Ways To Keep Yourself Safe From Sexually Transmitted Diseases

The most surefire way to prevent getting a sexually transmitted disease is to just abstain forever. But that is not a realistic solution and not one that many people would prefer. So, instead, it is better to try to practice safe sex to keep yourself protected from sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea, syphilis, AIDS, and herpes. Any number of these diseases you are susceptible to if you are not practicing safe sex, and once you have the disease, you are then at risk of passing it along to anyone with whom you come into physical sexual contact as well as unborn children, if you are a woman.

Usually these diseases are passed from bodily fluids, just as AIDS, and so when you have intercourse, the exchanged fluids can transfer to the body and can infect the other person. Often, it is a hit or miss ordeal and someone may or may not contract it from the other person, though rigorous testing must be performed to determine it. One way to protect yourself can be with a condom, though that is a tentative solution with many risks. Though a condom does serve not to exchange bodily fluids, it can still break or tear during intercourse and then spread AIDS or other disease regardless. A condom is only somewhat effective against some diseases and really not a protective measure against most. However, if you know that you have a sexually transmitted disease and you are going to have sex with someone, it is important to wear a condom or to encourage your partner to wear one.

Another thing to do is to be open about the disease that you have before you have intercourse and, if you do not have a disease, to find out if your partner does. You need to be cautious before you have sex and that might mean both of you getting tested before you decide to share your bodies. You can both get tested for an array of diseases and infections and then once you have the results you will have a better idea of the risks and know how to proceed. If your partner refuses to take a test, then you need to take more precautions and ask about your partner's sexual history and whether or not any of his partners might have had a sexually transmitted disease. Really, the safest thing is for both of you to get tested beforehand so that no diseases pass through the two of you.

It is essential that you try to practice safe sex because sexually transmitted diseases can cause pelvic inflammatory diseases as well as infertility and ectopic pregnancies. You may also be at risk for experiencing serious discomfort and painful infection in the form of genital warts and other painful rashes that can occur with herpes. Cervical cancer is also a risk for many people. You will be at risk for gential mycoplasma infections, Chlamydia infections, and a number of other bacteria related ordeals. The good news is, if you happen to get a sexually transmitted disease, most of them can be treated effectively in the early stages and you will be all right again with some rounds of antibiotics. But that means you need to get tested regularly because symptoms do not always present themselves.