Your Go-To Guide to Safer Sex Practices
Preventing STDs in sexual partners and yourself is the primary goal of safer sex. Sex less hazardous to your health has the added benefit of improving your sexual experience.
Safer Sex Practices
There are numerous approaches to improving sexual safety. Using a barrier, such as an internal condom, a condom, dental dam, and latex or nitrile gloves, is recommended whenever oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse is being engaged in or any other activity in which sexual fluids may be transmitted (like sharing sex toys).
By separating your bodies, you and your partner can prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) that are transmitted by bodily fluids and skin-to-skin contact. Even if you frequently use protections like condoms and feel completely healthy, being tested for sexually transmitted diseases is essential to safer sex. Most people with STDs are oblivious to their condition and can readily transfer the disease to their sexual partners.
Use Of Barriers For Safer Sex
Using barriers during sex can help reduce the risk of infection by reducing the amount of time spent in direct contact with a partner’s genitalia. Latex condoms (external polyurethane) and internal condoms from condoms UK are two of the most prevalent barrier solutions for safe sex. Internal condoms are inserted into the vaginal canal before vaginal sex, while latex condoms are worn on the penis during sex.
Other barriers include latex gloves, worn over the hands to prevent contact with an open wound, and dental dams, which can be placed over the vulva or anus during oral sex. Condoms and other barrier measures can be used on top of sex toys to prevent the transfer of fluids between orifices and partners and their use during sexual activity.
The correct use of condoms is mandatory.
- Check the expiration date on the condom package to ensure it is still usable. Condoms lose efficacy after a specific time, so don’t use them if it’s too late.
- It needs to be opened with care to avoid breaking it.
- Verify that the correct side is out (the rim should be on the outside, like a little hat).
- Pinch the end and place it on top of the head to create a little well for the semen to gather.
- Roll it from your penis’ tip down to its base.
- Rolling it down over your head while uncircumcised may irritate your foreskin, so you may want to draw it back first.
- Avoid the temptation to use two condoms at once. Condoms can be damaged by the friction created when used. An exact requirement applies to using a condom that fits over the penis in addition to a condom that is worn inside the vagina or anus and is commonly referred to as a female condom. One condom per person, please.
- To lessen the possibility of slippage or breakage, you may want to try a new size condom if you find the current one is too tight, too loose, too short, or too long.
Non-Penetrative And Non-Contact Sexual Activities
Sexual encounters that don’t physically touch one other are called “no-contact” encounters. Cybersex, mutual masturbation, sexting, and phone sex are all forms of sexual activity that don’t include physical contact. Making out, hand jobs, and fingering are examples of non-penetrating sexual behaviors that reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by limiting the exchange of bodily fluids between partners (compared to high-risk activities like anal, oral or vaginal sex).
However, STIs like herpes and syphilis can be spread through skin-to-skin intimate contact, making non-penetrating sexual practices useless against them. Therefore, testing is crucial since the symptoms of the STDs may be unseen.
Use Of Preventive Medication
Taking certain medications before exposure to HIV is called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Most PrEP pills contain a combination of tenofovir and emtricitabine; these medicines should only be used under medical supervision. These medications have been shown to prevent the spread of HIV, but they do not affect the likelihood of contracting any other STIs. Birth control pills, or contraceptive tablets, are ineffective at preventing sexually transmitted infections.
Examine Your Sexual Health Often.
Get a sexual health check once a year, or more often if you’re in a new relationship, to rule out the possibility of a sexually transmitted infection. You should also check if you have had unsafe intercourse if you are unsure whether or not you take proper safety measures or if your former or current sexual partner told you they have a sexually transmitted infection.
Testing for sexually transmitted diseases at a sexual health clinic or with your doctor is easy and private. They typically require a genital swab and a urine sample. If you test positive for an infection, you and all of your current and past sex partners must be tested and treated to prevent the spread of the disease. Going for a sexual health checkup may feel awkward, but remember that doctors have seen it all.
Seek Medical Help After Exposure Due To Condom Breakage
Don’t freak out if you’ve had sex without a condom or if your condom breaks or falls off; there are still ways to protect yourself. Infectious disease testing is routinely done by nurses and at sexual health clinics. Notably, condom breakage exposes an individual to HIV. Therefore, (PEP); Post Exposure Prophylaxis within the first 72 hours may be handy.
Also, use emergency contraceptives, and to maximize their effectiveness, the emergency contraceptive pill should be taken during the first 24 hours after sexual activity; nevertheless, it can still be used up to 96 hours (4 days) afterward. However, its efficacy gradually declines; by day five, it is only around 50% effective at best.
If you are sexually active and practicing safe sex, reducing your number of partners can further lower your risk of sexually transmitted infections. The risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) from your partner rises with every new person you have sex with. In other words, the more sex you engage in, the higher your risk.
The risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection decreases directly to the number of sexual partners. However, this is only true if you also practice safe sex or get tested for STIs and HIV before having sex with your partner. Everyone who engages in sexual activity should consider scheduling frequent checkups at a local doctor’s office or sexual health center. Common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) often respond well to rapid treatment.
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