Sexual Health

Was her partner ever treated when she was? Standard procedure when one person is diagnosed with Chlamydia is for a healthcare provider to make clear that all current or recent partners are informed so that they can also be treated at the same time. Some healthcare providers will even just provide…

Unless you’ve been charting your fertility (see our article Get with the Flow: All about FAM for more information), it’s not really a good idea to think that there’s any “safe” period in your cycle where you have less need to worry about pregnancy. Not everybody ovulates on Day 14. Especially in…

Some people can take longer than others to adjust to hormonal birth control. In fact, that’s why you’ll usually hear that you should be ready to deal with some weirdness for the first 1-3 months when you start hormonal birth control. Remember that with the pill you’re essentially adding lots of new…

The Papanicolaou test, more easily pronounced “Pap smear,” is a test that checks to see whether there are any abnormal growths on your uterine cervix. Your clinician takes a small brush or swab and sweeps a sample off the tip of your cervix. The lab checks the sample to see if there are any abnormal…

With most sexually transmitted infections, it would be highly unlikely for a person to have one who has not had any kind of sexual contact – with genitals, hands or mouths – to have one. We call STIs – sexually transmitted infections – what we do because that is usually how they are transmitted…

Mood changes are certainly one common side effect of the pill, and they’re worse for some people than for others (and younger people can get hit particularly hard with those effects). I hear you on how you’re feeling: way back when I was on the pill, and I was one of those who got whacked really…

Why do you feel bad about using emergency contraception? Just like condoms, how it works is to prevent a pregnancy, and emergency contraceptive pills (Plan B or the Morning-After Pill) work the exact same way any combination hormonal birth control works, it just only needs to be taken after the fact…

If you want to use a behavioural method or spermicides and need help deciding between them.

If you’re considering withdrawal (“pulling out”) as a birth control method, or already use it and want more information.

If you’re considering the vaginal ring as a birth control method, or already use it and want more information.