Sexual health: the basics
Thursday 1 January 2004
Your sexual health is important because it can have an affect on many other parts of your life.
Using contraception, like condoms, can help protect you against unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (also known as STIs).
Have I got an STI?
The symptoms of an infection can be pretty serious:
- Discomfort or pain when urinating
- Irritation or pain during sex
- Persistent itching in the genital area
- Sores/ulcers in the genital region
- Discharge from the vagina or water passage (urethra)
There are also some types of infection like Chlamydia that don't have any symptoms, which means you could be carrying an infection without knowing it.
If you don't get yourself checked out, some types of infection can have serious consequences on your body, not just your sex life. Chlamydia, which is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the country can stop you from having children in the future if you don't get it treated.
Get checked out
To get yourself checked out, try contacting your local Genito-Urinary Medicine clinic, also known as GUM clinics. Staff at the clinic won't judge you and they offer totally confidential advice and treatment, no matter how old you are. You can also get free condoms from them too.
You can find your nearest GUM clinic in the phone book or you could call NHS Direct on 0845 4647 (charged at local rate) and they will look up the address for you. You can also call the Sexwise freephone helpline on 0800 282930, the Family Planning Association on 0845 310 1334 (charged at local rate) or the Brook freephone helpline on 0800 0185023
For more information on STIs, you could also visit the Brook sexual health web site for totally confidential advice from trained staff. The Ask Brook section of the site lets you email or SMS text your questions in. They'll never ask you for your personal details, so there's no worries about anyone finding out about your problem.
Using contraception
Using a condom during sex can help stop you getting an infection, but it can also help reduce the chances of you getting pregnant.
The contraceptive pill is also a popular method of contraception among women, but it gives you absolutely no protection against infection, so always use a condom.
There are two types of contraceptive pill. The combined pill, also just known as 'the pill', contains the hormones of oestrogen and progestogen and is different from the progestogen-only pill.
The hormones in both of these pills stop you getting pregnant by stopping the ovaries from releasing an egg or preventing the egg from settling in the womb or thickening the cervical mucus making it difficult for sperms to enter the womb.
There are 13 different methods of contraception, so lots to choose from. Your GP or local community contraception clinic can help you decide which method is most suitable for you. You can also get free contraceptives from your local GP, community contraception clinics and some sexual health clinics. Chemists sell condoms, but so do supermarkets and even petrol stations.
Emergency contraception
Women sometimes take emergency contraception because their partner's condom has split during sex or they have missed a pill. Emergency contraception works like a contraceptive pill, but uses much stronger levels of hormones.
Emergency contraception must be taken within 72 hours of having sex, but the sooner the better.
Emergency contraception is available free and confidentially from GPs, clinics and walk-in NHS centres, if you are under 16. If you are over 16, these pills are also available to buy in chemists.
Pregnancy
If your period is late and there is a chance that you could be pregnant, then you need to get advice quickly. You can find out if you're pregnant by visiting your GP or a community contraception clinic. Both of these will give you totally confidential advice, no matter what your age.
Another way of finding out is by buying a pregnancy test kit from a chemist, which cost between £7 and £12.
If you are pregnant, you have a number of options:
- Keep the baby
- Give birth to your child and give it up for adoption
- Have an abortion
If you decide to keep the baby, you will need to plan how you will support your new family and how it will affect your education or career.
If you decide you want an abortion, you will need to be referred by a GP, a family planning clinic or a Brook clinic. Both will keep your details confidential, even if you are under 16 years old.
When making a decision, it's important to talk things through with someone you trust. You could talk to your partner, close friends, a GP or a family planning clinic. If you feel you can't tell your parents, you might prefer talking to another member of the family, like your big sister or cousin.
For more information on pregnancy and abortion, visit the Brook sexual health clinic's web site, which will take you through all your options. Any advice they give you will be in strictest confidence, even if you're under 16 years old.
