You may also just be remembering things that wereoncetrue but that dont apply to the method youre using today.
So lets set some of these myths straight.
Condoms donothave holes that sperm can pass through.
Even lambskin condomswhich arenotrecommended for preventing STIshaveholes too small to let sperm through.
Its true that viruses, including HIV, are very small.
HIV is about 145 nanometers wide, or 0.1 micron.
So how big are the pores in a condom?
Well, several studies have looked for pores andnot been able to find any.
Pores dont naturally occur in latex condoms, although they can occur as manufacturing defects.
If youre on a combination pill, you dont need to worry about it.
Progestin-only pills, known as mini pills,doneed to be taken at approximately the same time every day.
Check the package information for your pill, or ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Combination pills, which are the more common pop in, arent as time sensitive.
That wasnt always the case.
In the 1980s and 1990s, almost nobody in the US was getting IUDs inserted.
But the Dalkon shield was unique.
Whatever the reason, people were understandably scared off.
Gynecologists consider todays IUDs to beextremely safe and effective.
and you should find a new doctor.
On balance, it seems likely that hormonal birth control prevents more cancers than it causes.
During the week you take these pills, you have your period.
But its fine to skip those pills, and just start the next pack of pills right away.
This means you wont have your periodandthats totally fine.
Theres no medical need to trigger your body to have a period.
You may end up having lighter periods or no periods at all while youre using those methods.
That part is not true.
In a person who ovulates regularly, typically only a few days out of each month are fertile days.
Most of the time, we dont know which days those are.
There are also other reasons why a person might not get pregnant.
For example, you might not ovulate every month.
And then, after fertilization, many embryos dont implant or dont end up developing into a pregnancy.
So that one time you had sex and you or your partner didnt get pregnant?
You may just have gotten lucky.