Sexual Health

Maybe you know what safer sex is. But do you also know what it isn’t? Take a minute and fact-check your ideas about what can protect you from STIs and what cannot.

Just Curious, I’m so glad that you wrote in with this question! I remember Enrique Iglesias made news back in 2007 when he voiced his concerns with condoms that fit too loosely, and LifeStyles immediately responded with an endorsement deal and the promise that they would have a condom in his size…

That question probably either sounds like a really important one or a really stupid one, depending on your view. But I want the answer regardless, and am seriously tired of waiting for it. That’s why I went ahead and asked it myself. As an organization that provides information on all methods of…

One of the first things you generally want to think about in terms of any problems during or after sex such as you’re having with irritation, is when was the last time you were in to see your gynecologist? I can see from your question that you’ve been to a doctor about the UTIs, and that’s good. But…

You’ve probably heard or thought some things about condom use that might be keeping you or others from using them or from using them consistently, and I’m willing to bet you haven’t heard everything I’m about to say. Even if you’re already using condoms and using them every single time properly, I bet you know someone – a sibling, a friend, a sexual partner – who could stand to hear ten great reasons to use condoms.

“Birth control” or “contraception” simply means any number of methods a person may or does use in order to try to prevent pregnancy. So, condoms are birth control. The pill is birth control. IUDs are birth control. The Depo-Provera shot is birth control. Withdrawal is birth control. If you choose…

Right now, it sounds like you are your partner are practicing withdrawal as a form of birth control. As a method of contraception, withdrawal is not the most effective choice available. With perfect use it is about 96% effective (meaning that about 4 out of every 100 people using it will become…

There are a bunch of things you can know and do that I think are going to help you feel a lot better. When we talk about the effectiveness of any kind of contraception, including condoms, we reference two different groups of figures. One is perfect use: that means a person always uses their method…

Let me first talk lay out the basics of UTIs. A urinary tract infection (also called cystitis or bladder infections) is essentially something that happens when external bacteria enter your body through the urethra – your urinary opening – and get into your urinary tract and your bladder. That…

It’s not a strange question, but it certainly is an infuriating issue. That woman was either dishonest with you or unknowingly mistaken. In the United States, all 50 of them, minors may purchase condoms just like legal adults can. That also includes minors who are not above a given state’s age of…