6 more common condom mistakes

Several months ago we published “6 Common Condom Mistakes.” We’re following up on that article with six more common condom mistakes. Condoms are a solid form of insurance (still, don't ignore STD testing as part of your safe sex rituals), but be sure to use them correctly, otherwise the benefits become null and void. Researchers at Indiana University found these additional rubber wrongdoings:

1. Early removal. A handful of survey respondents—13.6 to 44.7%—reported removing the condom before the deed was done, which defeats the whole goal.
2. Failure to check for damage. A handful of ladies and gentlemen said they didn’t check the condom for damage or a passed expiration date. We understand that lighting may be dim or you’re anxious to get the action started, but take two seconds to examine the wrapper for tears and imperfections when unrolling the condom.
3. Reusing the condom. 1.4 to 3.3% said they reused a condom during the same encounter. For real.
4. Poor storage. Storing condoms in wallets, extreme temperature or direct sunlight can weaken the latex. Your pocket is even a dangerous spot—sharp objects and body heat are potential hazards.
5. Incorrect withdrawal. Pull out when finished; don’t linger after ejaculation like 31% of men and 27% of women surveyed.
6. Opening package with a sharp object. This can cause the condom to get torn or punctured, rendering it useless. Be careful when opening!

Bonus mistake: Not wearing one at all! 

We mentioned this error in a previous blog post, but this mistake should be emphasized. Unprotected sex puts you at risk for STDs and HIV, as well as unintended pregnancies. Condoms are cheap, easy to use and offer lifesaving benefits—so, why not use one?! Just be sure to use it correctly! 

Find an STD testing facility near you.

Five things to know about pelvic inflammatory disease

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) isn’t an STD, per say. However, it’s a common complication of the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries from untreated chlamydia and gonorrhea. PID can be a serious condition in women, so here are five facts you need to know:

1.    Each year, over 750,000 women experience PID. About 10 to 15% of these women will become infertile from this infection.

2.    Women under 25 are most susceptible to PID, since the reproductive system may be less developed.

3.    A PID infection may be causing serious damage, but a woman may only experience mild symptoms, making this condition difficult to diagnose.

4.    The more sex partners a woman has, the greater her chances of contracting PID. Women with multiple partners are exposed to more infectious agents that can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease.

5.     The best way to prevent PID is to have STD testing performed regularly and get treated promptly if positive.

Source: cdc.gov

Have questions about STD testing? Give us a call at 877-317-3178.

Stranger danger: Dating apps linked to rise in STDs?

NEED TO KNOW

• Recent STD rates have jumped as much as 700% for some Utah residents, and researchers question the influence of casual sex via dating apps
• The largest increase in STDs is for Utah females, but only 7% of women surveyed admitted to having had anonymous sex

Unless you’re a billboard in West Hollywood, you probably don’t talk a lot about STDs.

Hopefully you’ll admit a positive status to someone you’re in a relationship with… but what about the person you match with on, like, Tinder? 

According to a KUTV report, officials at the Utah State Health Department are extremely concerned about the shocking growth in STDs they’ve seen over the last few years -- and they’re thinking dating app-coordinated sexual encounters are to blame.

In just the three-year span from 2011-2014, for example, gonorrhea rates among Utah men went up 300%.  That’s nothing next to the state’s ladies, whose gonorrhea rates jumped 714%. 

The Health Department is eager to establish the root of the problem, but they need to rely on self-reported information such as surveys completed by STD-positive residents in order to do so.

What they’ve found so far doesn’t exactly answer Utah’s gender-oriented gonorrhea issue.  Forty percent of surveyed males admitted to having anonymous sex— which works in favor of the theory that the villain here is casual encounters with virtual strangers from dating apps.  But only 7% of surveyed women have owned up to the same — so either they're lying about their laying, or something besides anonymous sex is responsible for the 714% jump in gonorrhea rates.

Either way, it’s a problem that needs to be solved -- especially, KUTV’s Heidi Hatch argues, in states such as Utah that teach abstinence only.

