Hi Rose flower, It's kind of difficult for me to help you address this kind of anxiety because I have the unbroken habit, I think, of approaching these kinds of situations by trying to offer logical solutions. I could offer you the fact that you've lived your entire life so far without becoming mira...

Like Emily said, just touching it won't break it or cause it to be ineffective. Implants like Nexplanon are made of a very durable, flexible plastic (EVA to be specific, according to the drug facts ). They wouldn't have released a product so fragile that it would break just from the touch of a finge...

Hi Holly55, Changes in your flow and irregular bleeding are pretty common side effects across the various forms of hormonal birth control, but what you're describing here sounds particularly irregular in both length and heaviness. The side effects page on Nexplanon's website specifically names what ...

Hi VintageSunFile, Not silly at all! As a person who is keeping track of their fertility by paying close attention to changes in their body, it makes sense that you would try to tune into these things. You're exactly right in terms of how birth control works. You shouldn't need to chart changes to t...

I love that for you

(I mean, it's not my business to judge you anyway)

Not at all! It's good that you both discussed it together, as I imagine it helped you build a good rapport, you know? We're very sex-positive here at Scarleteen, so as long as you feel good about it and you're using protection, I'm not going to judge you!

Hi Sunland05,

Good to hear that you have a health plan and that you and your partner(?) have been safe. If you have any more questions, don't be afraid to ask!

Hi user SG1400, I will refer you to the response Elise gave you on your post from a few days ago: Hi there userSG1400, I'm really sorry to hear that you're having a flare up with your ocd, that sounds really tough. I can reassure you that there is no way for your sperm to have "spread all over&...

We will not answer ANY questions about pregnancy fear or anxiety in our direct services from users who are not pregnant or who are not or have not otherwise been directly involved with an actual pregnancy. Please do not post this kind of question. If you are seeing this text, and your thread is loc...

Hi Sandpiper! I'm glad Valerie was able to share their experience with you. We get a lot of people on the boards who have similar issues, so it's great that you were able to find that connection. In terms of how the pelvic muscles are supposed to function, your thought process is on the right track....

Hi fruityrumpus, First off, I want to seriously commend you for approaching your partner's needs with this level of care. It's great to hear that you're trying to search for other ways to be a good partner for them. I wonder if you've voiced these specific thoughts with them, specifically about your...

Hi toastanon, Ugh, tampons suck. I personally use a menstrual disc as my go-to period thing, but I understand that this option isn't available to everyone (I do recommend it, though)! In any case, you're in luck; we have a few resources that should help. First, an ask column from a user struggling w...

Hi jenny01, I'm sorry to hear that this situation is affecting you so deeply :( Though I'd like to put out there that if going to visit your brother and sister-in-law is something that feels right, this can be an opportunity to test your comfort/ability to independently navigate public transport. A ...

Hi jenny01, You may be able to find low/no cost licensed tele-therapists by searching online, but the exact situation you described - a free, licensed professional who offers text services - may be difficult to locate, if they exist at all. This is another situation where I would suggest talking to ...

Hi Other Angel! Great questions! So first, a doula is essentially a pregnancy/parenthood assistant. You might hear them mentioned in the same spaces as midwives, who are licensed to actually handle the medical parts of birth-giving. A doula handles physical, mental, and emotional support for people ...

So, you're mom frequently asks you to prove your capacity for independence, but knows that you're still new in your self-sufficiency and criticizes you when you try. You're supposedly allowed to have anything that you want, but your spending is still restricted, and it sounds like your parents are u...

Hi Raffles, I COMPLETELYYYY know that struggle! One summer when I was teaching middle school kids, a majority of the kids were Spanish-speakers, and I know enough Spanish to be able to tell when the kids were using homophobic slurs. It would catch me up a little bit - how do you communicate to such ...

Hi elise71, I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing this! :( Let's see if we can help. I have been a volunteer with Scarleteen for about 4 months, and after just that short time, I would say that painful or unenjoyable sex is in the top 10 of issues that users come to us with the most. So, you're...

Hi jenny01, I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling lonely, and that you have to figure out how to balance your social aspirations with controlling parents and a neurological disorder :( Being young is hard, isn't it? Here's my take: first, you and I both know that you're way too old for your parents ...

Washing your hands is the safest thing to do since it is possible to transfer sperm from the hands to the vulva (I would be more concerned if you had done this during rather than after you had sex), plus it's best to do just for the sake of hygiene. That being said, ... they die very quickly once th...

Hi jenny01, This is an interesting one, because the vagina can seem like a mysterious place 0_0 Let's see if we can demystify it! First, our wonderful founder has a lengthy article all about the vulva and its many parts: Innies & Outies: The Vagina, Clitoris, Uterus and More It sounds like you d...

Hi Aarushi257, Emily's response still applies: you cannot get pregnant from that. Pregnancy occurs when there is direct contact between the vulva and semen, but there is essentially no risk here because we're talking about sperm theoretically surviving an indeterminate amount of time on your hands a...

Hi Hel, I'm sorry to hear that you went through this :( And yes, I would call this abusive behavior. Here at Scarleteen, we define abuse as "Purposeful harm or mistreatment of another person, which can be verbal, emotional, physical or sexual. An ongoing pattern or cycle of such mistreatment or...

Hi MusicNerd, Okay, this is gonna take some experimenting because I don't have you in front of me to be able to see why this is happening or to give some sort of demonstration. I will offer some suggestions that might help: I notice that when I stick my tongue out and do a licking motion, my tongue ...