Contraception: ring instead of pill?
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Forget the pill! This happens to almost every woman once - despite stork stickers on the bathroom mirror or electronic memory calls. For several years there has been a new way to prevent it: a vaginal ring that continuously releases the hormones etonogestrel (a progestin) and ethinylestradiol (an estrogen). Thus, the new hormone ring prevents ovulation as reliable as the pill: to 99 percent, as shown by tests with 2300 women. Here, the ring comes out with much lower hormone doses, because the active ingredient goes directly into the blood via the mucous membranes.
This is how the ring works
The thin plastic ring (three rings cost about 40 euros) is very flexible and has about five inches in diameter. Squeezed, he lets himself be inserted like a tampon in the vagina. Because the ring is hormonal and does not act as a barrier barrier, you do not need to worry about getting fit. Even removing it three weeks later is easy: hook the index finger into the ring and pull. Then, as with the pill, after about three days, a so-called withdrawal bleeding. If you forget to remove the ring punctually, it will not be tragic. The contraceptive effect lasts for at least four weeks. At the end of the bleeding (exactly one week after removal) a new ring must be inserted. But then you should not forget that.
advantages
The hormone ring has advantages especially for women, where not every day is the same: Who works, for example, in shift work, travels a lot or stays more often with the friend, rather forget to take the pill. Or think about swallowing them - but the pills are lying far away in the other apartment.
side effects
Like almost every drug, the hormone ring has side effects: About five percent of women had problems with vaginal irritation or vaginal discharge, some of them complained of headache and nausea, as with the pill. In addition, about every seventh woman and every third man felt a foreign body during sex. If that bothers you, the ring can easily be taken out before you sleep with each other. For three hours the safety is completely preserved.
Women who have frequently changing partners need a condom in addition to the ring to protect against AIDS or hepatitis viruses. In addition, no one should rely on the hormone ring with a pronounced uterine depression: He could slip out unnoticed. And finally, the new hormonal contraceptive is not good for smokers over 30, women with liver disease or a strong tendency to thrombosis - but they are better not to take the pill.
