Cervical barrier Contraception 101

The human cervix on day 7 of a menstrual cycle

The image above shows the cervix and the opening (the os) in its center that leads to the uterus, on day 7 of a menstrual cycle shortly before the woman becomes fertile. The camera is looking at the cervix as a doctor would while the woman is on an exam table with a speculum inserted to hold her vagina open. The cervix is the conical protrusion from the back end of front wall of the vagina. The back side of the rim of a diaphragm fits into the posterior fornix (the area behind the cervix) which is the dark area under the cervix in this pic. The front rim of the diaphragm tucks into her pubic notch just above her pubic bone. The bladder is above the vagina’s anterior wall (at the top pf the pic) and the colon is behind the vagina’s posterior wall (at the bottom of this pic) In cervical barrier contraception a diaphragm or cervical cap with spermicide in the dome covers the cervix to prevent sperm from passing through the opening in the cervix and reaching the woman’s fallopian tubes where, when she is fertile, it can remain motile and potent for 7+ days waiting for the woman to release an egg.

A selection of contraceptive diaphragms and cervical caps

Cervical barriers: The above image shows a selection of contraceptive cervical barriers used to protect a woman’s cervix during sexual intercourse. The cervix fits under the dome of the barrier which seals against the wall of the vagina or directly against the cervix. The eight barriers shown in the image are, from left to right:

Top row: The Ortho All-Flex, an arching-spring diaphragm and the Cooper/Surgical (Milex) silicone wide seal diaphragm.
Second row: Prentif cavity rim cervical cap and the FemCap
Third row: Lea’s Shield and an Ortho coil spring rim diaphragm
Bottom row: A Semina silicone diaphragm made in Brazil and an Oves cavity rim cervical cap.

Discontinued or otherwise unavailable barriers: The Prentif cap and Lea’s Shield are no longer generally available and Semina and Oves are only available in the U.S. in clinical trials.

A complete FemCap with the removal strap still attached

FemCap: FemCap is the best barrier for protection during dive-sex because it can be used at any depth and is the only barrier that provides meaningful thrust buffering. In the image above the wider brim, shown on the left, is worn against the back wall of the vagina. The removal strap is often trimmed off which gives the wearer and her partner a bit more room when the male is big relative to his partner’s vagina. The outer walls of the brim seal against the walls of the vagina and the dome covers the wearer’s cervix.

An All-Flex diaphragm compressed for insertion

All-Flex diaphragm: All-Flex is the Ortho-McNeil version of the arching spring rim diaphragm and the type most often prescribed by experienced barrier fitters. That’s because it has a stiffer spring that can be worn by women with poor vaginal muscle tone and because since it folds in two planes (see the image above) into a crescent it is easier to get the back rim of a compressed All-Flex behind the wearer’s cervix. The All-Flex reduces the number of times women insert their diaphragms improperly and are therefore unprotected.

Birth control at St Lucy’s: I have started my Contemporary Sexual Health class for students who will be entering the school for the Summer term. CSH is a mandatory course given the temptations available in the surrounding area. Though compulsory almost all the students are very interested in learning how to protect themselves during recreational sex.

St Lucy’s policy on the use of contraceptives is where possible to minimize the use of hormonal contraception. For some few women hormones are necessary to regularize their cycles or control heavy bleeding, but St Lucy’s believes in teaching discipline and learning to use a cervical barrier correctly does teach discipline. Used correctly a properly fitted diaphragm or cap is (at St Lucy’s) actually better than the pill for teens because a large percentage of teens don’t take their pills correctly. The student’s barriers come with RFID chips so we can track who is wearing their protection and who isn’t and the ones who aren’t get penalty points which bring them in line quickly. And, of course a diaphragm can be used to minimize the mess during menstrual sex. Both diaphragms and caps can be used to protect against over-pressure events during dive-sex but a diaphragm is effective only to a depth of 10m when the rim starts to distort due to the pressure.. A strapless FemCap is better than a diaphragm for dive protection because there is no limit to the depth at which it can be used and it also provides thrust buffering if the woman’s pelvic anatomy is small in relation to her partner.

