Unprotected Sex, how can you Protect Yourself?

Unprotected sex means doing sex without planning or protection. What does it mean? Do I need to do a plan before sex? What if I did random sex, not planned? How can I be protected? These are some questions that bother those who are sexually active. Actually, not all, some only! I noticed many of those doing sex outside marriage, they don’t bother thinking about infections they may contract, they don’t even undergo for testing. That is a very big mistake, that may cost their life. Let’s start the article explaining what unprotected sex is.

What is unprotected sex?

Also, it is called (random sex, or unplanned sex). It means doing sex without taking measures to protect against infection or pregnancy. Considering conception, unprotected sex means condom tears during sex, forgetting to take the birth control pill or just a matter of carelessness. Considering infections, it means doing sex without condoms, with someone of unknown health status or with someone who is known for you to be infected. Random sex increases the risk of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In this article, I will focus on sexually transmitted infections risk.

Know the Risks of unprotected sex

• pregnancy
  • 85 out of 100 women, (85%), having random sex, will become pregnant. Solution of such a situation is emergency contraception. Emergency contraception is used to prevent pregnancy for women who’ve had unprotected sex.
• Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), spreads between people through sexual contact. There are many types of STDs, (bacterial, viral, and parasitic), including:
  • HIV
  • Syphilis
  • Gonorrhea
  • Chlamydia
  • Genital herpes
  • Hepatitis B, read more about Viral hepatitis
  • Human papillomavirus (HPV)

Sexually transmitted diseases

Symptoms may appear within few days or weeks depending on the disease, but man person can contract the infection without showing any symptoms. That makes it hard for them to not spread infection to others.

STIs are caused by viruses, bacteria or parasites that can pass from one person to another during sex. This includes vaginal intercourse, oral and anal sex. Some STIs are spread through body fluids, while others by skin-to-skin contact.

Many STIs don’t have symptoms, or the symptoms aren’t immediate after infection. This means infection can be spread unknowingly. Health check is the only way to know if someone has an STI is with. It’s important to also know what STIs

There’s no test that checks for everything. If you have had unprotected sex, your best option is to get tested.

You Did Unprotected Sex? What do you have to do?

You may not have planned to have unprotected sex, but it happens. Unprotected sex is when no contraception is used. You may have missed your contraceptive pill, or a condom slipped off or broke. Or simply you do not care. Sure, you are worried about contracting an STD, a sexually transmissible infection (STI). Don’t worry because there are many solutions.

Immediately after unprotected sex, take shower and use the bathroom to reduce the risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs). Try to urinate, it will help.

Sexual health check

A sexual health check is performed by a doctor, nurse, or other health worker. Some clinics offer screening where you can take your own swabs for testing and others, like those for chlamydia, are available online if you can’t access a GP or clinic.

During a sexual health check, the health professional will ask about your sexual history and may conduct a physical examination.

The questions asked about your sex life aren’t to judge you for how often you have sex, the type of sex or your number of sexual partners, it’s to understand your health better.

Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)

PEP is a treatment to reduce the risk of a person acquiring HIV if they’ve potentially been exposed. It’s effective up to 72 hours after exposure and needs to be taken daily for 28 days. It’s extremely important if you’ve had contact with blood or body fluids of an HIV positive person to seek urgent medical advice. For more information see the related fact sheet – Post-Exposure Prophylaxis – HIV. PEP is free and available at most public hospital emergency departments or sexual health clinics. Use this simple locator tool to find your closest location.

SUMMARY

Unprotected sex is having intercourse without condoms, making you at risk to contract sexually transmitted diseases. If you have random sex, and have no symptoms, don’t assume you haven’t been infected because you don’t have symptoms. What you have to do is to undergo for STD testing.

SOURCES

• https://www.verywellhealth.com/
• World Health Organization. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
• What now? | Queensland Health