Sexual Health

Yeast infections actually get their start in the intestinal tract, not in or on your genitals. Small amounts of yeast are normal and healthy in the body, but when certain factors cause that yeast – specifically candida albicans – to overgrow, that’s when you wind up with a yeast infection, which…

You know, hormonal birth control often reduces or inhibits sexual desire or arousal for the person using it, too. For some people, pretty substantially. It does so because of what it does to a body hormonally: the only way condoms inhibit arousal or libido is if a guy using them (or opting not to)…

For birth control pills to be effective in preventing pregnancy, they have to be used correctly and consistently. Taking a birth control pill after sex won’t do anything to prevent pregnancy. And yep: it can sure make you feel a little loopy and confuse the heck out of your cycle. In order for your…

Honestly, people need some from of preventative reproductive health care. Can you live without it? Some people can, but that is a gamble, and if you look at people in nations without any, you can get an idea for how that really just isn’t often healthy. Too, once you become sexually active it is…

While it’s common for women – especially young women – to feel pain or discomfort with sex, it’s not “normal” in that it has to happen or there isn’t an alternative. Sex is not supposed to hurt: it’s supposed to feel very good. If you’re bleeding after sex every time, and it’s also not feeling…

The instructions on every packet of condoms I have ever seen (including condoms in countries outside the United States) clearly state that once the man has ejaculated, he needs to withdraw and dispose of the condom promptly. Proper withdrawal means you grip the ring firmly, pull out completely and…

You know, as a culture we’ve somehow developed an awfully funny idea of what is “sex” and what isn’t “sex” that seems pretty darn arbitrary. Think about it, manual sex, oral sex, anal sex…all those things have the word sex in them. So quite honestly, from a sexual health and public health…

You will need to tell new partners about a sexually transmitted infection you have or have had, particularly one like human papillomavirus (HPV) where condoms reduce the risks of transmission, but not as well as they do for other kinds of infections. Putting someone knowingly at risk of an infection…

1. The hormones in birth control pills prevent the uterus from building up its lining (endometrium) as thick as it would be under a normal fertile cycle. This effect is mainly from the progesterone in the pills. Progesterone’s function in the body is to maintain the endometrium in stasis, so that it…

Hey there, Gabi. Have a deep breath, and let it out good and slow: it is going to be okay. I want to make something clear from the get-go. YOU are the one who gets the final say here. Not your boyfriend, but also not your Mom, either. Making a choice about a pregnancy is a big deal, it’s something…