Sexual Health

Sexually transmitted infections are one part of sexual health, but that’s not all! Any aspect of health or healthcare that is related to sex and reproduction is about sexual health: menstruation, common infections like yeast or bacterial infections, birth control and abortion, health conditions like endometriosis, PCOS or phimosis, vaccinations, pain with sex, safer sex and other preventative sexual health practices and yep, STIs, too.

a couple o' peaches

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Articles and Advice in this area:

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

If it has been less than 120 hours since her risk, the best thing – least expensive, least invasive, easiest – for her to do would be to obtain emergency contraception. EC can work up to 120 hours after the fact to prevent pregnancy. if she is over 18, she can get it over the counter at any…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

So long as you take your pills as directed and on time, with the exception of a few medications or herbs that can interact with the pill, you’re as covered as you get. We get questions like this a lot, so in the interest of making sure you and everyone else understand your pill as best you can, let…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

If your period is only five days late, it’d be pretty unusual, even if you had become pregnant, for you to be having symptoms this soon. Plus, the symptoms you’re describing are also common PMS symptoms, as you said. Since the condom was spermicidal and there wasn’t a full ejaculation, your…

Advice
  • Sarah Riley

While gloves are helpful for making sure that no ejaculate reaches your genitals during manual sex, the primary benefit is that things are both clean and smooth. Obviously, hands tend to carry tons of bacteria. Just think about all of the things that your hands or your partner’s hands come into…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

You most likely got the kidney infection because of not treating your urinary tract infection soon enough. Kidney infections almost always arise from a urinary tract or bladder infection, which come about from bacteria introduced to the urethral opening (which, unfortunately, happens to be mighty…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

There is a risk of sexually transmitted infection simply because he’s ejaculating inside you. You can’t reduce that risk once it has occurred. And trying to douche or wash out the inside of the vagina only inclines you to things like yeast infections and vaginal imbalances more: that’s a harm, not a…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

Starting with the birth control issue, not knowing which pill in particular you’re on and not being able to see the insert for myself, I can’t give you a 100% answer per promising you I’m being as accurate as I know how to be. However, there are indeed some BCPs which operate in the way you’re…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

Hey there, anon. I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time right now. Without knowing what exactly your doctors had you taking, it’s hard for me to fully address your question with as best an answer as I can give. However, if you haven’t had any sort of period in two months, I would advise that you…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

It has NEVER been safe to try and terminate a pregnancy with a wire hanger, for crying out loud. PLEASE hear that. Abortions with wire hangers are remnants of the horror stories – true ones, sadly – from the days when abortion was illegal. Many women had to have backalley abortions at high cost…

Advice
  • Hollie West

The NuvaRing is a HIGHLY effective method of birth control. As you’ll see here, the NuvaRing has only a 8% failure rate with typical use (and less than 2% with perfect use). This is lower than the birth control pill (9%) and the external condom (15%). The real question is how much of a risk you and…