Sexually transmitted diseases are a serious concern in not only America, but also world-wide as they have become more common over the years. And when left untreated, certain STD’s can actually cause numerous health problems, from skin abnormalities, to rashes, painful discomfort, and ultimately damage to your sexual reproductive organs and even in worst cases, death according to Test Kits Chlamydia. So how can we prevent this? There are many methods of preventing sexually transmitted diseases. And we’ll go over them for you.
- It’s good practice to avoid having intercourse or conducting sexual activity with someone who has sores “down there”, strange rashes, yucky discharge, or even symptoms such as extremely bad cold sores. We’re not just talking the cold sores you get with dry cracked corners of the mouth. We’re talking about sores that start that way, then spread quickly to other areas around the mouth. This is generally a sign that a person may have an STD.
- Get STD tested frequently. If you are with your long-term partner, for starters be faithful to each other. Aside from this, you don’t want to have unprotected sex if you or your partner wasn’t. If you had a negative test for STD’s, WebMD recommends that you wait at least six months and get retested. This is highly uncommon for us to do this, but it isn’t a bad practice.
- Using condoms every time you have sex (when you’re not with someone who you know is STD free). Don’t take it off mid-swing, leave it on the entire time. While this is not 100% effective, it can definitely highly decrease the risks of getting anything.
- Don’t share personal bodily things with anyone other than say, your partner or spouse that you know doesn’t have anything. Things such as towels, washcloths, underwear, and even fingernail clippers and files can all contain bacteria and viruses which can be spread.
- Get a vaccination for Hepatitis B. This three-shot concoction can help you not get this form of hepatitis, which can cause a lot of problems with your health, especially for women.
- Don’t be afraid to get an HIV test. Since the 1980’s and the breakthrough of AIDS and HIV, it isn’t anything more than a safe measure to get a full-scale test which includes this test.
- Don’t abuse alcohol or drugs. No, seriously. You run the risk of your inhibitions becoming lower (in general studies) when you’re intoxicated and many people have unsafe sex.
- Abstinence. Duh! This has been said for centuries in almost every culture. Abstinence is one of the key ways to ensure that you don’t get STD’s, or if you do have one (some people simply can’t help it and are born with them), then you need to be considerate to other people.
- Contrary to popular belief, nonoxynyl-9 which is a spermicide was believed to help prevent this, but today’s science has done research to show that it can actually increase your risks of receiving an STD.
Conclusion
There are many ways to avoid getting or transmitting STD’s, but the key one is actually abstinence. In general, it all comes down to ethics and responsibilities. Some people can’t get rid of their STD’s, but it doesn’t mean that with proper care that they can have sexual activities with a lifelong partner in order to still enjoy their adult lives. Just be careful, be safe, and be respectful to yourself and other people. In a nutshell, this is the best way to avoid STD’s altogether.