What are the methods to prevent STDs?

Sexually transmitted diseases can actually cause great harm to us, so we must pay more attention to the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. First of all, we need to pay attention to keeping ourselves clean and avoid promiscuous and unclean sexual behavior. If you find that your partner has external genital lesions, you should also pay attention to avoid sexual intercourse and treat them together.

1. Keep yourself clean : This is a very safe and simple prevention method. Many STDs are often asymptomatic in the early stages or in mild cases, such as gonorrhea, genital herpes, condyloma acuminatum, non-gonococcal urethritis, AIDS, etc., and cannot be identified in time after infection. Only by keeping oneself clean and avoiding extramarital sex can one avoid the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

2. Avoid certain sexual behaviors: Unhealthy sexual behaviors such as oral sex and anal sex can increase the risk of sexually transmitted diseases. Taking anal sex as an example, because the rectal epithelium is usually more delicate than the vaginal epithelium, anal sex is more likely to damage the mucosa and cause infection than vaginal sex. Some infectious diseases are transmitted through the oral-fecal route, so avoiding oral-anal or digital-anal sex can reduce the chance of infection with such diseases.

3. Avoid sexual intercourse when there are abnormalities: If you find that your sexual partner’s external genitalia has lesions, ulcers or abnormal secretions, you should avoid sexual intercourse and ask him/her to go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment.

4. Use shielding tools: condoms, vaginal diaphragms and other tools can not only prevent pregnancy, but also prevent a variety of sexually transmitted diseases. Experiments have proven that condoms have a barrier effect against pathogens that cause sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea, syphilis, genital herpes, condyloma acuminatum, AIDS, cytomegalovirus inclusion disease and chlamydia infection. In addition, condoms and diaphragms can reduce friction damage during sexual intercourse and protect the external genitalia from contact with hidden infectious secretions. Use spermicides: Spermicides act as a chemical barrier that inhibits many STD pathogens just as they kill sperm. In vitro tests have shown that various commercially available spermicides can inactivate almost all sexually transmitted disease pathogens, including gonococci, chlamydia, herpes virus, syphilis spirochetes, Trichomonas vaginalis, and HIV. Spermicide mainly provides good protection for women and is easy to use.

5. Use barrier tools in combination with spermicides: Use condoms and diaphragms with spermicides as lubricants, which have both mechanical and chemical killing effects. There is a contraceptive sponge made of spermicide and sponge that is very popular abroad. It is inserted into the vagina before or during sexual intercourse and can be left in place for more than 30 hours.

6. Urinating, flushing the vulva or douche after sexual intercourse : Some people have confirmed that urinating within half an hour or flushing the genitals within an hour after sexual intercourse does not reduce the risk of gonorrhea infection. However, if you irrigate the vagina with an antiseptic solution every day, it will be effective in preventing gonorrhea.