Intestinal Gas Help reduce problems due to excessive intestinal gas in children and adults

What is Intestinal Gas?
During the process of digestion, food is broken down into molecules that the body can use to fuel itself. However, sometimes food does not break down completely and food remnants make its way into the large intestine in a semi-digestive state where it then ferments.

Billions of hungry bacteria (the natural "intestinal fauna") that we all have in our large intestine then produce a variety of gases such as methane, hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide as by-products of this fermentation process. These vapors are known as intestinal gasses, and can cause stomach bloating until they leave the body as flatulence through the anus.

Symptoms of Intestinal Gas
Symptoms of intestinal gas may include:

Abdominal, intestinal or stomach pain & cramping
Chest pain
Bloating
Shortness of breath

What Causes Intestinal Gas?
The causes of intestinal gas vary, and may include:

Carbonated beverages (e.g. beer and soda)
Pregnancy
High altitudes
Flying
Menstrual cycle
Anorexia
Anxiety
Chemotherapy
Dehydration
High fiber foods
Intestinal Gas in Children

Children can be very sensitive to their environments, which can lead to distress if overstimulation occurs, leading to intestinal disturbances, bloating and gas. Try to minimize your baby or child’s activity levels and see if the problem is alleviated – for example, limit visitors, taking your child along on errands, and eliminate background noise like a T.V. or radio, which can disrupt comfort levels.

Foods for Intestinal Gas Relief
As intestinal gas may result from the breakdown of certain foods, it is helpful to know which are likely to produce more sensitivity and limit consumption. In addition, eating or drinking any food too rapidly can lead to swallowing excessive air, which can lead to gas.

Lactose, a natural sugar found in dairy products, is a very common cause of intestinal gas. Limit intake of milk, cheese, dressings, ice cream, and other dairy to see if the condition improves. Many packaged foods may also contain lactose, so check ingredient labels on breads and cereals.
Raffinose is a complex sugar that is known to produce gas, with beans containing a very high amount. Other foods with raffinose include cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, and whole grains.
Fructose, a simple sugar, is also a common contributor to gas, so limit onions, artichokes, pears, and wheat.
Avoid artificial sweeteners like sorbitol, found in dietetic foods, sugar free soda and gum. Sorbitol is also naturally present in certain fruits like apples, peaches and prunes.
Many carbohydrates and starches, such as potatoes, noodles, and breads contribute to gas when they are digested.

Foods high in soluble fiber may also cause gas, such as oat bran, beans, barley, nuts, seeds, lentils.
Tips on How to Clear Intestinal Gas
Limit Fizz. Soda drinks can be your worst enemy, as they can augment your intestinal gas. Also avoid beer. If you do drink a beverage like beer, pour it in a glass first to let some of the fizz out.
Drink different kinds of herbal teas. Try a cup of tea from ginger, mint, cinnamon, or chamomile tea, and add a little sugar, or honey.
Hydrate. Drink plenty of water and clear soups (broths without cabbage or beans).
Try not to swallow air - you can do this by eating slowly and chewing properly. Avoiding chewing gum and hard candy - and quit smoking in a natural manner.
Foods or Foe? Foods that cause problems are usually those high in fiber or carbohydrates, which are hard to digest. Some of the culprits include: beans, peas, whole grains, cabbage, grapes, plums, raisins, corn, onions, soft drinks, red wine, beer and foods containing milk or wheat (for people who are intolerant to them).

To help promote digestion, soothe gastric upset, and even stimulate bowel movements, try abdominal massage, which, can help all of the above conditions affected by intestinal gas.

Source: Native R.

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Epilepsy- Information on controlling epileptic pain and seizures and help with relieving all types of epilepsy

What is Epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a relatively common neurological disorder that causes people to have recurrent seizures. Seizures occur when there is abnormal electrical activity within the brain, triggered by nerve cells or neurons in the brain sending out the wrong signals. Many people are not clear on the difference between seizures and epilepsy.