Lynn Beltran, an epidemiologist at the Salt Lake County STD clinic with the job of calling the sexual partners of those who test STD-positive, offered Hatch one immediate solution: knowledge.

“People are not educated and think things like, 'STDs are only in that population I don't associate with,’” she said. “That’s not true. Nobody is exempt from being exposed to an STD when you are sexually active.”

So whether you’re sleeping with your Tinder dates or not, get tested. Know you’re clean, and ask for the status of the people you sleep with.

Otherwise, you’ll be in for a whole other kind of fiery feeling than your dating app promises -- and you’ll affect everyone who’s swiped it.

Here is the article and find an STD testing center near you.

Ohio bill would allow patients to get STD meds for partners

A bill in Ohio seeks to expand access to treatment for certain sexually transmitted diseases by allowing doctors to prescribe medication to their patients' partners without first examining them.

Licensed providers in Ohio must first examine patients before prescribing them antibiotics. But legislation recently passed by the House would create a limited exception for partners of patients who have been diagnosed with chlamydia, trichomoniasis or gonorrhea in an effort to reduce cases of the infections.

Ohio's rate of reported gonorrhea and chlamydia cases is higher than the national average, with most cases occurring among those ages 15 to 24.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ohio is one of four states that prohibit such expedited partner therapy. Others are Florida, West Virginia and Kentucky.

Read the article and find an STD testing center near you.

Yale's New Card Game Empowers Young Women to Avoid HIV Risks

Yale School of Medicine's play2Prevent video game lab has developed a card game that helps young black women make the right choices when it comes to reducing the risk of HIV infection.

"One Night Stan" is a humorous, role-playing card game where players navigate the sometimes difficult world of dating. As the players learn more about potential sex partners,they are challenged to make responsible choices -- things like insisting on condom use, and saying no to sex in risky situations.

Kim Hieftje, deputy director of the play2Prevent lab, said these topics are often hard for people to discuss face-to-face. "So, if you make a game about these difficult topics to talk about, then the conversation kind of just opens," Hieftje said.

The game is designed for black women, ages 18 to 24, a group that doesn't engage in more risky behavior than other groups. But according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this demographic acquires HIV and sexually-transmitted infections at a higher rate than almost all other demographic groups.

The content and situations presented in the card game were developed with the help of focus groups consisting of young black women from New Haven and Bridgeport.

Play2Prevent is encouraged by a pilot study they conducted with 21 women who played "One Night Stan." "They saw themselves playing this not as an intervention, but as a fun card game, which is what we were trying to do," said Hieftje. "Out of the 21 women, eleven were sexually active, and five of them talked to their partners about getting tested for HIV and STIs, and four of them actually got tested."

Yale's play2Prevent lab plans to eventually distribute the game to community groups and in dorm rooms, and ultimately create a multi-player video game version of "One Night Stan" with more dateable characters and situations.

Read the article and find a testing location near you.

HIV tests don’t reach enough heterosexuals

While Reporter Misti Crane did a good job with a lot of information, some important facts were not covered. The article referred mainly to the gay community. Not all people getting and spreading the virus are gay.

The article said that “many of those at highest risk of contracting the virus are being missed.” The article mentioned that agencies use mobile apps, particularly in gay social media to reach that population. High-risk heterosexuals do not use gay social media.

Agencies need to go deeper into the inner city to reach more young black men between the ages of 13 and 24, as this is the group whose numbers are skyrocketing. In addition, the main vehicles of HIV transmission are having unprotected sex and sharing needles. With our area’s heroin epidemic, more needle sharing is occurring, as well as women prostituting themselves to buy heroin.

In addition to the locations mentioned, the Out of the Closet thrift store, 1230 N. High St., offers testing Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, 815 W. Broad St., is another testing location.

Finally, the article said that 13,506 people were tested and only 94 positives were found.

Even with that small number, Columbus and its adjacent counties now receive more federal dollars as an Emergency Transitional Grant Area as a result, for treatment and to fight the spread of the disease.

Here's the article and look for an STD testing center near you.

Increased number of syphilis cases raises questions

The state of Oregon has seen a significant rise in syphilis cases in recent years.

