You might not be as safe as you think are when it comes to your
sexual health.- Amber Madison,
BettyConfidential.com
A woman in bed
Last week I caught a few minutes of the TV show Kourtney
& Khloe Take Miami. The younger Kardashian sister was
yelling at the older (now pregnant) one for being a “make-out
w—-.” She said something along the lines of: “You make out with
so many people you’re going to get herpes. I’d rather you be having
sex using a condom. At least then you’d be protected.”
It’s true that protected sex is much safer than unprotected sex.
But you can still get sexually transmitted
diseases even when you’re protected, and it will always be
safer to be a “make-out w—-” than it is to have protected sex
with a lot of guys. The fact that condoms aren’t always a guarantee
against STDs is just one thing you may not know about your sexual
health. Here are some surprising and sobering truths:
1. You can still get an STD when using a
condom
Always wrap it up. Using a condom is going to make you much less
likely to contract an STD. But condoms aren’t perfect protection.
Here’s the thing: STDs are spread two ways, through infected skin
and infected fluids. Some STDs–like syphilis, herpes and HPV
(human papillomavirus) — can cause sores anywhere on the thighs,
anus, scrotum, and butt. That means there’s plenty of potentially
infected skin that isn’t covered by a condom. So while it’s very
important to use a condom, don’t think that using one every time
means you’ve eliminated your risk of getting an STD.
Read
10 Signs He’ll Be Bad in Bed
2. STDS aren’t always obvious
You can’t assume that if a guy isn’t walking around frantically
scratching his crotch, he doesn’t have an STD. You also can’t
assume that he’s clean just because his penis may look normal (and
isn’t covered in barnacle-like bumps like some pictures you may
have seen). Most people who have an STD don’t have any signs or
symptoms. Others have symptoms that are so mild they either
overlook them, or mistake them for a tiny cut or ingrown hair. So
just because a guy may think he has no STDs, it doesn’t actually
mean he’s clean. (And the same goes for you.)
3. You can’t get tested for everything
Source :BettyConfidential.com
The best way to figure out if you or your partner has an STD is
to get tested. True, there are straightforward tests for HIV,
syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. But herpes and HPV are
trickier. There is no test to diagnose if guys have HPV (the
strains that cause warts or the strains that cause cancer). If a
guy has a bump he thinks may be a genital wart, he can have a
doctor visually diagnose it and determine if it is or isn’t HPV –
or if it’s too hard to tell what it is. You can get pap smears and
HPV DNA tests to see if you have the strains of HPV that cause
cervical cancer, but just like a guy, any bump you have that could
be a wart must be visually diagnosed. Although there is a blood
test for herpes, it’s not very common, and much more often herpes
sores—like warts—are visually diagnosed by a doctor.
Basically, any guy who says he’s been tested for
everything is either lying, or is actually saying that at
some point he had unidentified bumps and sores around his groin
that he showed to a doctor. Even someone who has had every STD test
possible cannot be absolutely sure they don’t have an STD. And
remember, in order for an HIV test to be most accurate, a person
must wait at least 2 months after possible exposure to the
virus.
4. You won’t necessarily get an STD your first time with
a new partner
Everyone occasionally makes bad sexual choices. But there’s no
reason to make those choices again, and again, and again. It’s very
possible that you will have sex with someone who has a STD and not
contract it. Just because you had unprotected sex with a guy once
or twice, you haven’t necessarily gotten any STD he could be
carrying. So, that means if you have sex with him again in the
future, it’s still important to use a condom. Each time you have
sex, even with the same person, there is a new risk of contracting
an STD.
5. An untreated chlamydial infection often leads to
infertility
Chlamydia is the most commonly reported bacterial STD in the
United States. The good news is: It’s completely curable. The bad
news is: Untreated chlamydial infections can destroy your
reproductive organs. According to the federal Centers for Disease
Control (CDC), about 40 percent of the time an untreated chlamydial
infection leads to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, which can cause
chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and
complications with pregnancy. Being tested for
chlamydia is as simple and straightforward as peeing in a cup.
Every sexually active woman should protect her fertility and
reproductive health by regularly being screened for chlamydia, and
if infected, treating the infection before it has a chance to cause
permanent damage.
The point of this article isn’t to scare you into celibacy. But
STDs are a lot trickier than many people realize. Living life means
taking risks, and sex is no different. It’s only fair to know what
sorts of risks you’re taking.
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