Sex and Health - What You can do

If there are matters that are bothering you, it is important to talk about them with your partner. If the problem is persistent, discuss it with your doctor, who can refer you for appropriate help. If you have a long-term illness or a disability that impairs your sex life, you may find it helpful to get in touch with an organization that has been established to help people with the problem.

Safe sex

Sexual practices that minimize your risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases

One of the hazards of sexual contact is exposure to certain infections. These range from uncomfortable but minor problems, such as pubic lice, to life-threatening disorders, such as HIV infection (see HIV infection and AIDS). Certain disorders, such as genital herpes, genital warts, and gonorrhea, are almost always transmitted only by sexual contact and are known as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Others, such as hepatitis B and C and HIV infection, may be transmitted by other means as well as through sex. For example, people who inject drugs and share needles with other people risk infection with HIV or hepatitis. Other disorders, such as scabies, are transmitted by contact and are common among people living in overcrowded conditions and among schoolchildren. These disorders may also be transmitted during sexual intercourse.

ASSESSING THE RISKS

It is important to assess your risk of exposure to STDs so that you can make informed choices about the level of risk that you find acceptable. To be able to do this, you need to understand how infection is spread and know which sexual activities carry the highest risks. If you think you are likely to be exposed to infection, or if you are not sure what your own risk might be, you should use a condom or avoid sex. It is essential that you do not have unprotected sex until your relationship has been established and is monogamous and both partners are known to be free of disease.

HIGH-RISK ACTIVITIES

Diseases such as hepatitis B and C and HIV infection may be spread through contact with semen, blood, or vaginal secretions. Other disorders, such as genital warts and genital herpes, are transmitted by contact with a wart or sore. The areas most vulnerable to infection are the skin of the genitals and mucous membranes such as the lining of the vagina, anus, mouth, and urethra (the tube that leads from the bladder to the outside of the body).

The sexual activities that pose the highest risks are those in which there is a chance that the mucous membranes will be damaged, allowing infectious agents from body fluids or body parts to enter the bloodstream. Vaginal, anal, and oral intercourse that involves penetration, and in which partners do not use a condom, are considered to be the activities carrying the highest risks. Anal penetration can be particularly hazardous because the lining of the anus and rectum is easily damaged.