A sexually transmitted infection is an infection that you catch whilst you have sexual intercourse. You can also catch some infections through kissing and touching and these are ‘sort of’ sexually transmitted infections. There are also some infections which can be caught during having sex but can also be caught in other ways – like ‘thrush’ (candida).
Gunk or blood coming out of the end of your penis – think gonorrhea, non-specific urethritis or chlamydia
Warty lumps on your penis or near it – think genital warts
Painful sores or blisters on your penis or near it – think herpes
An itchy penis with a red tip – think thrush.
Itchy scrotum and pubic hair – think crabs.
Easy ways to help know if you’ve got a Sexually Transmitted Infection and if you are a Girl:
If your vaginal discharge goes thick
gooey
smelly
itchy
a different colour
into overdrive
...then you might have thrush or trichomoniasis.
If it hurts to pee, then think cystitis – but it could be thrush
If you get wart lumps around your vagina – think genital warts.
If your vagina itches or gets sore – think thrush.
Remember if you have one STI you could have others as well as they tend to hunt in packs. Watch out for Chlamydia, as 90% of women who have it don’t know. And always be wary of AIDS.
(The clap)/Gonorrhea
Pus drips out the top of your penis. Women can get a horrid greenish discharge from their vagina, though up to 80% show no symptoms. If it’s not treated, it may gum up your tubes and stop you having babies.
It’s caused by
Having sex – including oral sex (which may give you a sore throat) – with someone who’s got the gonorrhea bacteria.
How not to get it
First – always use a condom. If you are a girl don’t sleep with any bloke who has a weeping willie. If you are a bloke don’t sleep with a girl who has any kind of funny discharge. But as you can’t always tell about either of these things – it is going to be a condom!
What to do if you do get it
Head for the doctors - or your local genito-urinary clinic (GUM). You’ll both need treatment with antibiotics (penicillin).
(NSU)/Non-specific Urethritis
Boys - your penis hurts, especially when you pee.
Girls – it can hurt when you pee
It’s caused by
Having sex with someone who’s carrying various bacteria like chlamydia or trichomonas. The bugs hang round for a bit and then make your urethra (pee tube) inflamed and sore.
How not to get it
Don’t have sex with someone carrying the bug. But as it’s almost impossible to know who has it – be safe and use a condom.
What to do:
Lads - it’s very important to get this sorted. If you pass chlamydia on to another girl, it could make her unable to have babies. Go to the doctor and get some antibiotics for both of you.
Girls – get this sorted urgently as it may interfere with you having babies. Head for the doctors.
Chlamydia
It may feel like you are peeing barbed wire.
Some girls get a yellowish discharge and feel itchy round the vagina
Some men get a white cloudy droplet coming out of their penis.
BUT: many women don’t feel anything at all. Up to 1 in 10 young women have it, and 90% of them don’t know, because they don’t feel anything. At least 25% of men have no symptoms from it either.
It’s caused by
Having sex (vaginal or anal) with someone who has the chlamydia bacteria. It can even be passed on by fingering or touching someone’s genitals. Once infected a person stays infected until they are treated.
How not to get it
Don’t have sex with anyone who’s got it – but use a condom anyway as it is impossible to know.
What to do if you do get it or are worried that you might have it
Head for your doctor’s, or your local Genito-Urinary Medicine (GUM) clinic at a hospital. You can find the address in the phone book. You need to get it sorted because it can damage your chances of ever having children.
Genital Warts
You get warts on your privates, which look horrible.
It’s caused by
Having sex with someone who has genital warts as well. They come from a virus called the Human Papilloma Virus. In all there are over 40 different types of this virus – some of which cause warts on your fingers and verrucas on your feet, and others which can cause cancer of the cervix (neck of the womb). They’ re all different, though – finger warts don’t give you genital warts. Though some strains of genital warts are linked to cervical cancer, they are not the genital sort you see on the outside of the genitals
How not to get it
If it’s got warty lumps on it, don’t sleep with it. Though it can be difficult to tell if they’re inside the girl. Always use a condom.
What to do if you do get it
The doctor will give you a special paint which makes the warts drop off.
Genital Herpes
You get little red spots round your penis or vagina. These turn into little clear blisters. These then pop and leave you very sore (just like cold sores). The first time you get it, you usually feel pretty ghastly. In some people it comes back in various strengths – you might feel awful again or not notice at all.
It’s caused by
Having sex with someone who has the herpes simplex virus lurking in their body.
How not to get it
If you see someone with blisters down there, don’t have sex with them – or at least use a condom.
What to do if you do get it
Go see your doctor or local Genito-Urinary Medicine clinic and get checked out. They won’t tell anyone that you have been.
Q: What’s the difference between love and herpes?
A: Herpes lasts forever.
You can’t cure herpes. It goes away and then comes back, hiding out, in between, in your nerves. Eighty percent of women get reoccurrences. But your doctor can give you something which makes it come back less, and hurt less.
Thrush
Thrush is caused by a yeast called ‘Candida Albicans’ and is also known as also known as ‘yeast infection’, ‘candida’, or ‘monilia’.
How you get it
Your skin, including your vagina and penis, and inside your mouth may normally have a mixture of different bugs including yeasts living there and causing you no trouble. However sometimes these yeasts start multiplying and make that part of the skin where they are – penis, vagina, mouth – very itchy. A very common reason for this happening is when you take antibiotics which kill of some of the normal bacteria on your skin and because these are killed off it allows the yeasts to grow (yeasts are not normally killed off by antibiotics). People with diabetes are also more likely to get thrush because the yeasts like the sugar that is in the urine of people with diabetes.
So you can see from this that you don’t need to have sex in order to get thrush! But it can also happen as a result of having sex.
