Sexual Health -

Look after your bits & more!

Look after your sexual health

Sex is perfectly natural and an important part of a healthy relationship, but it can also be a minefield if you don’t protect yourself.  Unwanted surprises such as pregnancy and nasty STIs can easily be avoided by making sure you use condoms.

Condoms are the most effective form of prevention, as they are 98% effective in protecting against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia, genital warts and HIV.

Even if you are on a form of contraception, accidentally falling pregnant is not the only thing to worry about, without a condom you are also at risk of picking up an infection.

DID YOU KNOW?

About one in ten sexually active people under the age of 24 have chlamydia. This disease often has no symptoms, so you might not realise you’re infected – which makes it even more important to get tested.  70 – 80% of women and 50% of men have no symptoms.

It is important that you test regularly for chlamydia as without a test you will probably not know anything is wrong.  If you are under 25 and sexually active you should be tested annually or after every new sexual partner.

If you have chlamydia and it’s not treated the infection can cause health problems, and the risk increases the more times you are infected with chlamydia.  Having chlmaydia also increases your chances of picking up another STI.

Pop into the Frisky or Risky Clinic at Cornerstone in Colchester for a free DIY Chlamydia test and advice or call us on 01206 363003/300237.

If you’re experiencing STI symptoms and need further information about sexual health screenings, use our Clinic Locator to find Genito-Urinary Medicine (GUM) clinics and contraception advice services in Essex.

Here, Reel-ize 'takes one for the team' and highlights  what sexual health tests involve.

Useful Links

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