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!

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