ABT Principal Paloma Herrera costumed for 'Citizen'

Be a Follower: Being a newbie on BlogSpot I’d like to invite readers to click on the ‘Follow’ widget in the upper right corner of the page and become a follower of my blog. It should be of particular interest to readers who have the same interests I do: Classical Ballet, Birth control – how professional entertainers protect ourselves, SCUBA diving, Bondage, Latex and leather and what goes on behind the scenes in Vegas fetish clubs.

Ballerinas And Female Athletes Share Quadruple Health Threats

ScienceDaily (May 31, 2009) — A study led by sports medicine researcher Anne Hoch, D.O., at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee has revealed that young female professional dancers face the same health risks as young female athletes when they don't eat enough to offset the energy they spend, and stop menstruating as a consequence.

"These two components of the female athlete tetrad put them at higher risk for the other two; the cardiovascular and bone density deficits of much older, postmenopausal women," according to Dr. Hoch, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery and director of the Froedtert & the Medical College Women's Sports Medicine Center.

The researchers studied 22 professional ballerinas, all members of the Milwaukee Ballet Company, to determine the prevalence of disordered eating, amenorrhea (lack of menstruation), abnormal vascular function and low bone density. Study findings were presented at the American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Seattle, May 30.

The dancers completed questionnaires on their menstrual patterns and eating habits, and underwent a blood test for hormonal levels. Thirty-six percent of the group had disordered eating habits and 77 percent were in a calorie deficit. Twenty-seven percent were currently amenorrhea, 23 percent had low bone mass density and nine percent were taking birth control.

Arterial ultrasound measurements revealed that 64 percent had abnormal artery dilation in response to blood flow.

"It was unknown if professional dancers without menstrual periods have evidence of vascular dysfunction, yet some characteristics of the tetrad were common in this group," says Dr. Hoch. "Eighty-six percent had one or more components, and fourteen percent had all four."

The study was funded by grants from the Clinical and Translational Science Institute Adult Translational Research Unit of the Medical College, and by the Steve Cullen Healthy Heart Club Funding of 2008.

Co authors of the study include: Paula Papanek, Ph.D., associate professor and director of exercise science at Marquette University; and at the Medical College - Heather Havlik, M.D., a sports medicine fellow; William Raasch, M.D., professor of orthopaedic surgery; Michael Widlansky, M.D., assistant professor of medicine in cardiology; Jane Schimke, clinical research coordinator, and David Gutterman, M.D., senior associate dean and professor of medicine in cardiology

Comment: Where has the management at the Milwaukee Ballet been? It’s not as if the findings about dancers, eating disorders and secondary amenorrhea in the article above aren’t already known! Good ballet company management requires proactive health management to ensure performers aren’t putting themselves at risk. Our casino ballet has regular bone density scans for members as well as a staff dietitian so that women who are dieting are assured of getting the nutrients they need for a grueling performance (as well as an awesome partying) schedule.

Quality bottom time: My main squeeze, Pirate, and I had some quality time last night at the bottom of my 68 ft. deep swimming pool, which my friends call ‘the pit’. There I can have three atmosphere dive-sex w/o having to worry about being bothered with wearing a suit, though I do wear a bikini, but just as a tease so my partners have something to remove as part of fore play. Since I’ve started wearing a bikini to the bottom I’ve shut off the chiller that cools the water below the thermocline at 50 feet. That saves electricity by not running the thermocline pumps as well, even though the huge solar array in the desert behind my house usually provided more power than the house uses. The big thing a girl needs to remember before dive-sex is to apply an applicator of Dive-Gel (the silicone based intimate lube that comes in prefilled 10ml disposable applicators) in her vagina before diving. It is also a good idea to take one or two Dive-Gel applicators on the dive, just in case. The nap during afterglow from dive-sex while tethered to the bottom is to die for!

