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

Yes, there are health risks associated with ingesting or being exposed to menses, because this is both fluid sharing and also blood sharing, even though menses is more than just blood. Overall, what you’re looking at are the risks associated with unprotected – without a latex barrier like a condom…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

Let’s first briefly review the state of things in the states when it comes to minors and access to abortion, since you’re hardly the only person who has ever asked about this. Worldwide access would be a way bigger piece, but sound information on global access can be found in this bibilography. (If…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

When I was in high school, I was – as I still am now – in the habit of hugging friends and warmly kissing them on the cheek, the sides of their mouth or on the mouth entire when greeting them, passing them in the halls, or just because I loved them and liked to demonstrate my affection. You can…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

What you need to determine, before anything else, is if you are, in fact, pregnant. To know that, what you need to do is to take a pregnancy test. You can purchase a test to take at home at most groceries or pharmacies, and home tests are very accurate. You just want to be sure that you really read…

Article
  • Carly Dreyfus

My experience with sex-negativity and ignorance in the medical world. Adventures in having an ovarian cyst, coming out in the ER, enduring bad gynecological exams, healing my relationship with my anus and finally finding a good doctor.

Advice
  • Sarah Riley

Cigarettes are bad for you, but they’re still sold all over the place. I was at the store just the other day and saw a frozen breakfast meal that contained 115% of your sodium intake for the day! There’s no way that can be good for you, but it’s still on the shelves. In fact, for many years in the…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

Given when you had your abortion, you’re right: you would not have been anything even remotely close to fully dilated. Your provider would have dilated your cervix to some degree, but only as much as is needed for aspiration, which is nothing close to what is needed for childbirth. At 10 weeks, a…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

If your boyfriend has Chlamydia, you can get it yourself via either oral sex or vaginal intercourse. Using condoms for both those activities, however, greatly reduces your risks of contracting Chlamydia and other sexually transmitted infections. So, if your partner has it, and you don’t use a condom…

Advice
  • Heather Corinna

If that’s truly the case – if any two people have had NO sexual contact of any kind with other partners – then, for the most part, either of them having a sexually transmitted infection is highly unlikely. It’s never sage to just presume someone has no STIs without having had any testing, but in…

Advice
  • Sarah Riley

Whenever you or a partner are being treated for an STI or any infection, it’s best to hold off all sexual activity until you are sure everything is clear and healed up. Even if your symptoms seem to have disappeared, it can take your bodies a while to completely clear the infection and get back to…