Getting caught up in the moment and letting things slide is easy when you’re involved with a new partner. Unfortunately, prevention is often the easiest way to remain safe and healthy overall for your physical health. To prevent contracting STDs, you’ll need to ensure that appropriate steps are taken before, during, and after intimacy. While refraining from sexual activity is the only way to 100% guarantee you’ll avoid STDs, it’s highly impractical as a long-term solution.
STDs are prevalent, with most people having one at some point in their life. Younger individuals or those having multiple partners are at an increased risk of getting an STD. Thankfully, several sexually transmitted diseases are quickly cured if caught in the early stages.
While many people feel ashamed and embarrassed by the stigma attached to STDs, it’s important to remember that contracting these viruses and infections has nothing to do with hygiene or overall cleanliness. Just as you would take medication to get rid of strep throat, many drugs are available to get rid of infections or minimize their influence in your daily life. There are also a few things you can do to protect yourself from STDs and reduce the risk of getting one.
How to Prevent STDs
Abstinence is the only way to avoid STDs, including sexual contact with another person. But choosing to have sex doesn’t mean you have to throw all caution to the wind. Engaging in safer sex lowers the probability of getting an STD.
Safer sex includes barrier protections like internal condoms, dental dams, or condom use every time you have sexual contact. The barriers help block fluids and skin-to-skin contact to pass sexually transmitted diseases. Individuals can use condoms for oral sex, anal sex, and vaginal sex. Internal condoms are meant for vaginal sex and anal sex, while dental dams are for oral sex.
Condoms are arguably the best protection method against STDs, but there are other things you can do too. Individuals engaging in male-with-male anal sex should consider a preventative measure against HIV. Prescription medications like PrEP on demand can lower the likelihood of becoming HIV-positive when engaging in activities with partners of unknown status. When used correctly, PrEP can be 99% effective against HIV.
Having open communication is another vital component to safer sex. Talk to your partner about any STD screening, health concerns, and safer sex practices you’d like to use. Ask your partner if they’ve had an infection in the past, including your sexual health history.
Understanding Different Infection Methods
Every STD spread through different channels, whether through oral, anal, or vaginal sex or through skin-to-skin contact. Some infections spread through fluids like vaginal fluids, blood, or semen. Other STDs spread when the skin of your genitals or mouth rubs against the skin of someone else’s.
Vaginal and anal sex are exceptionally risky without using barrier methods, exposing you and your partner to fluids and skin contact. A few STDs like herpes, HPV, and molluscum contagiosum spread with skin contact, making barriers a lower chance of contracting an infection, but not a guarantee.
Blood-borne viruses like HIV can spread through needles or childbirth (and breastfeeding). A partner must have the STD to contract an STD, which often comes with asymptomatic carriers. Many infections don’t give outward symptoms initially, making screening critical to safer sex.
Can I tell if someone has an STD?
The only way to know if you have an STD is through adequate testing. Most of the time, STDs don’t have symptoms. Although it’s a good habit to inspect your partner’s genitals before engaging in sexual activity, you often can’t tell whether someone has an STD.
Symptoms to Watch For
Some STDs cause problems or issues that you may notice. Getting tested for STDs is essential if you have any of these symptoms in, on, or around your genitals:
– Pain or swelling
– Weird bumps, lumps, rashes, or sores
– Itching or burning (with or without urination)
– Burning or pain when you pee
– Discharge or pus from your penis
– Pain or bleeding during intercourse
– Vaginal discharge that has a different texture, color, or smell than normal
– Bleeding from the genitals, which isn’t a menstrual cycle.
These symptoms don’t always guarantee an STD. Other health issues may cause similar symptoms. But getting checked is the only way to know for sure.
