Discover a convenient self-help guide to safe girl-on-girl intercourse! healthcare personnel was actually consulted with this article, but it’s perhaps not a replacement for health advice/attention.

Our very own

Technostraddle editor Taylor

has furnished some cartoons so that you can boost your learning knowledge. To get more of Taylor’s cartoons, you should browse
DoodleShroom
!

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Before writing this amazing piece, we study

Natalie’s


Why Are Gay Ladies So Afraid of the Gyno?

Every person seemed to have many questions relating to intimate health and I happened to be hoping i possibly could assist respond to several! Unfortunately, I also observed some antagonism towards medical doctors typically, which appeared to be powered of the unfavorable encounters some you have got got. Believe me, I get it – i am here.

But, talking from the viewpoint of somebody who’s inside program, picking not visiting the physician isn’t the answer! While medicine is a patriarchal and hierarchical institution, there are many united states that are attempting to change that.

I make plenty of LGBT wellness knowledge there’s a genuine force to ensure the new generation of medical experts is the one which will notice that only a few ladies are heterosexual baby-makers (nothing wrong with those!). Change needs time to work, sure, your wellness should never endure considering a doctor that isn’t since enlightened whenever’d wish.

Female You Have To Get Yourself Checked

It may be fairly hard to discuss queer women’s problems ’cause here simply has not been much study accomplished regarding the rates of intimately carried attacks (STIs) and HIV in women who like to ride the hobby-horse with other ladies.

I’ve learned just from conversing with my pals alongside sapphically-inclined girls that many of y’all aren’t having secure intercourse! We do not be worried about unexpected pregnancy and most lesbians appear to believe we do not need to bother about getting STIs from our lovers sometimes.

Howevs,

research reveal that about 75percent of women whom identify as lesbians have acquired sexual intercourse with guys and roughly two-thirds of the time, those women were engaging in unprotected sex


1

.

This means in the event that you or your partner have seen the gender with a dude, and containsn’t been examined, your own threat for STIs and HIV resembles regarding a heterosexual girl!

Very hayyy you ought to get analyzed. As Natalie talked about in her own articles, queers (like other marginalized groups of ladies) often frequent the gyno much less usually for many explanations.

But don’t try to let unfavorable experiences with narrow-minded suppliers prevent you from getting responsibility for the intimate health insurance and to suit your lover’s sexual health. Without having insurance coverage, the majority of free clinics would STI testing at almost no expense, and cost-free. Exercise!

STIs: Acquiring Them & Reducing Them

It is never a comprehensive range of the STIs on the market, but i wish to strike on a few of the usual problems and those that stick to you as soon as you get diseased.

HPV

Human Papilloma virus is probably the most usual STI in the united states, with many research calculating that

up to 75per cent of intimately effective adults in america exhibit a brief history from the illness


2

. HPV is transmitted by skin-to-skin get in touch with. This means even if you have only sex with females, you are nevertheless at risk for infection. This virus is sneaky too, as it can lay hidden in the human body, therefore without having to be analyzed, you might never understand you’ve got it. When you have had sex with men in the past, you happen to be at improved risk for getting (and transmitting!) HPV. This is really important, because a brief history of HPV illness is the single most crucial danger element for developing cervical cancer.

Some pressures of HPV cause penile warts as well as 2 pressures particularly currently recognized to cause over 75% of cervical cancer. Butttt some stresses are not cancerous. In fact, some actually clear up themselves!

But exactly how what are which stress you really have? Get a pap smear! Cervical malignant tumors requires a long time to build up, therefore going to the gyno and achieving all of them get a look-see provides a darn pretty good possibility of never ever getting the infection progress further.

Additionally, if you should be according to the chronilogical age of 26, you may want to consider acquiring Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, which covers two strains of HPV which are in charge of 75percent of cervical cancer tumors and another two strains that can cause doing 90% of vaginal warts AND is covered by lots of insurance companies today. But it’s worth noting that becoming vaccinated is actually your own decision and must end up being an informed one, very read up — there has been some debate around Gardasil. Perhaps you have thoughts?