Seizures (also known as fits or convulsions) are a symptom of epilepsy where as Epilepsy is a neurological disorder in which the brain is predisposed to sudden alterations in electrical activity, triggering a seizure. The occurrence of one seizure does not necessarily mean you have epilepsy.

If the seizure was the result of a once off head injury for example then it may never occur again and the person will not be diagnosed as having epilepsy. However all first time seizures require a thorough medical evaluation to determine the cause and the probability of it developing into epilepsy or not.

How do you recognize a Seizure?

As mentioned a seizure happens when there is brief surge of electrical activity in a part or all of the brain. They can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes and can have many different symptoms ranging from an obvious convulsion and loss of consciousness to minor twitching movements of a small part of the body or even just blank staring.

Depending on the area of the brain involved and the symptoms displayed seizures are divided into a number of different classes.

The first major classification depends on whether the abnormal activity in the brain is in one area only, causing partial or focal seizures, or whether it involves the whole brain causing a generalized seizure.

These are the main types of seizures and how you can recognize them:

Partial Seizures:
Simple partial seizures – you may experience alterations in emotions or the way things look, feel, taste or smell without any loss of consciousness

Complex partial seizures – your level of consciousness or awareness is altered, together with staring and abnormal non-purposeful movements such as lip smacking, hand rubbing or repetitive swallowing.

Generalized seizures:
Absence seizures – commonly known as petit mal seizures they are characterized by brief lapses of awareness, staring and sometimes subtle body movements.

Myoclonic seizures – sudden, forceful jerks of the arms and legs

Atonic seizures – cause you to suddenly fall down or collapse and are commonly known as drop attacks.

Tonic-clonic seizure – this type of seizure is the most intense and is also known as a grand mal seizure. These seizures cause what most people recognize as a convulsion: loss of consciousness, body stiffening, shaking or jerking, sometimes accompanied by tongue biting or loss of bladder control.


A localized abnormal electrical impulse in the brain, causing a partial seizure, can spread to the rest of brain converting the partial seizure into a generalized seizure, a process known as secondary generalization.
If a person has two or more seizures they are usually considered to be epileptic. While seizures vary enormously between different people and even in the individual most epileptics tend to have the same type of seizure each time.

What Causes Epilepsy?
In about half of all affected people epilepsy has no identifiable cause. Although there is a small genetic component to epilepsy allowing epilepsy to sometimes ‘run’ in families’ genetic inheritance places a very small role in this condition.

In the rest of people Epilepsy can often be traced back to an incident that involved some form of brain trauma or deprivation of oxygen to the brain. This could be due factors such as the following:

* Brain injury or trauma in an accident or fall

* Deprivation of oxygen such as a difficult birth or a near drowning

* Illness or disease such as a stroke causing a lack of oxygen to the brain

* Brain damage due to an infective process, swelling or in rare cases due to a tumor.

There are however certain risk factors that can increase your chances of developing epilepsy:

* Because brain injuries are so commonly a cause of epilepsy not wearing your seatbelt in the car or partaking in dangerous activities or sports without a helmet can all place you at increased risk.

* Strokes another important factor and being overweight smoking, having high cholesterol, drinking alcohol in excess etc can all increase your risk.

* Brain infections such as meningitis or encephalitis also increase your risk of developing epilepsy.

* Prolonged febrile convulsions (seizures due to a high fever) during childhood may increase your risk

* You may be at increased risk of developing epilepsy if you have a family history of it.

Diagnosing Epilepsy
Your doctor will take a detailed history of your seizures, and may perform certain tests, to try and determine if your seizure was the result of a once off incident or if it may be epilepsy.

