Method Monday: Condoms!

In honor of STD Awareness Month, we’ve decided this Method Monday to feature the only method of birth control available on the U.S. market that protects against both pregnancy and STDs (a.k.a. STIs). You know it, you love it, you probably think of it every time you hear the phrase “safe sex.” It’s…the condom!

The condom comes in two forms—external (which we refer to as the male condom on Bedsider) and internal (which we call the female condom)—and both protect against STIs. We did a Method Monday post about the female condom recently—check it out if you haven’t already—so this Monday we’re focusing on the male condom. So what is there to know?

Happy wrapping!

Two ways to love your vag today (tomorrow, and every day…): 1) Check out our (brand spankin’ new) article on how to make the most of a visit to your health care provider—sans awkwardness. And if you’re ready to put those tips into practice, you can get Bedsider Insider points* for visiting your provider and reviewing the experience afterward.  2) Go on a G-Spot expedition. Yes, it’s what it sounds like. Let today’s Frisky Friday be your guide! Could make for an excellent weekend… *For those who aren’t familiar with our Bedsider Insider program, it’s a sweet little collaboration we have with Daily Feats to get you points for doing fun, healthy stuff you’d probably want to do anyway. The points count toward rewards like discounts at the MTV Shop and Starbucks gift cards.
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Two ways to love your vag today (tomorrow, and every day…):

1) Check out our (brand spankin’ new) article on how to make the most of a visit to your health care provider—sans awkwardness. And if you’re ready to put those tips into practice, you can get Bedsider Insider points* for visiting your provider and reviewing the experience afterward. 

2) Go on a G-Spot expedition. Yes, it’s what it sounds like. Let today’s Frisky Friday be your guide!

Could make for an excellent weekend…

*For those who aren’t familiar with our Bedsider Insider program, it’s a sweet little collaboration we have with Daily Feats to get you points for doing fun, healthy stuff you’d probably want to do anyway. The points count toward rewards like discounts at the MTV Shop and Starbucks gift cards.

Sex advice and a road trip? (Sign us up.) Savage U kicked off Tuesday with a visit to the University of Maryland. A choice excerpt from a random conversation with a guy waiting to get tested for STIs at the school health center:

Dan Savage: “What kind of safety precautions do you take with [your girlfriend]? …do you use condoms?”
Mike (guy in the waiting room): “I don’t.”
Lauren (Dan’s travel companion): “Is she on the pill?”
Mike (guy in the waiting room): “No.”
Dan Savage: “Are you insane?”

This is gonna be good…

iPhone case has secret compartment...to hide condoms

Yay, technology! What will they think of next? (Courtesy of MSNBC.com)

IUDS: Pamper, Pamper, Pamper -- Plus 9 Other Tips For Falling In Love With Your IUD

Tips for how to make the IUD insertion process easier = awesome. (Courtesy of Huffington Post.)

Ever heard someone say they can’t use condoms because they’re allergic to latex? Fewer than 1 in 10 people in the general population are (depending who you ask—some say it’s as little as 1%) and those few aren’t off the hook where condoms are concerned either. In fact, there are plenty of alternatives.

Keep in mind that not all the alternatives protect against STIs, so do your homework when you’re choosing a material. And if you’re looking for a more personal perspective, YouTube star Kicesie has a video about her favorite non-latex condom. Go forth, be sexy, be safe!

In honor of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month (January), we’re re-posting our Fact or Fiction on pap smears for the viewing pleasure of any who missed it the first time around (or who just want to relive fond memories;).

We also have a Provider Perspective article on the causes, treatment, and prevention of HPV, which is the most common cause of cervical cancer. If after reading you think it’s time for a visit to a health provider, you can use our clinic finder to get information on nearby clinics, or the list of free and low cost pap test locations in the U.S. on The National Cervical Cancer Coalition’s website.

The good news is that the latest guidelines on pap smears say most women only need to get one every 3 years (instead of annually). But if you haven’t had one in a while, or if you haven’t had the HPV vaccine, you know what they say… No time like the present, a.k.a. January.

I've Had HPV. Have You? Share Your Story!

