Sexual Health

You’re right, some antibiotics can interfere with hormonal birth control. Amoxicillin is noted as one of those antibiotics. It might cause your birth control to be less effective, so you’ll want to make sure to use a backup method during any sexual contact until you start your next cycle of pills…

Before I answer your questions, I’d like to commend you for even getting yourself to the doctor for your yearly check up (a chore that many of us seem to avoid!) I’m also glad that your gynecologist tested you for Chlamydia because the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommends yearly Chlamydia…

Unfortunately, we don’t come with an “oven ready” light that lets us know any medication we’re taking is working. This includes birth control pills. So the only thing you really can do is make sure you’re taking your pills correctly (same time everyday, not doing/taking anything to interfere, etc.)…

One of the biggest problems with all of the information out there about sex is that there are quite a lot of myths surrounding the subject, and it’s very difficult to know what’s safe to believe and what isn’t. First, it is not bad for someone to abstain from having sex of any type for a while or…

In order for oral contraceptives – the birth control pill – to be effective, they need to be taken every day. Missing one every now and then so long as you make it up within a day or so won’t likely compromise your effectiveness all that much, but if you’re missing a few pills regularly, that’s…

The answer to this depends entirely on exactly what you’re talking about here. If you’re wondering whether a gynecologist can tell if a woman has ever had an orgasm, then the answer is no. Orgasm does not permanently change the state of the genitals in any way. There would be nothing special for the…

Not having sexual contact with anyone in the past does decrease your risk of STI transmission, however it does not totally negate the risk. First of all, some STIs can be transmitted via non-sexual means. One example that works really well when we’re talking about oral sex is herpes. As is noted in…

Absolutely! Hands are pretty darn dirty places. I mean, think about all the things we touch in a given day! Your hands can definitely carry bacteria and germs on them. Those nasties can then easily make their way into your body if a partner performs manual sex on you. Vaginal tissue is pretty…

If you had a partner before him for oral, vaginal or anal sex, that could be who you got it from and your current partner managed not to contract it from you (now or yet), or contracted it so recently that he isn’t testing positive yet. Or, your current partner’s test wasn’t accurate, or he said he…

While some doctors may choose not to see children or adolescents in their practice, period – because they just don’t specialize in that group – it sounds far more likely your stepmother was simply being dishonest with you. If her doctor was someone who chose only to see adults, he or she most…