In order to be diagnosed with epilepsy you have to have suffered from recurrent, unprovoked seizures and, in conjunction with your medical history, your doctor may perform the following tests to confirm the diagnosis:

* EEG – Electroencephalogram. This measures electrical activity in the brain and abnormal ‘electrical spikes’ can indicate epilepsy

* Brain MRI or CT scan – can be useful when looking for a cause within the brain such as a stroke, tumor or abnormal brain anatomy

Because epilepsy, although a condition itself, can also be a symptom of or occur in association with many other medical conditions your doctor may also perform other tests as part of the medical evaluation if he suspects an underlying condition.

Help for Epilepsy
The aim of treatment in epilepsy is to keep the patient seizure free and side effect free; however this is not always an easy goal to achieve. There are many different anti-epileptic drugs that work in different ways and have different side effects. In addition different prescription medications will work better for certain conditions and what works for one person may not work for another.

This usually results in a rather ‘hit and miss’ technique of trying to find a medication that works for each person and may involve a number of different dosages, drugs or combinations of drugs being tried. Unfortunately this can still leave you experiencing not only your seizures but also a variety of different side effects.

It is very important that you speak to your doctor and find out all that you can about your condition and the medication prescribed – remember there is no such thing as a stupid question! If your doctor is finding it difficult to find a treatment regime that controls your seizures you may be referred to a specialist, either a neurologist or an epileptologist, who would suggest further alternatives.

There are a number of other treatment modalities that are sometimes used in unusual cases and these include surgical procedures, neural stimulation and special diets.

More Information on Epilepsy

What must you do if you witness someone having a Seizure?

Most people feel thoroughly ill-equipped when faced with a person experiencing a seizure. Here are some simple, common sense tips that will help you to deal with the situation:

First and foremost – stay calm!
One of the primary goals is to prevent the person having the seizure from hurting him or herself so remove any objects nearby that may cause harm such as tables with sharp corners. You can also place something soft under the head.
Move the patient into the recovery position by laying them on their left side.
Pay attention to the length of the seizure and the symptoms displayed.
Don’t restrain the person and try to hold them down
Don’t put anything in the patient’s mouth – not only are you in danger of being bitten but, contrary to popular folklore, you cannot swallow your tongue during a seizure!
Do not give the patient any water, food or oral medication until he or she is fully alert.
If the seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes or there are repeat seizures contact your emergency medical service
Be sensitive to the person’s dignity and try to keep onlookers away

Source: Native R

Choosing the Sex of Your Child

Besides slipping the stork some extra cash, would-be parents have a number of options for choosing the sex of their child. The methods range from the natural (such as using particular positions during intercourse) to the high-tech (such as sorting sperm).

Couples have a 50/50 chance of conceiving a boy or a girl through plain old-fashioned intercourse. Yet there are some people who might want to stack the odds in their favor, either for cultural reasons, for dreams of raising a son or a daughter, or to balance out their families. Others do it to prevent their offspring from inheriting sex-linked genetic diseases.

Whatever the reason, health experts worry that some parents will place unrealistic hopes on a sex-determination technique and become disappointed whether or not they succeed. The method could either fail to produce a baby of the desired sex, or the right-gendered kid could grow up with traits that contradict with parental expectations. In this case, ethicists worry about the welfare of the child.

In addition, no preconception approach is foolproof, according to an ethics committee report in the May 2001 issue of Fertility and Sterility. Some popular strategies reportedly even fall under the category of foolery.

Of course, this list may not necessarily include your great grandmother's "tried and true" formula for choosing the baby's sex. Some doctors just chuckle at such schemes and say that as long as the advice doesn't hurt mom or baby, then there may be no harm in trying.

Natural Methods for Choosing the Sex of Your Child

The Shettles method is arguably the most well-known natural strategy for choosing the sex of your child. Developed three decades ago by Landrum B. Shettles, MD, PhD, the plan involves timing intercourse to a woman's cycle and assuming certain sexual positions.

In his book How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby, Shettles explains that the male (Y) sperm is smaller, faster, and more short-lived than the female (X) sperm. Because of this, it is better for boy-desiring couples to have sex closest to the time when a woman's egg is released (ovulation). This way, the speedy male sperm could get to the egg sooner than the female one.

