WHEN YOU’RE READY TO HAVE SEX, HAVE YOURSELF TESTED
Let’s say that you and your partner have discussed sex and your sexual health, and you are ready to begin an intimate relationship. What’s next? Unfortunately, talking doesn’t guarantee safety. For one thing, just because a person doesn’t have any symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she is not infected (see Chapter 2 and Part II). Another consideration is that, even if you and your partner agree always to use a condom, you are not 100 percent safe: condoms sometimes fail because they are improperly used, and sometimes they break. Certain sexually transmitted infections, such as herpes and genital warts, can be transmitted even when condoms are used.
The bottom line is that the only way to know for sure whether or not you are infected with an STD is to be tested. If both you and your partner are properly tested at the time intervals at which any infection is likely to show up, and you are both negative for all infections, and you are both mutually faithful, then you may want to consider not using condoms for STD prevention. (See Chapter 5 for an explanation of the time intervals required to ensure accurate testing.) Under any other circumstances, you may want to assume that your partner may be infected with a sexually transmitted infection and therefore keep yourself safer by using condoms. If you or your partner has not been tested, or if you or your partner has other partners, then it is best to use condoms.
One important note: Because of the media attention devoted to HIV, many couples consider getting screened for HIV before becoming sexually involved, which is a great idea. Of all the sexually transmitted infections, this is the one of which most people are aware, and the one that most people are afraid of because it is life-threatening and incurable. Although testing for HIV is very important tor any sexually active adult, testing for HIV alone is not a complete screen for all of the sexually transmitted infections. (See Chapter 3 for a description of what is involved in a complete STD screening.) You may actually be at higher risk for acquiring other STDs (such as chlamydia or herpes) than HIV so it is important to get a complete screening.
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Tags: Erectile Dysfunction, Men’s Health