Sexual Health:Sexually Transmitted Diseases

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Video: Perspectives on Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  • Sexual Health HPV Vaccine Pap Smears Doctor-Patient Video
    The Vaccine Prevents HPV
    And regular Pap smears catch it early
    ( :42 )
  • Sexual Health Dating STD Doctor-Patient Video
    Dating With STDs
    Be honest, but pick the time and place
    ( 1:39 )
  • Sexual Health College Boy Herpes Doctor-Patient Video
    Herpes on Campus
    Getting info, feeling better
    ( 2:35 )
  • Sexual Health Top STD Myths Doctor-Patient Video
    Top 2 STD Myths
    Confusion about STD symptoms and risk
    ( 1:36 )

2 Ways to Get Help Telling Former Sex Partners You Have an STD

Here's how to break the chain of infection
If you have an STD, it's important to tell your exes (and current sex partners, of course) so that they can be tested and so that, if they have the STD too, they can be treated for it and keep from passing it on to others...  Read More

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

20 Tips From Dr. Mary Gallenberg for Women Avoiding or Living With STDs

Dr. Mary Gallenberg
Dr. Mary Gallenberg
Assistant professor at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Q: How often should I be tested for STDs if I'm sexually active?

A: Get tested immediately if your partner has been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or if you:
• Have an unusual discharge from your genitals
• Feel burning when you urinate
• Experience genital itching
• See one or more sores in your genital area

If you're age 25 or under, get tested once a year because you're at a higher risk for contracting STDs than older adults. If you're over 25 and have a new sexual partner or multiple partners, you should also get tested annually.
Read More

Chlamydia Ravaged Her Fallopian Tubes

How STDs can affect fertility
Lisa, a computer executive and massage therapist from Concord, Calif., was 26 when she started trying to get pregnant. When she wasn't successful, her doctor recommended a fertility workup. A sexually transmitted disease (STD) had gone undetected for what the doctor estimated was 10 or 12 years and left her with fallopian tubes that she says were "disintegrated like an old garden hose."   Read More

STD Was an Extra Embarrassment for This Young Gay Man Just Coming Out

I got it from my first boyfriend
At 22, Josh (not his real name) was diagnosed with anal warts caused by HPV, the same virus responsible for genital warts. He had just come out of the closet about being gay and was feeling relieved. Then he realized he had contracted a sexually transmitted disease...  Read More

MY STORY

Getting Genital Herpes Was Upsetting at First, but There Are Worse STDs

Jim, a 26-year-old mechanic from Marina, Calif., was diagnosed with genital herpes in 2005
I didn't think it was herpes at first. It didn't look like all the pictures on the Internet. I thought it might be ingrown hairs. It was a really mild outbreak.   Read More

Why Some Men Can't Have Orgasms

A common sexual complaint among men is the inability to orgasm, according to Irwin Goldstein, MD, director of San Diego Sexual Medicine and the editor in chief of the Journal of Sexual Medicine. There's a wide range of possible explanations, however, and doctors are generally able to pinpoint your problem through biological and psychological tests.  Read More