I can\u2019t stress enough how important having great, fulfilling sex is. However, there\u2019s something else equally important that I haven\u2019t seriously touched on, and that\u2019s sexual health.<\/i> What does that mean? Sexual health involves preventing sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia, herpes and HIV, keeping parasites and warts at bay, and preventing or managing pregnancy.
\n
\nFortunately, maintaining your sexual health isn\u2019t very difficult. This is a prevention game, so as long as you maintain good habits, you\u2019ll be in a great position to ensure that you won\u2019t have any nasty surprises later on. Let\u2019s look at some of the basics.<\/p>\n![\"Condoms\"](\"https:\/\/www.femplay.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/condoms.jpg\")
Barriers<\/h2>\n
The most surefire way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases as well as pregnancy is to prevent the sperm, germs, and viruses from getting in there in the first place. I\u2019m sure we\u2019re all familiar with condoms<\/a>, and they work wonderfully. However, did you know that female condoms also exist? We\u2019ve got both the traditional male condoms and female ones, so check them out! Remember that oral sex is also a potential vector of STDs, so don\u2019t forget the dental dams if that\u2019s in your repertoire.<\/p>\n Hormonal birth control\u2014the pill\u2014is a tried and true method for preventing pregnancy. What\u2019s not to love? The pill is cheap, easy to manage and highly effective, especially if you have regular checkups with your gynaecologist to ensure that you have the right prescription and dosage. You could also look into other forms of hormonal and non-hormonal birth control like inter-uterine devices (IUDs), Depo shots, implants, vaginal rings, and more<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you really want to manage STDs, then you\u2019d do well by yourself to make a habit of not just having sex with condoms, but also actively monitoring yourself for diseases and encouraging your sexual partners to do the same. Fortunately, STD testing is easy to find at most healthcare clinics and is completely confidential. Personally, I get tested in between sex partners just to be perfectly sure.<\/p>\n Here are a couple quick notes on things not<\/i> to do. Ever heard of pulling out to prevent pregnancy? It doesn\u2019t work very well, because ejaculate is leaked in small amounts long before the big moment. Beyond that, the most important thing is not to practice these habits inconsistently. After all, it only takes one bit of bad luck to catch something that might be permanent, so remember to be careful all the time!<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t seem all that complicated now, does it? Again, there\u2019s nothing more important than your health, and if you haven\u2019t given it much thought in the past, these tips will help you a lot. Don\u2019t forget about your physical safety<\/a>, either! While it\u2019s not technically part of the umbrella of sexual health, preventing injury, especially during kinky sex, is something everyone should think about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I can\u2019t stress enough how important having great, fulfilling sex is. However, there\u2019s something else equally important that I haven\u2019t seriously touched on, and that\u2019s sexual health. What does that mean? Sexual health involves preventing sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia, herpes and HIV, keeping parasites and warts at bay, and preventing or managing pregnancy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.femplay.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.femplay.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.femplay.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.femplay.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.femplay.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.femplay.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":424,"href":"https:\/\/www.femplay.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421\/revisions\/424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.femplay.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.femplay.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.femplay.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Birth Control<\/h2>\n
Check Up Often<\/h2>\n
Some Don\u2019ts<\/h2>\n