I want to talk about one of my favorite topics i.e. Sex and I mean your ‘Sexual Health’. I read a story on a blog I follow: about a girl who lost her virginity and didn't see the expected proof of blood so she was worried about how to convince her boyfriend that she had been a virgin. In my point of view, she has bigger issues to worry about. Many women have sex for the first time without using a condom and not really thinking about important issues like STIs or using contraceptives. I once had a client at the HIV clinic who was 16 and said she'd had sex only once and the guy who already knew he was infected, wanted to 'hook her' for marriage...
For now, let’s start by talking about STIs.
S.T.I.s: These stand for Sexually Transmitted
Infections. In simple terms, these can be defined as the nasty stuff
that “crawls in” after you crawl out of each other. If you’re
infected, you may or may not have symptoms. If you get symptoms, you’re lucky
and can seek treatment, if not, you’re unlucky (just stating the obvious).
There are more than 20 bacteria, viruses and parasites that
can be transmitted through sex. There's popular ones like HIV and not so
popular ones like Chancroid. Either way, popular or unpopular, they’re all
nasty in terms of appearance or odour and/or overall physical effect.
Easiest way to catch (transmit) STIs is through joining thy
genitals, the anus (if you play that way) and in recent times through the
mouth/throat (go figure). Surprisingly there are so many 'virgins' these days,
who choose to have sex through the anus, because they heard from a friend
that you can't get pregnant or catch an STI that way. You definitely can't get
pregnant through your anus, but I assure you, you can catch every type of STI
when you have sex through there.
For the record: “IF YOU HAVE OR HAD AN STI, IT
WASN'T CAUSED BY PEOPLE FROM YOUR VILLAGE, YOU GOT IT OFF A SEX PARTNER WHO HAD
IT”
One of the commonest STIs in Kenya is Gonorrhoea:
It’s a bacterial infection and in men, the symptoms are fairly obvious: he will
likely feel pain while passing urine and can have a white,
yellow or green discharge coming out of his pe**s. If his anus is
infected, there could be discharge, pain or discomfort.
But in women, 50% do not have symptoms, but if you do, it
should sound like this: pain while urinating, or pain in your lower
abdomen, a yellowish vaginal discharge, redness and swelling of your genitals
or burning and itching in the vaginal area.
If you have any of the above, rather than self diagnose
(many STIs have similar symptoms) and then proceed to cram antibiotics (
including the over abused Ampiclox) down your throat, it is best you understand
you have a solvable problem and seek a health professional.
More often than not, your doctor will recommend a vaginal or penile swab (a lab
test that looks at the discharge you’re having) to determine which antibiotic
will solve your matter, or he’ll go ahead and prescribe one for you judging by
the symptoms you’re having.
Poor Treatment Behaviour: The worst thing you
can do for/ to yourself is to keep this matter hidden out of shame or
embarrassment or just shyness. You are not the first nor will you
be the last person to have gonorrhoea, it’s fairly common, so don’t hide
your head under the rock. Even your doctor may have had it himself/ herself a
time or two (don’t quote me). So RELAX, Don’t be afraid to visit the hospital
or start by talking to your pharmacist if you’re not sure you’re having
symptoms but think your partner or ex partner had such symptoms (this
especially applies to women).
Last but not the least bit of advice: Ever heard the saying: prevention is better than cure. To do that, USE A CONDOM, it prevents gonorrhoea and a lot of other STIs from coming in. In addition, using a condom can be fun, because it comes in different shapes textures and sizes that can make playtime an exciting and fresh experience each time. You know you cannot always tell if her ‘ukwu’ or his ‘koko’ has wandered into murky, infected waters before coming your way looking sexy like Angelina Jolie & Denzel W, therefore, it’s definitely a sign of great wisdom if you protect your jewels, and for women, your womb also, by using a condom to prevent S.T.I.s or baby having accidents.
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