In 2011, there were 167 recorded cases of syphilis, and that number more than doubled by 2013 and 2014, when the number of cases were 405 and 404, respectively.

According to the Public Health Division of the Oregon Health Authority, more than half of Oregon's new syphilis cases in 2012 involved men with HIV, and that over the last decade, the large majority of cases involve men who have sex with men.

In the first quarter of 2015, there were 239 early cases of syphilis, according to 

information provided by Josh Ferrer, the STD/HIV Prevention Technical Consultant of the Oregon Health Authority. If the first quarter trend continues for the rest of the year, that will amount to 956 cases of syphilis, almost six times as many as in 2011.

All of these figures represent new cases each year, and not repeat cases.

Karen Landers, Marion County Health Officer, said the increasing prevalence of online settings and other places where people can meet anonymously may play a role.

In addition, Sean Schafer, a physician with the HIV/STD and tuberculosis section of the Oregon Public Health Division, said there is actually a trend of decreased condom usage in the past decade. He said this can be attributed to advances in the ability to control the spread of HIV/AIDS, which leads people to believe that they will be safe without a condom.

Schafer also reiterated the notion of online sites and phone apps allowing people to connect and seek out sexual relationships, often anonymously.

Syphilis presents itself in stages, with the early stages involving sores or lesions on the body, eventually turning into a rash, and then few or no symptoms at all, but the disease is still present, which can be confirmed when a blood test is conducted.

Syphilis is curable with one or multiple injections of basic penicillin, but if it is not addressed fairly early on, there may be lasting effects, such as damage to the heart and brain, and an increased risk to develop dementia and even blindness.

Although syphilis is fairly easily curable if addressed early on, contracting and curing the disease does not make one immune for life. It can be contracted multiple times.

Landers recommends abstinence as the number one strategy for preventing any sexually transmitted disease. She also emphasized that involving oneself in a monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested is the second most viable approach, and for those with more active sexual lifestyles or those who choose to have more than one partner, the best course of action is to always use a condom and to only be involved with people that have been tested for STDs.

State of Oregon syphilis cases by year

2010: 108

2011: 170

2012: 311

2013: 405

2014: 404

2015 (1st quarter): 239

Marion County syphilis cases by year

2010: 5

2011: 4

2012: 6

2013: 23

2014: 31

2015: not yet available

Read the article and find an STD testing center near you.

Emergency Rooms May Be Overdiagnosing UTIs on a Massive Scale

A new study in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology tracked nearly 300 female patients to find that emergency departments massively overdiagnose urinary tract infections. What’s worse, in many cases ERs fail to diagnose the sexually transmitted infections that are the real culprits behind the symptoms. This means millions of women are being put on unnecessary antibiotics for nonexistent UTIs and unaware that they have STIs.

A UTI begins when bad bacteria, usually E. coli, enters the urethra and infects part of the usually sterile urinary tract. Nearly 1 in 3 women will get a UTI at least once, and they’re the cause of nearly 7 million doctor-office visits a year. The trouble is that lower-tract UTIs and STIs often share very similar symptoms: pelvic pain, painful urination, and the urgent need to pee even when the bladder is empty. “Distinguishing between these infections can be challenging,” the researchers write.

One way that providers figure out whether you have a UTI is by doing a urinalysis, which can spot bacteria in your tract. Urinalysis has the benefit of being instant, unlike the more thorough urine culture test, which typically comes back in 24-48 hours. Unfortunately, urinalysis is also prone to contamination and frequently bears abnormal results.

For the study, Hecker and her team tracked 264 women who had gone to the emergency room in Ohio, 175 of whom were diagnosed with a UTI. Then they evaluated participants’ urine samples using molecular tests to determine what infection—if any—they actually had. In reality, less than half of the women diagnosed with a UTI had one. Moreover, overdiagnosing UTIs often meant underdiagnosing STIs, including gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis. Sixty of the 264 participants turned out to have one or more of these STIs, yet 22 of them did not receive STI treatment within a week. Of those, 14 were instead diagnosed with a UTI.