Dive-sex and Nitrox II: Because of the intensity of the dive-sex orgasmic experience we require our female escorts, trainees and casino guests renting facilities for dive sex to breathe Nitrox – preferably Nitrox II – during their encounters. Enriched Air Nitrox EAN32 and EAN36 (also called Nitrox I and Nitrox II have 32% and 36% oxygen respectivly rather than the normal 21% oxygen in the air we breathe. Nitrox II will usually prevent a diver from fainting during an orgasm while submerged if she has had dive-sez before and knows what to expect. A diver who hasn’t had an orgasm during dive-sex will probably faint during her first orgasmic encounter, but if her spit-strap is securely fastned to prevent expulsion of her regulator she should be safe enough. Even so we have set up initial dive-sex training – for a few carefully screened women taking advanced escort training - to occur in shallow water so the ascent time is very short should there be a problem.

Some of Cyndi’s dead Capezios

Some background: I’m CD23 today. I and my inner circle of friends; Taryn my 18 y/o ward and heiress to one of the worlds largest adult media empires, Cyndi a 15 y/o (soon to be 16) Brit. who I have responsibility for right now, Diané my Personal Assistant and Anya the 26 y/o Ballet Mistress of our Ballet company all cycle naturally. We exercise and are so sweaty together that my pheromones have synched our menstrual cycles, which means that right now we are all just a bit premenstrual.

Taryn and Cyndi attend Santa Lucia (St Lucy’s) an exclusive girls school here in Vegas Anya and Diané work with me running the entertainment aspect of our casinos high-roller operation. We also have responsibility for escort training as far as contraception and dive-sex safety is concerned and Anya and I teach Contemporary Sexual Health to students at St Lucy’s. Anya, Taryn and I train in custom made ballet-boots for Knife Pointe fights where the boot heels are blades and the object is to disable ones opponent. The fighters wear armor so usually there aren’t any major injuries. Cyndi wants to learn to wear KP-Boots and to fight but she is too young yet though I do have her doing preparatory strength training in custom made weighted ballet-boots.

Latex root boots: I was chatting a former lover I hadn’t seen in several years the other afternoon. We were talking about old times and how our tastes had or hadn’t changed since he last took me. I reminded him – as frequent readers know – that I self lubricate very quickly and effectively so I use unlubed condoms when I must, for a quickie where minimum mess afterward is a priority. I dislike the taste of spermicide the condoms are lubed with so unlubed ones are a must and they work extremely well because I get so wet. Another plus for condoms is I can bite through the tip of the reservoir and suck out my lover’s ejaculate while he is zipping up. I love to swallow the hundreds of millions of his sperm freshly spewed into the micro sheer latex while they are still at body temperature as they slide down my throat.

I do try to be as accessible and as accommodating as possible when I'm with a dear friend. When I mentioned that he said “non-lubed condoms are the only type I like and I would find it sensual if you bit through the tip of my condom.” Which, I thought, not only frank, but an exceptionally sweet remark on his part. Sigh!

My former lover likes his girls fully accessible at all times so hose and a garter belt is what he prefers they wear when with him. I did carry a thong to catch residual discharge after I Kegeled most of his spend out of me. He always said that he preferred “an 'experienced' woman who should always be fully accessible at all times.” He never lacks for strong opinions about sex with his dates (we all used to compare notes and watched to see who he would impregnate) but he was an extremely skilled and considerate lover which went a long way to make up for him being such a sexually pedantic man.

He wanted to know if I wanted a fertility report on him and I asked him for one before our next encounter. He is in great demand as a potent stud so I can well imagine that he would need to supply that sort of information, but not for me since I’m not interested in conceiving by him. However, while it’s not necessary because I’m avoiding pregnancy (I wear an Oves cervical Cap for contraception) it is fun to know how many millions of sperm he will release in me in each ml of his ejaculate. Of course if I was menstrual and wearing a Milex the risks might be a bit greater if I hadn't had a menstrual extraction and it was one of my heavy days, but then he loves menstrual sex.

Welcome to my world!

Sisters, confident with their silicone All-Flex Diaphragms inserted

I’m Jill. I’m a dancer, choreographer and Dance Captain – among other things - in Vegas. I’m giving Blogger/BlogSpot a try since Yahoo 360 is being closed down.