Sexually Transmitted Diseases are infections spread from person to person while having sex. STDs can be transmitted through any sexual interaction such as vaginal, oral, anal, or by any close intimate contact. Untreated STDs can cause serious health issues to you and your sexual partner(s). A person with an STD may or may not have any symptoms, depending on how strong his immunity is. As a result, people may feel fine without knowing that they are affected by a deadly infection that can spread easily. That is why doctors recommend sexually active people to get regularly tested.
Start Practicing Safe Sex: If you think that you may have STD(s) and are sexually active, it is your responsibility to protect yourself and your partner(s) from further spreading this infection. That preferably includes talking to your partner about this disease, getting tested, restraining yourself from having sex until you have the results in hand. The only solution is to start practicing safer sex if you have not been doing it already. Safer sex may not be effective for diseases like Human Papilloma-virus (HPV) or Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) as these spread from skin to skin. However, adopting a safe sex method reduces the risk of transmitting any infection one may have. Therefore, you should start practicing safer sex even if you think you might have already exposed your partner(s) to any STDs.
Get Tested: The only way to be sure you have got an STD is to get tested. You must visit a doctor or a public health agency to know more about the disease and get yourself tested. During this time of Covid-19, you may not feel comfortable going out and visiting a lab, but you can always choose diagnostics solutions like ARCpoint Labs to come to your rescue. Experts from the diagnostic centers will come to your place and take the required samples while following all the Covid protocols.
Talk To Your Partner(s): Once you are diagnosed with an STD, you should inform your present sexual partner or partners that they may have been exposed so that they can undergo testing and treatment as well. In addition, reach out to any former sexual partner, as they could also be at risk. Talking to a former partner could be a difficult task, but you can always send an anonymous voice mail informing them that they may have an STD. It may not be polite to reach out directly, but your former partner must know they might have been exposed to a deadly infection.
Start A Complete Treatment: Diseases spread because of untreated infections. Sexually Transmitted Infections or (STIs), if left undiagnosed, slowly take their form as STDs. If you’re diagnosed with a bacterial STD, you must complete the medication regime prescribed by your doctor even if you feel better before finishing. Not taking all the antibiotics in time will increase your risk of developing an antibiotic-resistant infection which will be much harder to treat in the future.
Even if one is diagnosed with incurable STDs, such as HIV, HPS, or HSV, one should not be discouraged. Instead, he should talk to the doctor about managing this infection in the best way possible, both in terms of managing one’s health conditions and lowering the risk of spreading the infection to others. Despite getting contracted with these diseases, one can lead a happy sexual life by following a few health-related guidelines.