The Y chromosome apparently also enjoys an advantage over its counterpart when the sperm is discharged as close as possible to the opening of the cervix. This is achieved through rear entry intercourse (man enters woman from behind).

Parents desiring a girl, on the other hand, are encouraged to have sex in the missionary position (face to face, man on top) about two to four days before ovulation so that by the time the egg comes, only the heartier, more resilient X sperm will remain in the woman's reproductive tract.

The Shettles method has reportedly been effective at least 75% of the time, with the rate slightly lower for girls than for boys. Pat Buie, a registered nurse from Canada, incorporated Shettles' method into her sex selection plan -- described in her book Choose the Sex of Your Baby Naturally -- and claims to have a 95% success rate.

Many fertility experts question the value of natural sex selection strategies such as the Shettles method.

"There's no real evidence to show that they work," says Sandra Ann Carson, MD, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, noting that such techniques are as effective as random sex in producing a baby of the preferred sex.

J. Martin Young, MD, a pediatrician in private practice in Amarillo, Texas, reviewed medical literature on sex determination and found that the Shettles method fared worse than random sex, with a 39% success rate in choosing the sex of your child.

Shettles' ideas seem to make sense, but they're a little too simplistic and not based on scientific research, says Young, who authored two books on the subject. In How to Have a Boy and How to Have a Girl, he describes a strategy that opposes Shettles'.

"If you would like to have a female, you would schedule intercourse to be as close to the time of ovulation as possible," says Young. "If you would like to have a male child, you would have intercourse a number of days before to try to increase the probability."

The success rate for this strategy of choosing the sex of your child, says Young, can be as high as two chances in three (about 67%), if done properly.

The High-Tech Road

The odds of choosing the sex of your child may be even better with the help of technology. According to the fertility experts contacted by WebMD, MicroSort -- a method that involves separating the male sperm from the female -- is the current gold standard.

"The only effective method that I feel would be useful for sex selection is the MicroSort technique," says William Gibbons, MD, director of the EVMS Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine.

Carson agrees. "I think sperm sorting is probably the most viable method that we have right now, but it's probably most effective when it's used in combination with in vitro fertilization."

MicroSort, which is licensed by the Genetics and IVF Institute in Fairfax, Va., is undergoing an FDA clinical trial. The technique involves separating X- and Y-bearing sperm by using laser light, dye, and a machine called a flow cytometer. Once the sperm are divided, the specimens are inserted back into the woman through artificial means, such as in vitro fertilization.

A news release issued in October 2002 from the Genetics and IVF Institute reports that MicroSort has a 91% success rate among couples wanting girls, and a 73% rate for those wanting boys.

MicroSort, however, isn't the only high-tech method for choosing the sex of your child. Other more controversial strategies include preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) -- both of which are used to detect medical illnesses but can also be used to distinguish sex.

To determine sex, PGD involves examining an embryo taken from the uterus and replacing only the embryo of the desired sex. In CVS, chromosomes of the fetus are analyzed in early pregnancy. There are reports that some people who find out they have an unwanted gender through this technique end up asking for an abortion.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends neither PGD nor CVS as a sex selection method for couples looking to balance the gender ratio in their families.

Published May 5, 2003.

© 2005-2014 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
Source article on WebMD

SIDE EFFECTS OF SKIN BLEACHING

Using chemical bleaches for whitening and bleaching skin can cause harm to your skin in the long run. Therefore, it is essential to use natural remedies for having clean and flawless skin. Read on to know more about the side effects of using skin bleach.


Everyone, regardless of being a man or woman, wants to have a flawless, even and smooth skin tone. Skin bleaching is a good option to get rid of the black spots or any other type of spots on skin. But, skin whitening options have become very complicated these days and there are plenty of options available in the market leaving the customers confused.

