Laura Marcilla She is a psychologist, sexologist and sex educator. Precisely because of this last facet of her profession, she regularly teaches courses on sexology in institutes. In them, among other things, he talks to the students about the different contraceptive measures. Among them, of course, are the vaginal condoms. But what was his surprise when he recently made a route for more than ten pharmacy in search of a box to talk about them to the teenagers who come to their workshops. And it is that he not only failed to find them, but in some of them they did not even know what they were. Or they even gave her a response like: “No, we don’t have that, but we do have the menstrual cup.”
The situation was so shocking that Marcilla did not hesitate to share it in a publication from your Instagram account. It is not for less, because this is a contraceptive measurealso useful against sexually transmitted infections (STI), which even has some advantages compared to condoms for the penis.
But certainly one of the advantages is not the accessibility. And it is that, as the sexologist said in her publication, the vaginal condoms They are like unicorns, some say they exist, but few people have seen them.
Advantages of vaginal condoms versus penile condoms
Before talking about the advantages of vaginal condoms compared to penile condoms, it is important to note that, although they are also known as female condoms, and may even appear like this on the packaging, this is not the most correct name. In the first place, because the contraceptive measure is a matter for all the people who participate in a sexual relationship. Even if it’s only one that puts it on. And, on the other hand, because not all women have a vagina and not all people with a vagina are women.
That said, vaginal condoms have several advantages. The first is that, since they do not require an erection, they can be placed up to 8 hours before a sexual practice. And that, especially in certain circumstances, is a great advantage. “It can be very useful, for example, if we are going to go partying and we know that we can have a sexual relationship during the night and that with a couple of small drinks we may not be in a position to put it well”, explains Marcilla. “Therefore, we can leave the house with it on and we avoid that problem.”
At this point, the sexologist highlights a question that she hears many times in her sex education workshops: Can you go to the bathroom with it on? And of course there is no problem, since we urinate through the urethra and the condom, as its name indicates, is placed in the vagina. “Maybe you have to move it away a little so that it doesn’t get dirty with urine, but you don’t have to remove it.”
Another big advantage of not needing an erection to insert it is that it is less likely to come out or have to be replaced if erection stops in the middle of a sexual relationship. “This is something very common and nothing happens, because we are not robots, but it is an advantage that with these condoms you do not have to change it.”
It is also a solution for people who complain that penis condoms are too tight. In those cases, probably the only thing that happens to them is that they are not wearing the right size. But, even so, using the vaginal ones can be a good alternative.
And another of the strengths of the vaginal condom is that covers more of the genitals, so that sexually transmitted infections are prevented more efficiently. “As its name suggests, the penis only covers the penis, but the testicles are still exposed and there are some sexually transmitted infectionsAs the human papilloma virus, which can be transmitted by skin contact of the genitals, for example testicles with vulva in a vaginal penetration”, warns the sex educator. “Since the vaginal one protrudes from the vagina, it covers the vulva a little and reduces the transmission of an STI a little more, so for the prevention of pregnancies there is no difference, but for STIs it can be a little more effective.”
How do you put these condoms on?
To put on a vaginal condom, just check the manufacturer’s instructions. Broadly speaking, it is a simple process.
Apparently it looks a lot like condoms for the penis, with its elongated shape, one end open and one closed. To use it, you must take a position similar to that used to put a tampon. Once the person is relaxed, she will take the condom through the closed area and squeeze it, to insert it into the vagina, opening the lips with her fingers to make it easier. Once it’s inside, use your index finger to push it in, roughly past the pubic bone. And that would be all.
However, at the time of removing it, a very important precaution must be taken into account to prevent the accumulated semen from spilling into the vagina. “You have to turn the latex cylinder a little before throwing it out”, recalls Marcilla. “It comes out without any complications, but if we haven’t made this twist before removing it, it may happen that part of the semen spills into the entrance of the vagina, so it hasn’t protected us as much as it should.”
Why are vaginal condoms like unicorns?
If we do a search for vaginal condoms on a website like amazonwe find two things that call attention.
The first is that, despite specifying, the majority of condoms that we find in said search are for the penis. This indicates that the algorithm knows that what they are generally looking for are these types of condoms. Still, we have an option. And here comes the second factor that draws attention: that for the price of 5 vaginal condoms we can buy 24 for the penis.
Definitely. They are expensive and hard to find. And that creates a vicious circle that makes them more and more expensive and more difficult to find. “I think it’s a bit of a whiting that bites its own tail,” says Marcilla. “Since people don’t know them, they don’t buy them and pharmacies feel that it is not profitable to order them so that expire without selling”. But this also generates the problem that “many people do not know them because they do not see them in the pharmacy.”
As for the price, the reason it is so high is precisely the same. “Since they are not bought as much, the brands do not sell enough to make them profitable do mass production and lower prices.”
The importance of sex education
There are three facts from Marcilla’s Instagram post that stand out. The first is that she was not able to find vaginal condoms in any of the pharmacies she inquired at. In fact, in conversation for this article she tells us that it is worrying that, being a medical device, it is easier to find in sex shops.
The second fact that stands out is that one of the pharmacists who treated him did not even know what they were. And, the last one, that in another pharmacy not only did they not know about it, but they offered her the menstrual cup as an alternative.
Clearly there is a problem lack of information that needs to be fixed so that someone looking for a contraceptive method really know all the options that may be available to you. Of course, the sexologist is very clear that the fact that someone does not know that vaginal condoms exist is not her fault. “We do not have to hold people responsible for not being informed, but we should give them that information from the sex education”, he thinks. “Furthermore, if samples could be provided to them in workshops and talks so that they can become familiar with them and decide if they like it or if it compensates them, perhaps we will encourage its use and make it more affordable and easier to find”.
In fact, he tells us that in the anonymous questions It is common for adolescents who receive sex education to be asked if it is true that vaginal condoms exist. They are interested, but have never seen them. And it is that the title of his publication was the most successful. Vaginal condoms are like unicorns. With the difference that in this case they do exist. The problem is finding them and being able to pay for them.