GONORRHEA & CHLAMYDIA

Two fairly usual STIs and one more reason getting examined. Gonorrhea and chlamydia could be carried through revealing toys, bodily fluids, and vaginal get in touch with. These problems could be silent, or can provide with signs and symptoms like burning as soon as you pee, release and stomach pain. Thankfully, both are typically addressed with a simple amount of antibiotics. With no treatment, but gonorrhea and chlamydia can progress to pelvic inflammatory disease, that may trigger sterility, ectopic pregnancy, and major problems, on top of other things.

BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS

Bacterial vaginosis is yet another easily curable intimately transmitted illness. Surprisingly sufficient, queer ladies be seemingly at increased risk for transmitting and getting the infection. This one can be hushed, or may announce alone with white-ish discharge and a fishy smell, it is not often itchy or painful. We aren’t exactly sure how it’s sent, however the likely tracks tend to be through adult sex toys, oral and oral-anal gender

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. One crucial notice about this infection: usually whenever one lover has it, others partner can be contaminated as well. If however you end up using this illness, bring your partner to you on the physician, while having this lady get tried as well.

YEAST INFECTIONS/CANDIDIASIS

Special Feedback: THIS PORTION OF THE ARTICLE HAD NOT BEEN WRITTEN BY A HOSPITAL PROFESSIONAL. It has discussion of natural home remedies and viewpoints about individual attention. It’s not supposed to be medical health advice and will not boast of being.

HEY BITCHES! A doctor is going for some and you are gonna need hear me personally, your unknown expert on yeast infections and ways to eliminate them. This is important ’cause lesbians provide one another YIs every really time.

It really is a touchy topic with ladies wellness professionals: many docs decline to recommend Diflucan (the YI tablet) unless you come in for an appointment, regardless of if they have successfully recognized you prior to now. COME-ON NOW. (See:
Myths of my personal Vagina, Or the reason why ladies’ Health is wholly F*cking unjust
) Butttt… it seems that someone just invented a
Vagisil Screening Equipment
, thus maybe our very own luck is evolving?

Individually, i came across my chronic yeast conditions cleared up whenever I gave up men and pill, excepting this 1 time my personal lady-lover and that I gave both yeast-based infections and that’s type of an extended story. Also, she had a boyfriend. You know how its.

Anyhow, a number of gay ladies have YIs for a number of factors, like taking antibiotics or chilling out in the Dinah Shore swimsuit for a touch too very long, and 75% of all women gets one or more in their lifetime. I have never experienced the release most women perform, nevertheless irritation and redness may be poor sufficient in & of by itself, espesh ’cause it really is taboo so that you are unable to whine about it as if you can when you experience a migraine or something like that.

The following things never ever assisted

:
Monistat
, AZO,
Gyne-Lotrimin
, tea tree oil, natural yogurt, cotton fiber underpants, acidophilus, peroxide douching, garlic, etc.

Diflucan, a prescription-only pill, requires several days working, but it’s worth it ’cause there isn’t any mess. Howevs, as above mentioned, might often require a health care provider’s appointment which’s a pain for the ass then together with getting a pain when you look at the vadge.

Some pals let me know their own YIs disappear themselves. Happy bastards.

There seemed to be one recommended DIY cure that sounded especially phony if you ask me, and trust in me it shocked my personal clothes off with regards to turned out to be the only thing that works: BORIC ACID.

You
get “0” empty veggie capsules
at your local health grocery, pick up a tub of
boric acid
(in dust kind) just about anywhere, and try to not panic it’s typically advertised as a roach-killer. Fill a capsule or two making use of the powder and pop those babies inside you every evening ’til the infection goes away. It’s also utilized preventatively should you feel a YI coming-on, that’s the best benefit!

You will want to certainly take a look at this internet site
, it is the source because as the author highlights, ”

to my personal head, the standard treatment of genital yeast infections is actually a nutshell of what exactly is wrong with all the means our society handles wimmin’s medical problems.”

Okay, to the doctor now…

These Items Never Ever Keep

Therefore, we protected the very best by finest after all worst bacterial infections for last! Herpes! And HIV! ‘Cause see when you have HIV or Herpes, you have got it for a lifetime.

