A little talked-about male pre-sexual ritual goes something like this: It's a Saturday night. This guy is meeting with his best girl, down at the River Bottom Jamboree at nine in the evening. But, before deciding on what to wear, the guy wants to make sure that his sperm count is as low as it can be, just in case they decide to go and ?do the deed.? So he immerses himself from the waist down in hot water, eyeing a thermometer as the mercury bubbles to around 116 degrees Fahrenheit. He does this in the hopes of temporarily stopping sperm production. Forty-five excruciating minutes later, he rises up out of the tub, rosy cheeked and temporarily infertile, staving off fatherhood for another night.
Men have already engaged in this simple ritual since the late 5th Century B.C. The Greek physician Hippocrates wrote about the supposed effectiveness of applying heat to the male's genitals to lower male fertility. To this day, many men still try to use this method as a non-medical male birth control method.
Modern science and medicine have made possible the invention of various birth control methods and devices including cervical caps, diaphragms, patches, pills, and sponges. Many of these, however, have been designed for use by women. The hot bath option excluded, men only have two realistic options for preventing unwanted pregnancies. The most popular method is the use of a prophylactic condom. It is relatively convenient since it does not involve the use of a drug. While it helps shield a person from certain sexually transmitted diseases, it is by no means a fail-safe product. Even the condom can accidentally break and cause unwanted pregnancy. But for its simplicity of use and affordability, the condom will continue to be the birth control of choice for most men. Vasectomy is also a choice that is available but is not too popular due to its permanent sterilizing effects and the surgery involved which scares not a few men. Recently, some men in the U.S. began to use an alternative which makes use of hormones that affects a man's testosterone levels. Testosterone levels in the blood determine how much sperm a man will produce. In a healthy male, the testes receives hormonal signals from the pituitary gland which, in turn, causes an increase in sperm production. At certain levels, testosterone causes the pituitary gland to turn off its signal to the testes which causes the sperm count to drop. The result of this cycle is a steady, continuous level of sperm for the man. A hormonal male contraceptive, or a male birth control would work by artificially raising the level of testosterone in the blood, thereby tricking the pituitary gland into thinking that plenty of sperm has been made, causing it to turn off the testes? sperm production. As a result, the number of sperm in the body drops, and the chances of an egg being fertilized after sex are further reduced. With this, there is a cue for researchers on how to further develop a safe male birth control pill. Hormonal male birth control is still being studied for its long-term safety and effectiveness.
The issue of birth control is one that ought to be taken seriously by both male and female sides of the reproduction equation. However, leaning back a little and using an objective mind --- one can see that there is a gap in the solution. Most of the reversible options for contraception, both for blocking the flow of bodily fluids and via pharmaceutical means, are made for use on and by the female half of the equation. Where, one might be inclined to ask, are the male birth control options? Well, aside from the condom and vasectomy (the two most prominently known choices), there's very little in the way of male birth control.
That doesn't mean there isn't a lot going on in the field of research to find an effective, reversible form of male birth control. There are studies being conducted that go into the various arenas that female pharmaceutical contraception options have gone. This includes potential avenues such as altering the hormonal balance of the male, chemically inhibiting the release of sperm from the testes, and other theories that reflect birth control tactics used for females. However, at the moment, any true male birth control equivalent to ?the pill? women use is elusive, with the prospects being grim and the pickings slim.
Researchers that are going into this field realize that males should share more of the responsibility in preventing unwanted pregnancies. The main male birth control options are both generally effective, but both pose a set of problems. First, condoms are not entirely effective, with only an estimated effectiveness of 80% at any given time. Another problem is that some cultures put negative implications on condom use, such that it is seen as a social and cultural taboo in some countries. Vasectomies, which can be even less acceptable than condoms in some cultures, are generally irreversible. This can be a problem for men who decide to later have children. The potential side effects to one's libido have also been brought to light in the past.
A male version of the ?pill? is in the works, but it is likely a long way off from being commercially viable. Most research groups have stated that they have not gotten around to truly testing their current products on anything but mice. Reports are that most of them are waiting until they can draw up more consistent results before moving on to the next stage of the research. At the moment, the results are effective in preventing the release of the sperm cells in much the same way birth control pills are effective in preventing the egg cell from being released. However, there are still some issues to be addressed, such as the side effects.
Some have theorized that what makes it so difficult for science to develop male birth control options similar to ?the pill? lies somewhere in the physiology and biochemistry of the male reproductive system. Some of the hormonal triggers that form the basis of the female pill's functions are not found in the male system, and if they are, they aren't in enough quantities. Understandably, introducing female hormones is a touchy subject for the typical male and any product that does this is not likely to be put to widespread use.
Both Cristel Lumabas & Harvey D. Ong are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Cristel Lumabas has sinced written about articles on various topics from Birth Control, Health and Birth Control. is your pharmacy online that provides the best health products. Providing you with the cheapest medications online.. Cristel Lumabas's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.
Harvey D. Ong has sinced written about articles on various topics from Gardening, Health and Birth Control. Harvey Ong is a part-time writer and a part-time researcher. He is currently self-studying various Far Eastern languages and is an avid fiction reader. He is currently writing articles oriented towards consumers of pharmaceutical products,but has written. Harvey D. Ong's top article generates over 60500 views. to your Favourites.