Clearly, emergency departments need to rethink the way they test for both of these types of infections. But for now, if you think you’ve got a UTI but aren’t sure, what can you do? “Honestly, if it were me, I would request a culture,” says Hecker. “And if you’re sexually active, it’s not a bad idea to get an STD test as well.”

Read the complete article and find an STD testing center near you.

Suddenly symptomless

Is it possible to have an STI without any symptoms? Or do most people notice? Are there major differences between women and men?

— Anonymous, from Tumblr

Sarah: Yep, my friend Mackenzie over at the Health Department confirmed for me that most are totally symptom free. STI’s are smart like that, so don’t assume you’re clean because you don’t have symptoms (and you’re welcome for that peace of mind). In fact, partners can transfer infections to a whole mess o’ partners without knowing it until someone along the line has symptoms. The good thing is testing is quick and will only take a little time out of your day. And the treatments for the most common STIs are painless. There’s no reason not to know your status, so get tested regularly!

Debby: Yes, most STIs have no noticeable symptoms - especially for women, but true for men too (HPV and chlamydia, for example, rarely have noticeable symptoms for either sex. Learn more about STIs and cdc.gov and make it a priority to get tested for STIs regularly.

Read it here and then find a testing location near you.

Chlamydia Signs, and Symptoms: Do You Have Chlamydia?

Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease in the U.S, that has the potential to spread quickly since it may not immediately show any symptoms.

Symptoms of Chlamydia in women

Did you know that most women, about 70-80%, may not show signs of chlamydia? In the case where the symptoms are noticeable they may include some of the following:

• Change in vaginal discharge
• Pain during sex
• Bleeding between periods
• Bleeding during and also after sex

It is vitally important to treat Chlamydia in women when it is detected because it may spread to the womb if left untreated and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). This is a major cause of infertility, miscarriage and also ectopic pregnancy.

Signs and symptoms of Chlamydia in Men.

Just as it is with women whereby they don't necessarily notice symptoms for chlamydia, it is also the same case with men. However, some of the symptoms they may get include:

• Pain when peeing
• Pain in the testicles
• A discharge from the tip of the penis which can either be white, cloudy or maybe a watery discharge.

A small portion of men experience just mild symptoms which disappear after two or three days, however that may not be something to celebrate because the infection still can be passed on. Studies have shown that chlamydia may put men at risk of having swollen testicles and infertility too.

How to prevent Chlamydia

People who are sexually active are at a higher risk of getting chlamydia. There however some ways to prevent yourself from getting chlamydia and they include: use of condoms, avoiding sharing sex toys etc. It is important to visit a doctor when you feel that you may have chlamydia so that you can be tested and prescribed the proper medication.

Read the article and find a location near you where testing is available.

Are Guys Really Getting Tested For STDS?

You’re really, really trying to be a sexually responsible person. You always use a condom, and you always ask potential new bed buddies if they’ve been tested for STDs recently. But when the answer always seems to be, “Why, yes, I just got tested,” you start to wonder: Is it just a coincidence, or is he a liar whose pants are on fire (maybe due to gonorrhea)?

Read the article and find a testing location near you.

Signs and Symptoms of Common STDs in Men

Many men are quick to assume that if they had a sexually transmitted disease (STD), they would know it. While most STDs do cause symptoms, many are easily mistaken for other conditions. In some cases there are no symptoms at all. Understanding the risks and knowing the signs and symptoms of common STDs in men is crucial for any man who is sexually active.

Many people can be infected with an STD without experiencing any visible symptoms. This means that practicing safe sex is crucial if you want to prevent STD infection.

The only way to completely prevent an STD is abstinence from any type of sexual contact or contact with open sores and bodily fluids of an infected person. But there are other ways to prevent STDs too. Condoms during intercourse and dental dams or barriers during oral sex are proven effective when used correctly. Refraining from sex with multiple partners and instead opting for a monogamous sexual relationship can also help to prevent STDs.

Read the article and learn more about STD testing near you.

STD Quiz: Test Your Sexual Health IQ

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