Sexually transmitted infections can spread more easily than you think. You can even catch an STD from kissing! Before you engage in any sexual activity, especially if you're doing so with someone for the first time, it helps to know how you can best look after your own sexual health and that of your partner(s).

In this blog, we're offering some of the most important sexual health information to keep tucked away so that you can stay safe, protect your overall health, and help stop the spread of disease.

Your Sexual Health: 6 Tips to Stay Sexually Healthy

How can you ensure you have safe sexual experiences? Here are just a few tips to get you started.

1. Enlist the Help of Local Sexual Health Services

One of the best things you can do as part of your sexual relationships is get tested! If you have a physical relationship with someone that involves any sort of skin-to-skin contact, you are susceptible to STDs.

Read our blog, Can You Get an STD From a Toilet Seat?

STD testing goes beyond your sexual health. It's important for your physical health, in general, as well as your emotional health. Certain STDs can even lead to various types of cancer and heart disease.

While you can order individual tests (to screen for a single STD), we recommend panels that are more comprehensive, like our 8-panel STD test, which screens for herpes, syphilis, and HIV, among others. This is because if you’re at risk for one STD, you’re at risk for all!

If you're not sure what tests you need, speak with your healthcare provider for more guidance.

You are only one-half of your sexual activity. This means that your partner(s) should get tested too. Having an open line of honest communication is key. Don't be afraid to speak up and ask your partner to get tested. This is how we form healthy relationships.

2. Know and Understand Your Own Body

Many people don't realize that STDs can live in your body — and you can be contagious — while showing no symptoms. Yes, some STDs don't give off any warning signs!

If you want to protect your sexual health, then you need to know what healthy looks like for you. For instance, if there is a patch of skin that looks suspicious, you need to know how to pick it out. If you have a feeling of pain or discomfort when you urinate, it's important to note it and visit your provider.

What's your baseline for your well-being? You need something for comparison, so you can better detect when something is "off."

3. Consider Your Options for Safe Sex

You can't have a good sex life without planning in advance how you'll protect yourself from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Thankfully, there are so many options these days, and many won't have any impact on how you experience sexual pleasure.

What type of birth control are you comfortable with? There are birth control pills, external condoms, internal condoms, birth control injections, implants, sponges, IUDs, and others. If you're not sure which is the best for you, speak with your provider. Many approaches have their own unique pros and cons. Sexual health education is one of your greatest allies.

Read our blog, Does Birth Control Cause Infertility?

Be sure to tell your provider if you're currently taking any medication or are dealing with chronic illness.

For disease prevention, the only real way to prevent transmission is through abstinence. However, if you're in a physical relationship, then managing your sexual health means using condoms, at least until all parties involved have been tested and received a clean bill of health. 

4. Make Healthy Lifestyle Choices

Eating a nutritious diet, finding safe ways to manage stress, getting enough sleep, moving your body, and staying hydrated are all important for a long and happy life. This also means they play a role in your sexual health.

A body well cared for is one that will be able to better protect you from disease. Prioritize not just your general well-being but your sexual health by making smart choices every day.

5. Prioritize Your Preventive Health

The best time to address your health is before something goes wrong. This is what preventive health services are for — for example, a standard metabolic health panel, among other annual screenings.

"What does this have to do with my sexual health?" you might be asking. Great question! Two health issues might seem completely unrelated, but that's not always the case. If your provider flags something in your lab work and promptly addresses it, it can better protect your well-being moving forward — and that includes your sexual health.

6. Practice Monogamy

As long as consent is always involved, then your physical relationships are your business, and it's no one's place to judge.

We do want to point out, however, that when it comes to your sexual health, you are at a far greater risk if you have multiple partners. This is because when you are physically involved with someone, you're exposed to their entire sexual past, as they are to yours.

So, if both partners engage in intimacy with only one person, then you're far less exposed and, thus, less vulnerable to STDs.

If you do choose to have multiple partners, as we've already discussed, honest communication and regular testing are an absolute must.

Sexual Health Knows No Discrimination

It doesn't matter what your sexual orientation is. It doesn't matter what your gender identity is. Young individuals and older adults, women and men — everyone and anyone engaging in sexual expression need to mind their sexual health.

This means practicing safe sex, getting tested, prioritizing your preventive health, making smart lifestyle choices, and understanding what good health looks like for you.

Follow this sexual health advice and you'll be rewarded with healthy relationships, better intimacy, fully embracing your sexuality, and preventing the spread of dangerous diseases.

eNational Testing provides quick, convenient lab work. We have more than 2,000 locations across the United States, and we even offer same-day services. Test results are delivered via email within a few business days. Should you have questions afterward, or if you test positive, you can follow up with one of our clinicians for more information and to discuss the next steps.

Learn more about our STD testing and general wellness services.