No little “Bisch”’s running around, thankyouverymuch.
29/05/2005 at 10:37 pm Permalink
So you mean that I can finally market the contraceptive sponge I came up with?
I’m going to call it absorbing junior.
Here via Michelle… Howdy!
29/05/2005 at 11:43 pm Permalink
More contraceptive options is a Very Good Thing.
Hi from Michele’s M&G!
30/05/2005 at 12:40 am Permalink
Sooooooo glad BC is no longer an issue! And I’m not sure I’d want to mess with a sponge anyway…
Here via Michele’s, woulda gotten here tonight regardless…
30/05/2005 at 9:50 am Permalink
Your mention of “single use” conjured up some awful “mulitple use” images. Thanks for that!?!?!?!
Michele sent me!
01/06/2005 at 10:49 am Permalink
Kyle,
You are southern. Face it. Just because you live north of Atlanta doesn’t make you a yankee.
I mean, you can pronounce the R in chowder.
And you drink coke, not pop.
Your favorite sport is football, not basketball.
Give it up, man!