Condoms are the only form of contraception that can help prevent STIs. If you think you have an STI, go to your local doctors or sexual health clinic.
If you’ve just found out you have a sexually transmitted disease, do not take this experience personally. STIs are very common (chlamydia and gonorrhoea are the most common). There were 161,672 diagnoses of chlamydia and 57,084 diagnoses of gonorrhoea in 2020 in England*. Chlamydia was the most common STI with 88,674 diagnoses in women and 70,581 diagnoses in men*. Although the stigma of having an STI is still felt by many (especially women), it is a normal experience to go through and you’d be surprised by how many people in your life have gone through the same experience.
Here’s a list of symptoms of chlamydia, however, it’s a good idea to go to a sexual health clinic for a check-up either way because the majority of people won’t experience any symptoms. It’s advised people who don’t have a regular partner go for a sexual health screening every 3-6 months. The signs of contracting chlamydia are: pain when urinating, unusual vaginal discharge, pain in the tummy or pelvis, pain during sex, bleeding after sex and bleeding between periods**.
The symptoms of gonorrhoea are a thick green or yellow discharge from the vagina or penis, pain when peeing and, in women, bleeding between periods***. However, like chlamydia lots of people won’t experience any symptoms so it’s important to still get checked. If you’re not comfortable going to your local doctors or sexual health clinic, you can order an STI test to be sent to your home by simply searching for STI at-home tests.
To protect yourself against STIs, make sure to use a condom every time you have sex. Even if you’re on a form of birth control that prevents pregnancy, you will still need to use condoms to protect against STIs. Many women have reported being discouraged from using a condom by their partner if they’re on birth control. You should not feel pressured not to use a condom by your partner. Make it clear that you will not engage in sex unless your partner is wearing a condom. If you are in a long-term partnership, it is advised both you and your partner have an STI screening before you decide to no longer use condoms. However, if you are not on another form of birth control and you do not want to get pregnant, make sure you continue to use condoms or use another form of birth control.
MyBliss® was founded to help improve female health and well-being. After hearing about so many experiences of women feeling uncomfortable asking their partners to use condoms, we decided to create a male condom for women that was designed for their needs. Our condom packaging looks more like a coffee pod than a condom so they can be discreetly carried with you wherever you go.
We asked our community about their experiences with STIs and here’s one of the responses we received:
“I had an IUD and had just gotten out of a long-term relationship. I ended up meeting a guy in a club and went back to his hotel. He said he didn’t have any condoms so I made him swear he didn’t have any STIs. We had sex and then I walked home. A few weeks later I thought I had a really bad UTI because it was so painful to pee and my tummy really hurt. The guy from the club texted me saying he found out he had chlamydia. I was so angry and hurt. I felt like it changed the type of person I was because I had an STI. I cried to my flatmate about it for ages. Also, I’d had sex with two other people since the guy from the club so I now had to tell them they had chlamydia too. It was so awful and I felt miserable and ashamed. I went to the sexual health clinic with a friend and we both got tested. I was positive. They prescribed some antibiotics and the STI went away really fast, the next test I did (soon after) was negative. This was about 5/6 years ago and I’m sad that I felt so ashamed about the experience. Lots of people I know have had an STI. I was simply too embarrassed to insist my sexual partners wore a condom and they made me feel they didn’t need to because I had an IUD. My advice for other women is to not feel embarrassed at all about insisting your partner wears a condom. However, if you do make a mistake and contract an STI, simply go to a sexual health clinic and don’t worry about it.”
Let's start a conversation, let us know about your experiences below in the comment section so we can bring awareness to the stigma many women experience with STIs. Feel free to put anonymous in the name section.
* https://pharmacydirectgb.co.uk/std-statistics-facts-and-figures-for-the-uk-in-2021/
** https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chlamydia/symptoms/
*** https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gonorrhoea/