Your penis or vagina gets really itchy and sore. A woman’s discharges go lumpy like cottage cheese.
It’s very common and easy to sort out.
It’s caused by:
A yeast called Candida albicans running wild inside you. Infected yeasts can be passed on through sex, or it can happen when your insides are out of balance from:
taking antibiotics
having diabetes
being generally unwell
It’s very common and easy to sort out.
What to do
If there is any risk that you got this by having sex - see your Doctor as you ought to get checked out for other sexually transmitted infections.
If it is the first time you think that you have thrush - go to the Doctor to check out that that is what it is.
If it's not the first time, and you know what it is, then go to the pharmacist and buy a cream. Canesten is the most popular. If it doesn’t clear up after a few days, go and see your doctor. He or she won’t tell anyone else – not even your mum. Sometimes girls need to use a special sort of tablet called a ‘pessary’ which she puts into her vagina, or a tablet that needs to be swallowed.
If it keeps coming back, try to avoid nylon undies and tight trousers – just to keep the temperature down there nice and cool.
Crabs
Your balls / pubic area get incredibly itchy.
It’s caused by
Pubic lice which are not absolutely the same as head lice, as they seem to like your pubic rather than your head – hair. Left untreated, they will just breed and breed.
The lice look like little crabs, are nearly transparent and a bit smaller than the head of a match; and the eggs on the hair are pinhead-sized and flesh-coloured.
How not to get it
Don’t sleep with anyone who scratches down there a lot as they are a sexually transmitted infection.
What to do if you do get it
Nip to the pharmacy and buy some special anti crab lotion. Check out ‘what’ with your local pharmacist – they won’t be embarrassed or embarrassing. That should stop you feeling lousy (ho ho). You should also get checked out for other sexually transmitted infections at your local young people’s clinic or your family doctor.
Cystitis - What is cystitis?
You’re desperate to pee all the time but it feels like you’re peeing fire.
Your pee may look cloudy or red (with blood)
It’s caused by
Bacterial germs
Other infections (like thrush)
Allergies
Friction during serious bonking
Friction from frequent masturbation
How not to get it
If you get it and you haven’t had sex, try changing your soap or, if you are a girl, stop using any vaginal deodorant – you might be allergic to it.
If you are getting it after having sex (and you have been checked for a sexually transmitted infection), make sure you and your partner wash before and afterwards; try peeing before and afterwards; drink a glass of water with a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in it. Girls can try a lubricant if their vagina is dry.
What to do
Make sure that you get checked for a sexually transmitted infection.
In order to help clear it up you can try some of the following:
Drink a lot of water with a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in each glass. Cranberry juice and lemon barley water are also good! This flushes out the bugs.
Drink some more water/cranberry juice/lemon barley water
Take a paracetamol
Drink more water/cranberry juice/lemon barley water.
Curl up with a hot water bottle.
If you’re still having trouble after a day or two, go to see your doctor as you might need antibiotics.
It’s very common and easy to sort out.
It’s caused by:
A yeast called Candida albicans running wild inside you. Infected yeasts can be passed on through sex, or it can happen when your insides are out of balance from:
taking antibiotics
having diabetes
being generally unwell
It’s very common and easy to sort out.
What to do
If there is any risk that you got this by having sex - see your Doctor as you ought to get checked out for other sexually transmitted infections.
If it is the first time you think that you have thrush - go to the Doctor to check out that that is what it is.
If it's not the first time, and you know what it is, then go to the pharmacist and buy a cream. Canesten is the most popular. If it doesn’t clear up after a few days, go and see your doctor. He or she won’t tell anyone else – not even your mum. Sometimes girls need to use a special sort of tablet called a ‘pessary’ which she puts into her vagina, or a tablet that needs to be swallowed.
If it keeps coming back, try to avoid nylon undies and tight trousers – just to keep the temperature down there nice and cool.
Crabs
Your balls / pubic area get incredibly itchy.
It’s caused by
Pubic lice which are not absolutely the same as head lice, as they seem to like your pubic rather than your head – hair. Left untreated, they will just breed and breed.
The lice look like little crabs, are nearly transparent and a bit smaller than the head of a match; and the eggs on the hair are pinhead-sized and flesh-coloured.
How not to get it
Don’t sleep with anyone who scratches down there a lot as they are a sexually transmitted infection.
What to do if you do get it
Nip to the pharmacy and buy some special anti crab lotion. Check out ‘what’ with your local pharmacist – they won’t be embarrassed or embarrassing. That should stop you feeling lousy (ho ho). You should also get checked out for other sexually transmitted infections at your local young people’s clinic or your family doctor.
Cystitis - What is cystitis?
You’re desperate to pee all the time but it feels like you’re peeing fire.
Your pee may look cloudy or red (with blood)
It’s caused by
Bacterial germs
Other infections (like thrush)
Allergies
Friction during serious bonking
Friction from frequent masturbation
How not to get it
If you get it and you haven’t had sex, try changing your soap or, if you are a girl, stop using any vaginal deodorant – you might be allergic to it.
If you are getting it after having sex (and you have been checked for a sexually transmitted infection), make sure you and your partner wash before and afterwards; try peeing before and afterwards; drink a glass of water with a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in it. Girls can try a lubricant if their vagina is dry.
What to do
Make sure that you get checked for a sexually transmitted infection.
In order to help clear it up you can try some of the following:
Drink a lot of water with a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in each glass. Cranberry juice and lemon barley water are also good! This flushes out the bugs.
Drink some more water/cranberry juice/lemon barley water
Take a paracetamol
Drink more water/cranberry juice/lemon barley water.
Curl up with a hot water bottle.
If you’re still having trouble after a day or two, go to see your doctor as you might need antibiotics.
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