Bedsider has a Provider Perspective about HPV, too. Let’s just say that the author, Dr. Robin Wallace, referred to HPV as the common cold of the sexually active world!

lenachen:

I’ve had HPV. I’ve written about it. I’ve been mocked and criticized for it. But because of that entry and my admission, I’ve had countless readers reach out anonymously over the years to share their own stories with me, stories that they haven’t always felt comfortable telling to anyone else. Well, today is HPV Day, a campaign organized to raise awareness and destigmatize discussion of the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. And I’d love for you guys to take part by starting a much-needed dialogue.

Here are some quick facts about HPV:

  • Estimates for HPV infection rate range from over 50 percent to nearly 80 percent of the sexually active population.
  • There is no “cure” for HPV in the traditional sense, but most strains of HPV are harmless, non-cancerous, and clear up on their own.
  • Condoms may reduce but do NOT prevent the transmission of HPV, which is spread through skin-to-skin contact.
  • There are usually no physical signs of HPV, though some people experience genital warts, which are easily treatable (but they are harder to detect in women than in men, because of their appearance in the vaginal canal)
  • There are no HPV tests for men, but Gardasil has been approved for males 9-26 in hopes of preventing the spread of cancerous strains among women. In very rare instances, men may be at risk for anal or penile cancer, but typically, the disease is riskier for women.
  • Cervical cancer is nearly 100% preventable as long as you get regular, annual pap smears to catch early precancerous cells

As Jen Doll at The Village Voice wrote on Wednesday:

Perhaps the greatest danger in the battle against HPV is one of PR. People are ashamed (after all, it’s an STD), and women in particular are shamed. No one wants to admit it, no one talks about it, and when people do, it’s in whispers and there’s a lot of misinformation. What if no one wants to date or have sex with me ever again?, think women. What if I’m “dirty,” or “ruined”? What if I can’t have babies?

But what if you knew that almost everyone you knew had at one point had (or currently has) HPV? Would you feel less ashamed? If all of us have had it, and all of us admit it, doesn’t it take the shame, and some of the fear — not to mention the fear of getting the vaccine — out of it?

Doll’s post and the follow-up call to action published yesterday have mobilized people across the Internet to talk about their experiences with HPV. But you don’t have to own a computer to take part:

Tweet, Facebook, or simply tell someone — we don’t care how! — that you have had, or currently have, HPV. Tell them as much or as little as you want to share. Choose who you tell. Maybe you don’t want to Tweet it — maybe you don’t even use Twitter. Maybe you don’t want to put it on your Facebook page. Fine. We’re not going to be pushy, and it’s your body, after all. Do it when you’re ready. But do it today!

Wouldn’t you feel fine, minus the illness, telling someone you had or have a cold, or even, say, pneumonia? Why does this virus, simply because it’s obtained through sexual contact (which, by the way, if you’ve had any of whatsoever, you’ve been at risk for HPV — whether you’re a woman, man, in a monogamous relationship, engaging in safe/vaginal/oral sex, or otherwise), have to be imbued with shame and secrecy?

Maybe your doctor told you you had HPV, and you’re watching it, or maybe, luckily, it’s gone away on its own. Maybe you’ve had a colposcopy, or a LEEP, and you’re still going for frequent checkups to followup. Maybe you, like writer Ayelet Waldman, had the unpleasant experience of having cancerous lesions removed but went on to have children and continue in a successful marriage. Maybe you’re a guy, and your sister or your girlfriend or your wife or your mom or your best friend who happens to be a girl dealt with HPV. By age 50, 80 percent of the population of the U.S. will have … there’s a good chance someone you know already has.

Even if you don’t have someone with whom you feel comfortable discussing this topic, take some time to check out the #HPVDay hashtag on Twitter. It’s incredibly heartening to see how many people are in the same camp, and it illustrates just how silly it is to stigmatize the vast majority of the population for something that is out of their control.

I’ve had HPV, and I’m sure many of you out there have too. Please share your story; you might be surprised by who can relate.

Related posts on HPV:

Why I Won’t Shut Up About Having HPV
Reader Question: “How does one discuss HPV with future partners? Should I just put my life on hold?”
Reader Email: “I thought no one would ever want me because I have/had a STD.”
Reader Question: “Can your immune system ‘cure’ itself of HPV?”