By: Nyla Adams
In honor of Sex Week, I wanted to draw importance to preventative actions against pregnancy specifically birth control. Birth control is a method or medicine that is used to prevent pregnancy in women. With the rise of wellness in women, some facts about Birth Control have not been completely true. This article allows women to know the good, the bad, the unexpected and misinformation that has been spread to be aware of.
The Good
The first obvious good thing about Birth control is that it helps prevent pregnancy. Birth control is also able to do this while reducing bleeding and cramps during a menstrual cycle. For some users of birth control, it has reduced acne. Another benefit of birth control is that they are customizable to your needs and to your body. There are several types of birth control such as pills, patches, injections, implantations, condoms, diaphragms and Intrauterine Devices (IUD).
The Bad
Although Birth control is a preventative piece of medicine it still has its negatives. Sadly, nothing is perfect and that includes Birth control. While birth control protects you from pregnancy, it does not protect you from sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. Taking birth control may possibly delay the return of cycles, irregular periods and possible increase in weight. For some people the bad part about birth control, depending on the type, you have to take it everyday and at the same time which can be hard for users.
The Unexpected
Some unexpected things about birth control are reduced risks of certain cancers. Studies show that long time users of birth control have lower risk of developing endometrial, ovarian and colorectal cancers. Another unexpected benefit of birth control is that it can help improve the status of your Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is a common hormone imbalance within women. Using birth control can reduce your symptoms because of the increasing supply of estrogen supply.
Misinformation
Some misinformation that has been spread about birth control is birth control will make you crazy, make you gain a lot of weight and will make your hair fall out. Some myths about birth control methods are that the patch falls off, IUDS tear through your lining and in order to get the IUD you have to already have kids. None of these things are true. It’s important to research the many types of birth control to find out what is best for you. You should speak with a trusted doctor about the methods and side effects of birth control in order to ensure you are taking all preventative methods.