Although skin bleaching or whitening could be a good option for getting rid of dark spots or skin discolouration, the process is not free from side effects. Some of the products are rather very harmful and cause skin cancer too. Therefore, it is very important you find out the side effects of skin bleaching before you opt for the whitening of your skin.


Harmful Effects of Skin Whitening or Bleaching

Bleaching is, in fact, a process in which the hair on the skin is bleached to match with the actual skin tone. However, the side effects are:

Dark grey spots

Skin cancer

Acne

Swelling of the skin

Thinning of the skin

Cataracts

Setting down of fat on face, chest, upper back and stomach

Increase in appetite and weight gain

Osteoporosis

Neurological and kidney damage due to high level of mercury used in the creams

Psychiatric disorders

Severe birth defects

Asthma

Liver damage
Some of these side effects could be seen almost immediately while some are seen after prolonged use of skin whitening creams.

Why Skin Bleaching?

In some of the parts of the world, it is believed that light and pale skinned people portray beauty, richness and success as well. In some parts, dark complexioned people are considered below standard and so people opt for skin whitening or bleaching creams, pills and other products.

Studies reveal that most of the young boys and girls prefer using skin whitening products so that they get a good status in their group, family and society. In fact, the commercials shown on the television also portray the same thing. All these things have a great impact on the minds of young men and women and they opt for whatever cream or pill they can afford.


Natural Ways of Skin Bleaching

Here are some of the natural ways for getting flawless and fair skin without using skin bleaches.

Diet - Diet is the most important part that you should take care of if you want a flawless skin. Take away all refined food products and replace them with healthy and nutritious ones.

Water - Increase your intake of water. This helps keep skin free of dehydration and so the look is healthy and unblemished.

Cleansing - Take proper care of cleaning your skin. Choose the product that is natural and effective. Pay attention to exfoliating your skin from time to time so that you get rid of the dead skin.

Limes and Lemons - Citric acid is natural bleach and will help you have a lighter skin time without any side effect. You can make a face mask with lime juice, few drops of glycerin and flour to make a paste. Apply this on your face and leave for 20 - 30 minutes. Wash with normal water.

Once you know the side effects of using over-the-counter skin whitening products, you will definitely want to learn more about natural skin whitening methods. These methods are harmless and even cost you nothing extra.


Do you use over-the-counter skin bleaches? What are the side effects of bleaching the skin? Which are the natural remedies for bleaching skin? To share your experiences, views, and tips, Send in your comments here...

 - Source- Indiaparenting

Breast examination in the shower;

The breast self-exam is a way that you can check your breasts for changes (such as lumps or thickenings). It includes looking at and feeling your breast. Any unusual changes should be reported to your doctor. When breast cancer is detected in its early stages, your chances of surviving the disease are greatly improved.

Procedure;
1. It is helpful to have your hands slippery with soap and water.

2. Check for any lumps or thickening in your underarm area.

3. Place your left hand on your hip and reach with your right hand to feel in the left armpit. Repeat on the other side.

4. Check both sides for lumps or thickenings above and below your collarbone.

5. With hands soapy, raise one arm behind your head to spread out the breast tissue.

6. Use the flat part of your fingers from the other hand to press gently into the breast.

7. Follow an up-and-down pattern along the breast, moving from bra line to collarbone. you can also apply the circular or wedge pattern.

8. Continue the pattern until you have covered the entire breast. Repeat on the other side.

Get Health Smart! Have a nice day.

INFERTILITY: WHY ARE SOME LADIES BARREN (AND UNABLE TO HAVE BABIES)?

#1: They have problem with the production of eggs.

