Pants that protect against STIs approved in the United States

• The Food and drug administration, the American health agency, has just authorized the marketing of protective panties as a recognized sexual health device.

• A single-use model intended to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections during orogenital intercourse.

• An alternative to the dental dam, an effective but impractical device.

Beaded, ribbed, flavored: whether in pharmacies or at the local supermarket, the offer of condoms is very varied.

A good thing when you know that it is both a method of contraception and a means of protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs), both in the event of penetration and oral sex.

On the other hand, the offer is far from being so plethoric when it comes to protecting oneself from STIs during cunnilingus and rimming.

What if there were anti-STI panties?

It is the brand new sexual health device approved by the Food and drug administration (FDA), the American health agency.

A first about an undergarment, and a simple invention that could represent a promising alternative to existing devices, which are few and impractical.

Latex and vanilla flavor, the alternative to dental dam

To date, there are indeed few devices to protect against STIs for women having sex with women, or during cunnilingus provided to their partner.

A void that Melanie Cristol, the American who created the Lorals protective panties, wanted to fill, for safe oral sex.

The idea came to her during her honeymoon, when she discovered that she was then carrying an STI that she could have transmitted to her wife during the wedding night.

“I was discouraged,” she told The

.

The young woman knows of the existence of the dental dam;

this square of latex, used by dentists, can be diverted as a means of protection against STIs during cunnilingus.

But she knows very well that despite its effectiveness, this device is neither practical, nor easy to obtain, nor very pleasant to draw during the festivities.

The idea of ​​Lorals was thus born.

“I wanted to feel sexy and confident, and use something designed with my body and sex in mind in actual practice,” she said.

In practice, how does this invention present itself?

It has the shape of a classic panty, a single-use model, in ultra-fine latex to preserve sensations, and scented with vanilla for the playful side.

Like a condom, it comes in a small tear-off pouch when the weather heats up.

It forms an airtight barrier between the vulva (or anus) and the mouth of his or her partner, retaining fluids.

A device to have fun without risk also during menstruation, in the event of a partner with an itchy beard or when a person who has suffered a trauma feels the need not to expose themselves too much, describes the brand.

"Put on panties, it's smart, it's easier to use and sex is properly protected", comments Dr Odile Bagot,

(ed. Mango).

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A bulwark against STIs transmitted by oral-genital contact

If the invention may seem like a gadget, its use is of interest in the field of sexual health.

While the risks of unwanted pregnancies and STIs in cases of intercourse with penetration are well known, those associated with oral-genital practices are less so.

They are, however, present.

“How often people transmit infections in this way is unclear and difficult to study because most people who have oral sex have vaginal or anal sex during the same encounter,” said estimated Dr. Kenneth Mayer, director of medical research for Fenway Health, an LGBTQI+ health center in Massachusetts.

“Orogenital sexuality presents less risk than that with penetration, but it is not exempt from it,” continues Dr. Bagot.

The risk of contracting HIV or chlamydia or gonococcal STIs is very low.

On the other hand, in case of herpes, the risks of contamination are much higher.

And it is valid in both directions: if the person who dispenses this caress has oral herpes, she can transmit it to her partner.

We know this because about 30% of genital herpes are type 1, the oral type.

In the other direction, if the person receiving cunnilingus has genital herpes, oral contamination of the partner is possible.

The risk is also real in the case of papillomavirus (HPV).

Including in the case of rimming, which also presents risks of enterococci”.

“Of genital origin, the papillomavirus is introduced into the mouth during oral sex or cunnilingus.

Even if tobacco and alcohol remain by far the essential risk factors for oral cancers, the progression of cancers due to HPV, and in particular to type 16 papillomavirus, is exponential", emphasizes the French Union for Oral Health. Dental (UFSBD).

A study published in the

(JAMA) thus confirms that throat cancers have increased by 225% in twenty years in the United States and are 80% attributable to HPV.

“As for the International Agency for Research against Cancer, it estimates the proportion of oropharyngeal cancers due to HPV between 40% and 60%,” adds the UFSBD, which advocates for vaccination against HPV.

An appeal also launched by Dr. Bagot, for whom “the primary protection against HPV must be vaccination in adolescence, for girls and boys”.

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• Health

• Sexuality

• Condom

• STD