Medical Uni References – Pregnancy Issue and Contraceptive Prevalence Rate

Using the diaphragm

Diaphragms are normally available from women’s health care centers, from physicians, particularly gynecologist and practitioners, and from nurse practitioner, nurse midwives, and other health expects specialized in family planning. Additionally, it’s even possible to have access to the spermicide from the family planning or family hygiene sections in the drugstores.

Types of Diaphragms

When it comes to diaphragms, they are available in different sizes, ranging from 2 to 4 inches (50 to 95 millimeters) in diameter. It’s your upper vagina’s size that determines the size of the diaphragm you require. As diaphragms arrive with different kinds of rims, no matter what is the size of your body you can expect of having accessing to a diaphragm that perfectly fits you. An extremely gentle pressure is exerted by the diaphragm arriving with a flat spring rim and is the best option for those women with firm vaginal muscles, particularly the one who has not yet delivered a child. Moreover, a coil spring rim is quite stronger and has been designed for the more relaxed vaginal muscles. Furthermore, a diaphragm arriving with an arcing spring rim is something that most of the women find quite handy and easier to use as it bends only in two places.

Care and storage of the diaphragm

If you don’t want to invest on your next diaphragm too sooner then you should take a proper care of your diaphragm. After once you use it, wash it with warm water and soap, then rinse and make it dry using a clean towel.

Don’t use strong cleansing options or antiseptics on the diaphragm as they play a vital role in weakening the latex. Store your diaphragm inside the case it arrives with and never expose it to extreme heat or sunlight. Check your diaphragm every month to ensure whether or not it has developed a hole or tow. For this purpose, you can examine its rim. Keep in mind that even an extremely small pinhole gains ability to pass hundreds of sperms through it. You can check the diaphragm also by filling water into it.

If want to figure out whether or not the allergy you’re suffering with is being caused from the spermicide, you better insert spermicide into your vagina without using diaphragm. If you’re not experiencing any sort of allergy even after doing so for a couple of days, then it’s for sure that the spermicide is not the actual cause.

In some cases, irritation from the spermicide even results to vaginal soreness instead of an allergy. You are recommended to consult to your doctor if you ever come across such problem.

Condoms may offer a better solution, and the another solution can be the cervical cap. As it need extremely little spermicide, the cervical cap seems to be an outstanding option for women who are experiencing irritation with the spermicide. However, if you figured out that it’s not the spermicide that is causing you irritation, latex is the next suspect you should consider.

Since all diaphragms at present are made of latex, if you want to stick to an effective barrier approach, it’d be better for you to prefer the non latex options like Tactylon or polyurethane male condoms, or the female condoms.

Health effects

Of course, the diaphragm doesn’t have any serious or negative impact on the body, nor it gets lost inside the vagina or somewhere inside the upper reproductive tract.

Beneficial Effects

When a diaphragm is used with two teaspoons of spermicide, it offers an outstanding protection against the bacteria that tend to cause serious STDs, such as Chlamydia, Trichomoniasis, and Gonorrhea. Additionally, the risk of having cancer of the cervix seems to be extremely low among the women who continuously prefer using a diaphragm when having intercourse for at least five years

Urinary Tract Infections

Some women using diaphragms acquire a slightly increased risk of the urinary tract infections repeatedly. The rim’s pressure on the bladder and urethra is probably a key factor to result this. A smaller sized diaphragm or a diaphragm with a different kind of rim may apply less pressure and remove this possibility. The diaphragm users should wash it thoroughly using water and shop after each use so that they could be secured from any potential infection.

Toxic Shock Syndrome

The symptoms of toxic shock syndrome include muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and sunburn like rash, especially on your feet’s soles and your palms of the hands. If you ever notice these sorts of symptoms, you should contact the doctor immediately. Although this syndrome is quite unusual, it is so serious that there’s no point in overlooking this syndrome.

Allergic Reactions

In some cases, a woman using the diaphragm or her partner seems to have allergy with the spermicide or the latex. Generally, women experience this allergy more compared to men, developing an annoying irritation inside the vagina. The cause may be sensitivity to nonoxynol 9, an active ingredient, or the perfumes that are used in the spermicides of certain brands. You’d get rid off this problem by preferring to use the diaphragm arriving with as nonoxynol 9 or by using an unflavored spermicide.