For your information, ladies produce eggs--like birds! This is called ovulation, and it occurs normally every month at about the 14th day after the commencement of menstruation. It is tightly regulated by special hormones and body chemicals. It is this egg, produced and released, that joins with sperm cells from the male to form babies. Some women menstruate without ovulating, and without the egg (ovum), there can't be pregnant. Others produce eggs but have problems with the release of the egg to meet the sperm. Hormonal problems can affect these and many complex processes involved in ovulation--eggs production and release. Fortunately,  there are tests to show if a lady ovulates or not, and drugs to assist ovulation.
And, ladies, please, have babies as early as possible! After the age of 30, the number and quality of eggs you produce reduces (by about 5% each year, after 30 years of age). This reduces the likelihood of getting pregnant, and having normal delivery, with time. Worse of all, some ladies, these days, have sudden unexplained early menopause--no menses, no eggs, no pregnancy!

#2: They have damaged or blocked tubes.

If the eggs are produced, they are released and pass through a tiny tube (called fallopian tubes) to get to the womb. You see, if one or both of these tubes are damaged or blocked, the chances of the sperms reaching the eggs and going through the tiny tube to the womb to form babies are slim, or not possible! Some ladies are born with abnormal or blocked tubes. Also, the tubes are blocked commonly after gonorrhea, genital infections, abortions, ectopic pregnancy, and so on. Some surgeries in the abdomen can cause some scar tissues and adhesions that might block the tubes. There are ways to check if the tubes are blocked, especially by a procedure called hysterosalpingography (HSG), and even though delicate, expensive  microsurgery can be done to repair damaged tubes, the outcome is usually poor with few success stories. IVF--in vitro fertilisation--is a good solution to blocked tubes.


#3: They have problems with their wombs.

The womb is where the baby forms. It must be conducive and accommodating for a successful and healthy pregnancy. Several things can go wrong here. Some ladies are born with abnormal and malformed wombs and cervix. Some ladies, after having abortions, especially D and C, develop all manners of bizzare complications; for example, the walls of the womb can get glued and attached in ugly ways during the healing process, thereby closing every space where they baby could develop and grow. Also, ladies who don't have babies early enough in their reproductive life might develop fibroids--the womb hates being empty for long: if you don't put babies in there, it will grow fibroids! Fibroids and polyps make pregnancy very difficult or even impossible for many ladies, and cause repeated miscarriages. Fortunately, we, the doctors, know what to do, most of the time.

#4: The problem is from their male partner

For every case of infertility, on the average, about 40% of the time, the problem is from the male, (and also 40% from the female). Morals: Don't be quick to point at the lady for every case of infertility--the male also has an equal chance to be the cause of the infertility! He might have failure to produce or transport sperm cells properly; the sperm cells might be weak in activity, or very few in number thereby reducing the possibility of pregnancy; he might have damaged testes from diseases like mumps or gonorrhea; excessive cigarette smoking and consumption of alcohol might be the case; and so on. Flash the light on the man, and about 40% of the time, he would be the culprit! - See more at:

#5: The problem might be unknown, vague, or funny!

Ideally, medically, adequate sexual intercourse is sex on at least 3 days in every week of the month! Stop calling my phone complaining of infertility when you "meet" your husband only once in a month--it might just always be during your "safe periods"! Some ladies are, unknown to them, under the effects of contraception, maybe, injection or implant, and might find it difficult conceiving for some time. Interestingly, some virgins are complaining of infertility! We have ignorant, naive couples who think they have been having sex [I wonder what on Earth they were doing], yet on examination you find her  hymen intact (and she's still a virgin) after months of marriage! Go and learn! Also, some times, breastfeeding is a powerful way of contraception. A couple came complaining of inability to conceive for months; and the problem was simple: when she weaned her baby, her husband took over!

All said and done, about 20% of the time, no-one is sure why a lady can't conceive and have a baby. All might be okay with the guy and the lady, yet with regular, 3-days-in-a-week, unprotected sex, for over a period of one year, she still can't get pregnant! Pray hard--and adoption of a child is a great, commendable alternative.

Drop a comment, suggestions or questions.

Having a hard time getting pregnant? Inbox us...

Source: Dr. 'Malik Haruna King

SAFE SEX: HOW TO PREVENT UNPLANNED PREGNANCY!

