If you’ve stopped having sex and are thinking about stopping birth control, talk to a health care provider. Sometimes it’s a good choice to stay on birth control to help with periods, in case of unexpected sex and to avoid health risks from starting and stopping too often.
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Ideally, people would start birth control before starting to do any activity where a penis or semen might come into close contact with the vaginal area. If someone’s already started having sex, the sooner they start birth control, the sooner they’re protected from pregnancy.
COVID-19 (corona virus) is spread mainly through coughing, sneezing, or direct contact with a sick person or with surfaces they have recently touched. The close contact during sexual activity places you at risk for transmission of COVID-19. The safest sex partner is yourself. Masturbation will not spread COVID-19. The next safest sex partner is your […]
Puberty is the time when people change from a child to an adult. Puberty is different for everyone – but we all experience physical, emotional and social changes. During puberty, your sexual organs mature and having a baby becomes possible. Everyone goes through puberty. When your body is ready to begin puberty, your pituitary gland […]
Gender is complex and can be thought of as a spectrum of possibilities, not as a binary or a choice. A person’s gender identity is their internal sense of being man or woman (boy or girl), fluid among genders or no genders regardless of their sex assigned at birth. Gender identity is a feeling that […]
Depending on what a person is being tested for, STI testing can involve a urine sample, blood test, genital exam and sometimes a swab. Testing is encouraged for each body site where sexual contact has happened (anus, mouth, penis, vagina). Testing positive for one STI increases the risk of other STIs and HIV. STI testing […]
An erection happens when the brain sends a signal to the body to fill the penis with blood, making the penis harder. This reflex can happen because of a sexy thought, feeling or as a reaction to certain sights, sounds, smells or touch. Erections usually go away on their own or after ejaculation (releasing semen […]
Erections do not commonly hurt. They are a normal part of sexual arousal. No two people are exactly the same in how they respond sexually. The genital skin is loose and mobile, which allows for the penis to get larger and harder during an erection. If you experience pain during an erection or when ejaculating […]
Blue balls is a slang term for the achy feeling and bluish color some people get in their genital area if they’ve been sexually aroused for a long time. Some people notice this feeling especially strong in the testicles. Because the blood that has built up in the genital area is not returning to pick […]
Semen is sticky because it has a sugar called fructose in it, which gives energy to sperm. Semen is the fluid that comes out of the penis during ejaculation. It’s made up of sperm, water, sugars, and minerals.