11 safe sex rules (Practice these for a healthy sexual life)
December 1, 2009
1. Avoid all high-risk sex practices such as vaginal, anal and oral sex without a condom. Avoid having sex with a commercial sex worker (prostitute), with a partner who shares needles and syringes with other drug users, and casual sex with a person whose sexual history is not known to you.
2. Never allow women, vaginal fluids, blood or menstrual blood to come into contact or enter the vegina, anus, penis, mouth or broken skin. Wash your hands with soap and water if they have been in contact with semen or other body fluids. Rinse your mouth with cold (not hot) water, if in contact with semen. But don’t brush your teeth immediately afterwards (a toothbrush can cause damage and bleeding – an easy entrance for the virus)
3. Avoid sex when either partner has open sores on the genitals or any sexually transmitted infection (STIs)
4. Avoid anal or rough vaginal intercourse. Do not do anything that could tear the skin or moist the lining of the genitals, anus or mouth and cause bleeding.
5. Do not perform oral sex when you have cold, a sore throat, open sores in your teeth in the few hours before intended oral sex. Also avoid if there are sores on your partner’s genitals.
6. If you perform oral sex on man (called fellatio), always use a condom. Although the risk of HIV transmission through oral sex is low, fellatio has high risk for HIV infection if the partner performing it receives semen into her mouth. If you find the taste of latex, particularly of condoms that are pre-lubricated, repulsive when using condoms during oral sex, try out the fruit and mint flavored condoms. But, make sure that they are of good quality.
7. if your want to perform oral sex on women, a dental dam ( or latex sheath placed over the vagina) will make sure you don’t get vaginal fluid or menstrual blood into your mouth. Non-porous plastic wraps, such as non-microwavable plastic wrap (e.g. Glad Wrap) can also be placed over the vagina. Or, a condom can also be cut open risk of HIV transmission (if the skin is intact and if the woman is not menstruating), other STDs can be transmitted in this way.
8. The majority of STIs occur when infected mucous membranes come into contact with uninfected mucous membranes. When performing oral sex, the herpes simplex virus and the infective agents that are present if one has gonorrhea and syphilis infections on one’s lips, mouth or throat, can cause infections of the genitals -and vice versa.
9. While oral-anal sex doesn’t appear to carry a high risk for HIV infection unless there is blood present, the possibility of contracting the hepatitis B virus, herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus virus and other parasites is very high. For safety, use a latex sheath (dental dam), Glad Wrap or a spliced – open condom to cover the anal area.
10. if one has open wounds on the fingers, one should wear a condom over that finger before inserting it into the vagina or anus of the partner.
11. Avoid alcohol and illicit drugs because they can impair your immune system as well as your judgment. It always helps to adopt alternative sexual practices that are less likely to results in infection by HIV, other viruses or infection causing agents.