Tag Archives: sexually transmitted infections

sex and relationship, Sex Health

Practising Safe Sex Using Some of the Popular Ways

A wise guy once said ‘Prevention is better than cure’. In certain matters related to sex, there is little or no scope of cure. Complications such as unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are irreversible; the only way of avoiding them is to take preventive measures. Following are some of the ways in which you can minimize the risks involved, if not cure them.

General precautions would make you self aware

First, it is important to consider and accept the fact that risks are involved wherever sex is. That being said, carrying out precautionary steps to avoid unnecessary complications is no rocket science. Begin with constantly educating yourself with regards to your body, its responses towards sexuality and sexual practices among other things. This should make you more aware of yourself and the possible responses that could trigger during the act.

Knowing your menstrual cycle could help you avoid pregnancy

First timers, especially females should keep a track of their menstrual cycle. Knowing the dates of their period should help them trace the days when they are ovulating. This is significant as those two days bear the highest chances of pregnancy. The chances of getting pregnant a week prior to and after the cycle are less; however, this does not mean that the possibility is down to zero.

More logical and specific measures to avoid complications

Using condoms may be a good thing; but it is equally crucial to consider how your body reacts to it. As much as latex condoms show an increased possibility of preventing sexually transmitted infections, they may be unsuitable for those allergic to it. Protection is available in alternative materials such as polyurethane and lambskin; these, however, are relatively less reliable for the purpose.

It is advisable to use female condoms for penetrative vaginal sex as they are aptly effective to prevent pregnancy and STIs.

Unprotected oral sex can have grave consequences. For this purpose, there are dental dams or square condom sheets to prevent the inflow of unwanted fluids such as infected blood from the genitals to the mouth. A dental dam should be used only once for either anal or vaginal sex and never back to back for both.

Treatment of Erectile dysfunction

Hormonal birth control pills are 99% effective, and even better when incorporated into your daily routine. A proper prescription of the same from a trusted gynaecologist would be most advisable. Alternatives to pills are hormonal patches and implants, injections of estrogen or progestin and vaginal hormones. These also show efficacy up to 99% when used properly. 

Sex toys: getting kinky with a hint of hygiene

Sex toys may be the core spice of the entire act. However, repeatedly using them can possibly put you through risk. In other words, any infection, trivial or major, could catch up on you unawares. To avoid this, you will need to consider sterilising them with disinfectants prior to their use. Sex toys need to be clean and dry at all times so you need to ensure a suitable environment for not just their sustenance, but also your well being!

sex and relationship, Sex Health, Sex Life Story

Prevention And Protective Measures Against Chlamydia

Sexually transmitted diseases, including Chlamydia infection, are transmitted via sexual intercourse. This means that only persons that are sexually active are at risk. The chance to get a sexually transmitted disease is defined by the person’s sexual activity and behavior.

Each individual can protect its own health by avoiding risky sexual intercourses and by using protection (condoms) during those intercourses.

Having sex early in the relationship and huge number of sexual partners during lifetime certainly increase the risk of these diseases and their unpleasant consequences. Sometimes changing the partner means higher risk, because when you have sex with someone new that means that you are having sex with everyone with whom that person has slept before.

So how can we lower the risk? Permanent and mutually faithful relationship between two healthy persons and abstinence from sexual activities are the only two measures that are helpful in the process of protection against sexually transmitted diseases. In other cases, people can protect themselves by avoiding dangerous sexual behavior and by applying condoms during sexual activities.

Primary prevention based on education and behavioral change is the key to prevention and control of sexually transmitted infections, including Chlamydia infections. Changing behavior such as increased use of condoms, delaying the start of sexual life and reducing the number of sexual partners, in response to a campaign to prevent AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, are associated with reduction of Chlamydia infections and complications.

These are few practical tips that will reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases:

–      Always use latex condoms from the very beginning of the sexual intercourse to the end no matter what type of sex are you practicing (anal, vaginal or oral)

–      Before engaging into sex with your new partner, try to estimate how risky he is.

–      If you use lubricant agents try those who are based on water, because those that are based on oil can damage the condom.

–      It is important to prevent any kind of damage on the skin and membranes in the genital area or the anus, which can lead to bleeding. These bleedings can cause entrance of some sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS.

Measures of protection against sexually transmitted diseases are the same measures that can be applied against Chlamydia. In cases where the patient has recovered from Chlamydia it is extremely important for the patient to do everything he or she can to prevent re-infection. Reappearance of Chlamydia increases the risk of infertility. Once again, people who have intercourse are strongly advised to use latex condoms during the whole intercourse.

Regular and proper use of latex condoms is the best method of protection against Chlamydia infections in sexually active persons. Do not forget that the risk of Chlamydia increases with the number of sexual partners. People who are at risk of infection with Chlamydia should consult a doctor and take medical exams to determine if any of the causes of sexually transmitted diseases are present. Risk factors include sexual activity during adolescence, multiple sexual partners, not using condoms and previous infection that can cause some other sexually transmitted disease.

sex and relationship, Sex Health, Sex Life Story

How to Prevent Sexually Transmitted Diseases

The number of young people that have sexually transmitted diseases is rising every day. For example in the USA more than half of those who suffer from some kind of sexually transmitted disease are young people under the age of 25.

There are more than 20 types of diseases that are transmitted by sexual intercourse and there are much more causes that these diseases occur. Some of them are caused by the virus of the genital wards or the human immunodeficiency virus while others are caused by hepatitis and herpes. Very often these diseases are Chlamydia infections, because they are really easily transmitted and often accompanied by other infections.

When we talk about Chlamydia infections it’s good to know that the incubation period of this infection takes one to three weeks. After this period people that are infected can notice whitish discharge from their genitalia. Sometimes it’s very hard to tell what the symptoms of Chlamydia are and the process of treating this infection can be very difficult.  For example men that have developed Chlamydia infection can have problem with their prostate (inflammation) while women can experience pelvic inflammatory disease which can lead to infertility. Therefore it is necessary to be extremely careful and to react as soon as the infection is noticed. This infection is treated successfully with the usage of antibiotics.

Prevention is extremely important when it comes to sexually transmitted diseases because as you can they are very difficult to treat. Some infections are very difficult to notice because they don’t make some significant changes in their host. That’s why we need to be cautious. Sometimes it takes only one sexual contact for transmission of infection. That’s why prevention is very important. Although there are different types of protection for different types of infections, there are some general rules that can apply for all infections and for all people no matter their age, sex or sexual lifestyle.

Prevention is very important and should begin as early as possible. It means that even before young people make their first sexual contact they need to be familiar with these issues. They need to learn about the causes of sexually transmitted infections and the diseases that they cause and the ways to protect if they occur.

The most efficient method that will give 100% effect is abstention from sexual activity. However this option is not practical and probably not even possible. There are however few things that can help the prevention from these infections:

–      Proper choice of a partner. Having sex with people that you know, trust and love will certainly reduce the risk of infection to minimum.

–      Having sex with complete strangers or almost complete strangers with unknown sexual behavior will raise the risk. People that tend to have such contacts are often carriers of various diseases.

–      Having regular medical exams can prevent the appearance of infections.

–      Using condoms will surely increase the level of security. Condoms can prevent transmission of most of the sexually transmitted infections however people should be careful with infections that are transmitted in other ways.

–      Regular showering can also be very useful.

Remember that even if we have taken all measures for prevention sexually transmitted diseases can still occur. That’s why we need to treat them very seriously.