Herpes

is generally transmitted through dental or vaginal sex. There is certainly treatment plan for herpes, that’ll cause you to have less outbreaks, but wont remedy you. The tricky thing about herpes is, even though you would not have an energetic sore, you’ll still send the infection towards spouse. However, there are ways to forecast when you are infectious, thus confer with your doctor.

HIV

is carried through blood, vaginal secretions and breast milk, not saliva. Discovern’t a lot of statistics online on probability of HIV indication in queer ladies. On the whole, the general consensus is apparently that transmission can be done

3

. But as I’ve pressured before, in case you are a lady who has got unprotected sex with men on a consistent or occasional basis, your danger for HIV infection resembles regarding a heterosexual girl, so if you’re maybe not tried, your partner’s danger of disease is enhanced.

Safe Intercourse: Not Only For Straight Men And Women

Sex is actually beautiful! Speaing frankly about secure intercourse, in contrast, can be a bit of a drag. Overcome it! Information is gorgeous and I’m about to cause you to smokin’ hot.

Dentistry Dams

Dentistry dams
are one shield technique which can help avoid the indication of STIs.

Quick interlude between our

Editor-in-Chief Riese & Executive Editor Laneia

, which occurred as we happened to be tag-team editing this particular article –

Riese:

can we you should be straight about dental care dams

like would people truly utilize them


Laneia:

i don’t know?

like, i want to make use of one today

b/c i in all honesty wish to know what the bang’s up


Riese:

we have some

directed at myself by in the pipeline parenthood


Laneia:

there is a reference to dental dams in a few erotica i browse a couple weeks back,

she needed it for rectal

dental anal in the butch very top

you still beside me?


Riese:

oral anal to a butch very top

not gonna rest

i’m not likely to be offering dental rectal to any individual

probs never ever during my existence

which will be good, I am not judging

but

really, micro-organisms

i dunno


Laneia:

in case you DID, you would use a dental dam


Riese:

ok last one


Laneia:

then you could lick from butt to vadge w/out worrying about spreading any such thing


Riese:

or i could not do so


Laneia:

mhm or that

i don’t know easily’d always need to possibly, but i’m not governing everything out

particularly if there is saran place included

AND QUOTE ME THEREON


Riese:

we’ll do anything that involves saran wrap

package food

eat butt

make love to HELPS

swaddle marijuana for cross-country air travel


Laneia:

mte


Riese

: ever see pornography with individuals utilizing dental dams on it


Laneia:

no, but we haven’t seen a lot of porno


Riese:

me personally neither


Laneia:

i bet if you emailed somebody who really does, they can tell you. you could email sugarbutch.


Riese:

but i don’t know easily wish to be love,

hey whats right up, actually made use of a dental dam



Laneia:

noooo you’d be asking should they’ve previously watched PORN for which a dental care dam was applied

Now back again to the article…

However, if dental care dams aren’t your own bag, there are still a great amount of items that you can certainly do to insure a secure and sensuous time is actually got by all. The majority are virtually wise practice.

1. cleanse both hands prior to getting serious.

2. never share sex toys just in case you will do, use a condom, or effectively clean them with water and soap before switching to a new individual

4

.

3. last but not least, one of the recommended points that you and your spouse may do to guard yourselves plus one another, is

communicate!

Speak about your own intimate background, whether you’ve had gender with men prior to now, if you have been analyzed before whenever you haven’t already been examined, (once a lot more, with experience! … ) have analyzed!

I am hoping this overview had been informative and answered questions that some of you have had. I would personally like to hear any commentary, questions or other subjects you would like to discover!

1.

Diamant AL et al., Lesbians’ sexual record with guys: implications for taking an intimate background, Archives of inner medication, 1999, 159(22):2730-2736.


2.

Marazzo, JM. Vaginal human papillomavirus infectioin in women who possess sex with females: a problem for clients and companies. HELPS Individual Worry STDS 2000; 14: 447.


3.

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/women/resources/factsheets/wsw.htm


4.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/LGBhealth/Pages/lesbianhealth.aspx


5.

Carol, NM. Gynecologic and obstetric care for lesbians. Uptodate. January 2010