Injectable Birth Control Tools
taken for 21 days the there is a 7 day break in the cycle allowing for menstruation. The drawbacks of the pill are that they must be taken at the same time every day otherwise the effectiveness will decrease. The advantages of this method would be its ease of accessibility.
The pill aside, there are also many hormonal birth control alternatives. These include the ring, shot, patch etc. These methods work in a very similar fashion by releasing either estrogen or progestin into the bloodstream. These alternatives are sometimes preferred as they need not to be taken daily.
Contraceptive patch
The contraceptive patch contains “…the same hormones as the combined pill…” (NHS Choices, 2013), it works by releasing hormones into the bloodstream. The …show more content…
The injection contains medroxyprogesterone, a progestin. This prevents pregnancy by preventing ovulation and thickening the mucus layer on the cervical lining. The patient will receive the injections every 3 months making it a more convenient procedure. However prolonged use can result in “temporary loss of bone density” (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2012). Injectable birth control has the benefit of supposedly reducing chances of ectopic pregnancies (University of Michigan, 2014) which are fatal. The downside is constant use can result in irreversible loss of bone density (University of Michigan, …show more content…
However, most of the methods have side effects. Ranging from just breast tenderness to fatal conditions such as stroke and breast cancer. This means many other factors must be taken into consideration before opting for a particular hormonal method. These include age, lifestyle, medical history, somatotype and socio-economic well-being. These factors have an even greater important for hormonal methods containing oestrogen. This is since oestrogen is thought to increase the risk of blood clots and blood pressure. This can make it quite dangerous for some individuals to use. On the other hand, the progestin only methods can be used by a much wider array of individuals offering a much safer alternative. They can be used by women that breast feed, are smokers over age of 35, have high blood pressure etc. Again, these factors must be accounted for as they will affect the type of contraception used. Resultantly affecting the side-affects experienced for e.g. increased chance of blood clots, increased blood pressure, diabetes, depression and in some cases even cause irreversible decrease in bone
The pill aside, there are also many hormonal birth control alternatives. These include the ring, shot, patch etc. These methods work in a very similar fashion by releasing either estrogen or progestin into the bloodstream. These alternatives are sometimes preferred as they need not to be taken daily.
Contraceptive patch
The contraceptive patch contains “…the same hormones as the combined pill…” (NHS Choices, 2013), it works by releasing hormones into the bloodstream. The …show more content…
The injection contains medroxyprogesterone, a progestin. This prevents pregnancy by preventing ovulation and thickening the mucus layer on the cervical lining. The patient will receive the injections every 3 months making it a more convenient procedure. However prolonged use can result in “temporary loss of bone density” (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2012). Injectable birth control has the benefit of supposedly reducing chances of ectopic pregnancies (University of Michigan, 2014) which are fatal. The downside is constant use can result in irreversible loss of bone density (University of Michigan, …show more content…
However, most of the methods have side effects. Ranging from just breast tenderness to fatal conditions such as stroke and breast cancer. This means many other factors must be taken into consideration before opting for a particular hormonal method. These include age, lifestyle, medical history, somatotype and socio-economic well-being. These factors have an even greater important for hormonal methods containing oestrogen. This is since oestrogen is thought to increase the risk of blood clots and blood pressure. This can make it quite dangerous for some individuals to use. On the other hand, the progestin only methods can be used by a much wider array of individuals offering a much safer alternative. They can be used by women that breast feed, are smokers over age of 35, have high blood pressure etc. Again, these factors must be accounted for as they will affect the type of contraception used. Resultantly affecting the side-affects experienced for e.g. increased chance of blood clots, increased blood pressure, diabetes, depression and in some cases even cause irreversible decrease in bone