STD Myths

There are a lot of myths my friends says about STDs. For example, they said that using two condoms at once protects you more than one condom. That is just not true. Many people probably are going around thinking these myths are true, and telling these myths to their friends. So, I thought it was important to address these issues.

1.       Using two condoms at once makes having sex safer. Not true, because the two condoms together will cause friction, and then they will tear.

2.     Having sex in the pool kills STDs and sperm. Unfortunately not true. Chlorine is not a disinfectant, and it does not kill STDs or sperm. Use a condom to prevent STDs and getting pregnant.

3.     People can avoid STDs by having anal or oral sex. You hope that‘s true, but it’s not. Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Herpes, HIV, and Syphilis can survive in the mouth, anus, and the genital area.

4.    People can tell when their partner has a STD. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s not true. In fact, most  people with STDs have no symptoms. 

5.     People can only get an STD once. So not true. People can get STDs more than once, if you have HPV, HIV, Herpes, Gonorrhea or Chlamydia you can get infected with more of the same virus or bacteria, because you don’t build up any immunity.

6.    If I’m free of STDs, my partner doesn’t need to be tested. Not true. Your partner still needs to get checked for STDs, because he or she could have an STD, and can infect you with it.

7.     People can’t get STDs from skin to skin contact or by sharing sex toys. Not true at all. There are STDs that you can get from skin to skin contact and shared sex toys, like Herpes, Scabies, Trich, and Crabs. Scabies, and Crabs people can get them by sharing bedding or clothing.

8.    People don’t get STDs when using birth control. Never true. Hormonal contraceptives don’t prevent STDs.

Know your Status, get Tested

One day I was sitting in class, and a guest speaker was talking about STDs.  She was talking about getting tested, and how important getting tested was. I started to think why people should get tested. The guest speaker explained that people should get tested even if they don’t have symptoms, because most of the time STDs don’t show symptoms. Then I went in to deeper thought, and started to wonder how often people should get tested. The kids started to leave the class for break, and I didn’t get my question answered.  A few years after, I still wondered about it, and I wondered if people had the same question. So, I did my research, and found out how often people should be tested.

1.   People need to get tested when they change partners even if you were in a monogamous relationship.

2.  Whenever people decide to add another partner in their life while having sex with another one.

3.  Symptoms or not, people still need to get tested if sexually active.

4.   If you think if someone is cheating on you get tested.

5.  If you find out you have an STD it’s recommended that your partner or partners get tested, and treated.

Important to Keep in Mind

 There can be consequences for not getting tested, like embarrassment if you give an STD to your partner. Undetected infections can lead to infertility. To help avoid consequences you may way to talk to your partner about their sexual history. Ask them about if they ever got tested, and if they got tested what had they done since then.

Birth Control and Nutrition

As you may know this is nutrition mouth. I’ve never thought about when taking birth control that people can lessen the impact of side effects with good nutrition. I never knew that your nutrition can be a big part in preventing health issues such as medication side effects and stress. There may be some health concerns while taking hormonal contraceptives, and good nutrition can prevent some.

For example, when women take Depo-Provera they may to lose some bone density. Depo-Provera is a birth control shot. Women should increase their calcium intake when they are taking Depo-Provera, because it decreases the amount of calcium in your bones. People can find calcium in dairy products, and nuts and beans. Also, people can take a calcium supplement to prevent bone loss. Bone loss is not the only worry when taking hormonal contraception. When using a copper IUD (intra-uterine device) some woman may lose iron in their bodies. There is iron loss, because of increased blood loss during their period. Most women are monitored to see how much anemia. Women can find iron in meats, proteins, and grains.  Another thing to have concern for is weight gain while using hormonal contraceptives. All hormonal contraceptives do have progesterone in them, which can cause a bigger appetite, and that could lead to weight gain. The weight gain is not much it’s only 3-6lbs. Make sure you exercise, while using hormonal contraceptives. It’s important to talk to your doctor about hormonal contraceptives and nutrition, and see which one is right for you. 

Should Women Douche? No!!!!!!!

One day I was watching TV with a friend, and there was a Summer’s Eve commercial. He said that douching is important to keep clean. I told him that there was no reason to douche, and that the vagina cleans it’s self. My friend argued with me, saying that his mom told him that you were more likely to get STDs when women didn’t douche. While I was listening to my friend’s argument, I thought “why do women douche, and why women shouldn’t douche?”  So I decided to do some research and here is what I found.

History about Douching

                

1.   Originally douching was used as a birth control method, when birth control products were illegal.  However, current research dispels this idea.

2. Douching products were used to sell to women just so companies can make money, and to encourage women to clean the vagina, not for medical reasons.

3. Commercials used scare tactics to convince women to buy their product, such as your partner having no interest when your vaginal area was smelly.

 Reasons not to Douche

1.   There is no medical reason to douche.

2. More at risk to get Bacterial Vaginosis, which is a change in the Ph. Of the vagina. The cause of the change in Ph. is when abnormal bacteria outnumber the normal bacteria.  Symptoms of bacterial vaginosis include an increase in discharge that is usually white and thin.  It can create an odor that is described as fishy.  Sometimes it can cause lower pelvic pain.

3. Douching can cause bacteria to be pushed up to the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, which could cause pelvic inflammatory disease.

4. The vagina cleans its self by making mucous to clean out blood, discharge, and semen.

5. It’s a myth that douching prevents STDs after having sex, and can possibly increase your risk.

6. It’s a myth that douching after sex prevents pregnancy, and can increase your risk by forcing sperm, that may have stayed in the vagina, upwards into the uterus furthering their journey.

7.  A slight odor of the vagina is normal.

If you have questions, ask your doctor about douching or you can send us a question and a certified nurse practitioner will answer you personally.