From My Frontal Lobe

Today’s Medical Lesson - Withdrawal

So today I’m reviewing Gynecologic and Breast Disorders/Topics.

Now reviewing contraception. It’s been a while since I have had to deal with them. Also, when you spend time at a VA hospital, you really don’t have much need to know these things.

When I did my OB/GYN rotation, though, they gave every medical student a pocket book on contraception that listed the available kinds along with their risks and effectiveness.

Anyhow…. on to today’s lesson.

Or maybe it is really more of a factoid.

Did you know that the “Withdrawal” method for contraception has an ideal efficacy rate of 96%? Compare this to oral contraceptives that have an ideal efficacy of 98-99% (depending on the formulation). The problem is that typical efficacy is always lower than ideal. For instance, oral contraceptive pills have a typical efficacy of 92%.

As for the withdrawal method, the typical effectiveness comes in at about 73%.

Listed associated side effects include “decreased pleasure” and “difficult to conduct in effective manner.”

You’re welcome. Now be safe, everyone.