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The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has completed trials of a contraceptive gel for men that is applied to your shoulders once a day, and as strange as it may sound, the results are very promising.

The gel lowers sperm count and has been proven safe and effective while working more quickly than other similar methods. This could make the birth control choice more attractive to men, according to researchers.

The gel lowered men’s sperm count to the threshold deemed effective for contraception within eight weeks on average – faster than the nine to 15 weeks seen with male contraceptive injections.

222 men took part in the trial that required them to rub 5ml – about a teaspoon – of the gel on each shoulder blade once a day. The gel combines two hormones, testosterone and a synthetic hormone called Nestorone. While testosterone reduces sperm count, Nestorone speeds up the time it takes to work,  which also means less testosterone can be given – keeping levels at a point where they do not affect sex drive or cause other side effects.

The gel is one of the newer and better-developed male birth control options that are in development.

One of the participants of the trial told Sky News he would continue taking the contraceptive if it is approved for general use – especially having seen his partner struggle with the birth control options available to women.

“The gel was such an easy process,” he said. “It was basically like taking the pill for the day.”

He also said that he didn’t notice any side effects from the gel beyond some upper back acne and possibly a bit of weight gain, although this could have been normal due to his ‘sedentary job’.

The effectiveness of the gel in preventing pregnancy, as well as its safety, acceptability, and time to reverse when therapy ends, are now being studied by researchers.

However, funding for the more comprehensive stage three trials, which are required before the medicine can be licenced, is currently unavailable. Gynecologist Dr Brian Nguyen, one of the investigators on the gel trial, said they would need a major pharmaceutical company to fund it.

Most researchers reckon it will still be another five to ten years before the gel is freely available, but the authors of this study think it will be much sooner. Seeing as how most couples still rely on the female partner to take contraceptives, this could be a great way to even the playing field when it comes to contraceptive responsibility.

It might even open a whole new ‘massage service’.

[source:sky]