"Safe sex" is used to describe precautions taken to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unintended pregnancy. As with other articles in this blog-site, I write in response to several people who have asked questions relating to preventing pregnancy. This post is especially for such people (and in answer to their questions). "Safe sex" is a misnomer because sex can never be absolutely safe if it involves two opposite sexes with reproductive capacities.

We could only talk about "safer sex"; that is, reducing the chances of getting pregnant as much as possible. No 100% guarantee, but we could get close to that! There are several methods with their advantages and disadvantages. We would not be able to discuss all of them in a single post. We can only choose a few.

Drinking salt-water does not prevent pregnancy! Washing with potash ("kanwa"), garlic, or recently, Coca-cola doesn't work either! So what works?

#1: ABSTINENCE: A very powerful alternative to sex is abstinence from sex!It works  It is 100% safe! Preventing pregnancy and infections. Lack of sex does not kill, neither does it have any adverse effect on health, either of the mind or the body! Don't I just love abstinence!

#2: SAFE PERIOD: Calendar Method (or calculation of safe period) is a very good place to start, especially for ladies with regular menstrual cycle (that is, you see your period about the same time monthly, with only few days plus or minus). Simply put, if we call the day you started menstruating "day 1" and 8 days after you started menstruating as "day 8", then avoid sex from "day 8" through "day 19". Every other day is safe, including days you menstruate! That is "day 1" to "day 7" is safe; and also, "day 20" after commencement of menses to the next menses! Generally avoid days around "day 14". Take time to study this method and your cycle. It is not just cheap; it is free, and quite effective.

#3: WITHDRAWAL METHOD: Withdrawal method, taking out the male organ just in time before ejaculation (releasing), has proven to be quite effective. This however requires skill and self-control from the guy. But, it is said to obstruct the flow of the whole process! He must be experienced to know when he is about releasing sperm. Some whitish semen-like fluid comes out before the actual "release"; this doesn't usually contain sperm cell; it's for lubrication. Failure comes from being carried away and not coming out before release. Failure also comes from going for another "round" after releasing; some semen remains within, which can only be removed by urinating. In summary, come out way before release; urinate to clear the "pipeline" before going in for another "round", which is not usually advisable. Oh, how dangerous semen is!

#4: CONDOMS: We all know about condoms! People, especially guys, complain about how it reduces sensitivity. Yet it has a high percentage of effectiveness if used correctly, and it also protects from several deadly diseases, including HIV/AIDS. It is cheap, and it prolongs intercourse, helping the guy to "last" longer! Failure comes from condom breaking, or slipping off (and spilling of semen) during or after intercourse. Check the expiry date. Don't lubricate with vaseline or baby oil; rather go to a pharmacy and get "KY Jelly" for lubricating the condom if you must. Make sure she is well aroused before penetration. Allow for some space at the tip of the condom. And make sure you come out before the male organ becomes too soft, holding the base of the condom while you carefully come out to prevent spillage. Don't use condoms more than once. In case of breakage or spillage, get emergency contraception.

#5: CONTRACEPTIVE PILLS: I won't talk much about contraceptive pills! It is among the most effective, but for the side-effects, like weight increase. Emergency contraceptives, like Postinor, are very effective in preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours after sex -- the earlier, the better. If you vomit within 3 hours of taking the tablet, take another one. It doesn't protect for subsequent sex. It may, however, affect your next menses in timing (it may come earlier or later) or in volume (it may be heavy or scanty, or not at all!) It's best to combine two or more methods; it raises the effectiveness of preventing pregnancy to near 100%! For example, consider "safe period + withdrawal" or "abstinence + abstinence"! Lol.

DISCLAIMER: This article does not in any way represents my moral convictions or my personal practices; I write strictly as a medical doctor.These methods prevent pregnancy, but don't prevent guilt. Condoms cover the organ, and not the conscience. This article does not address preventing STIs. Got a question? Contact us...

Source: Dr. 'Malik Haruna King -