Question: What is Coitus Interruptus

"My partner and I mostly use the withdrawal method for birth control. When I go to the doctor this is never mentioned as a form of birth control, and I never ask. It's worked for us so far, but does it always work?"

Answer:

Coitus interruptus is a Latin term meaning interrupted intercourse. It is the clinical term for the withdrawal method of contraception, which is when a male withdraws his penis from his female partner prior to ejaculating. It is sometimes referred to as "being careful".

It is true that doctors, nurses, and sexual health educators have not, in the past, talked much about withdrawal method. It is not a very effective form of birth control, and it does not protect against any STDs, so the inclination has been to focus on better, more effective types of contraception and STD prevention. However, it is likely that withdrawal is actually the most commonly used form of birth control, and for that reason sexual health professionals have begun, slowly, to talk about it more.

Does it work? It does work, some of the time. The generally regarded failure rate for withdrawal is 19 percent, meaning if 100 women used withdrawal as their only method of birth control for one year, 19 of them would get pregnant. Keep in mind though that statistics on withdrawal are only as good as the method and people who report them.

The two main disadvantages to withdrawal are that it does not protect from STDs, including HIV, and the failure rate is very high compared to other methods. One of the reasons for this is that prior to ejaculating, a small amount of pre-ejaculate (also called pre-cum) will come out of the penis. There is sperm in pre-ejaculate, and it is possible that this could cause a pregnancy.

There is no question that withdrawal is not a very good form of birth control, and it is not safer sex at all. But it might be considered better than nothing.

Question: Are Orgasms Good for Health?

Answer:

In their recent book The Science of Orgasm, researchers Komisaruk, Beyer-Flores, and Whipple survey the most recent research on orgasm and describe a variety of studies that point to the positive effects of orgasm in an attempt to answer the question; are orgasms good for your health. While these studies are in most cases the only or the first few studies to consider the question, they point to the possibility that orgasm effects go beyond a brief euphoric feeling, and are a good argument for the relationship between sexual health and overall health. Examples of research into health and orgasm include:

• A UK study which looked at the relationship between having frequent orgasms (two or more per week) and mortality in men. At a ten year follow up the researcher found that men who had frequent orgasms had a significantly lower risk of death than men who did not have frequent orgasms.

• Several studies have hypothesized that hormones released during arousal and orgasm, specifically oxytocin and DHEA, may also have protective effects against cancer and heart disease.

• Research has also pointed to the sedative and relaxing effect of oxytocin and other endorphins released during orgasm, which may explain why people use masturbation as a way to get to sleep, and why sex is a great way to deal with stress.

• There have been two studies which have found a connection between men who ejaculate regularly and a reduced incidence of prostate cancer.

• While orgasms can for some people trigger migraine headaches, at least one study has also found that orgasms can relieve migraine headaches.

It’s also worth pointing out that orgasm and sex play in general can be a wonderful form of exercise. Frequent sex and orgasms can bring with it the benefit of other good cardio workouts.

Source:
Komisaruk, B.R., Beyer-Flores, C., & Whipple, B. The Science of Orgasm Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.