Unfortunately, I can’t give you one answer since I don’t know what you consider “hooking-up” to be. Some people consider just kissing to be “hooking-up” with someone, while others may define it as oral sex, vaginal sex and/or anal sex.

I’ll start with the first scenario… if you randomly “hook up” with someone and all that it involves is kissing and touching, then the chance of contracting an STD is minimal. Open-mouth kissing is considered a very low-risk activity for the transmission of HIV. However, open-mouth kissing could damage the mouth or lips and allow HIV to pass from an infected person to a partner and then enter the body through cuts or sores in the mouth. Because of this, CDC recommends against open-mouth kissing with an infected partner. (CDC, 1998). Of course, if you are randomly hooking up, you probably won’t know your partner’s HIV status or any of their other sexual history.

If, however, “hooking up” refers to oral sex or penetrative sex and no protection was used (i.e., condom, dental dam), then you are at risk for STDs, including HIV, even from just one encounter.

If you want to be assured that you didn’t contract anything from your hook-up, the best thing to do is to get tested for STDs and to either stay abstinent until you get your results or only have protected sexual encounters. As for HIV, you can get tested right now, but since HIV antibodies need time to develop in your body, a test today will really only give you a picture of your exposure as of approximately six months ago. To get an accurate test, you should think about getting tested in about 3 months and then again 6 months from now. I realize that doesn’t exactly give you peace of mind, but at least you can take control of the situation and take steps towards resolution. If you have more questions about STDs or HIV, you can stop by my office, call or email me and get some more information. But if you need to talk with someone about how to deal with all of your emotions, going to Student Health and Counseling and talking with a counselor is a better bet. You can make an appointment there by calling Cathy at 935-6695.

Dealing with a stressful event, like a break-up, can cloud emotions and lead to circumstances that you might not ordinarily find yourself in. If you know that you are emotionally vulnerable, be careful about putting yourself in a situation where you won’t be able to make good decisions. For example, don’t get wasted to drown your sorrows. You could easily end up doing something you will regret later. Or someone.

Related posts:

1. Hooking up: One phrase, many meanings
2. How can I establish boundaries without making my girlfriend feel bad?
3. SEX ISSUE: Dating survives in campus hook up culture

Chlamydia is a bacteria that is transmitted through semen and vaginal secretions, not through skin-to-skin contact or through the air. You can’t get chlamydia from a toilet seat or from accidentally using your suitemate’s towel. So you cannot get chlamydia just from living in the same suite as someone who has been diagnosed with the infection. If you happen to have chlamydia as well, you did not contract it through just “living” with someone who was infected.

But you can get chlamydia from unprotected sex, so if you’ve ever had vaginal, anal or oral sex without protection (i.e., condom, dental dam), you could be at risk. The main symptom is discharge and possibly burning with urination. Here’s the catch: 50% of men and 75% of women with chlamydia won’t even know that they have symptoms. No symptoms? So how are you supposed to know that you have been infected, much less get it treated? And women have normal discharge at different times throughout the month – are you going to be able to tell the difference?

Using condoms correctly and consistently, with every partner, offers you the best protection other than abstinence. Keep in mind that chlamydia is the most common bacterial STD in the United States, with 75% of all reported cases in people under the age of 25 – the highest rates among college freshmen. Chlamydia is so common in young women that by the age of 30, 50% of sexually active women have evidence that they have had chlamydia at some time during their lives.

If you’ve had unprotected sex, including oral sex, and you’ve never been tested for STD’s, including HIV, you might want to consider it. It might give you some peace of mind and some extra incentive to practice safer sex. The test for Chlamydia is as simple as peeing in a cup, so that shouldn’t be too much of a reason not to go. You can get tested for STD’s here on campus at Student Health and Counseling for $10 plus the cost of testing by calling 935-4996 and making an appointment.

The reason it’s so important to get tested is that if left untreated, chlamydia can cause very painful infections that can lead to infertility for both men and women. Approximately 40% of untreated women will develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) which can cause chronic pain and scarring of the fallopian tubes. Women are also at risk of cystitis (inflammation of the urinary bladder) and mucopurulent (muke-o-PURE-you-lent) cervicitis, which is characterized by a yellow discharge from the cervix. Men are at risk of prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate gland), urethral scarring, and epididymitis (inflammation of the epididymis, which are the elongated, cord-like structures that run along the back of the testes). Epididymitis causes your “boys” to get very large and swollen – think softball size.

Treatment is as simple as antibiotics that you take for a week, since the bacteria has a pretty long life cycle. It’s really important that you take every dose and abstain from any sexual activity until the treatment is complete. Otherwise, you could just reinfect your partner and by doing so, reinfect yourself.

So how would you know if you had chlamydia? That’s just it. You might not know. If you haven’t always been as careful as you could have been, consider getting checked out to make sure you’re okay.

Off campus STD testing that is free of charge is available at:

City of St. Louis Health Department:
The STD Clinic, 634 N. Grand Blvd, 2nd Floor
8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Wednesday
No appointment necessary – $0 (no charge)

St. Louis County Department of Health:
1. North County (John C. Murphy) Health Center, 522-6410
Walk-in services Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 8:30 a.m.-
4:00 p.m. and Tuesday 12:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m.

2. North Central (Pine Lawn) Health Center, 389-4700.
Walk-in services Wednesdays 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

3. South County Health Center, 842-1300.
Walk-in services Wednesdays 1:00 -3:30 p.m.

Planned Parenthood:
4251 Forest Park Avenue
Phone 314-531-7526 ext. 549

http://www.ppslr.org

Appointments are required. No cost. Tests are confidential.

Related posts:

1. College campuses site of potential HIV outbreak
2. SEX ISSUE: HIV afflicts minorities in St. Louis
3. Health Services monitors campus flu outburst

That’s like asking who likes ice cream more! Drinking doesn’t make you horny, but it does affect your judgment and lower your inhibitions. When you are drinking, you might be more likely to engage in behaviors that you wouldn’t when sober. Maybe hooking up with someone you never would have looked at twice sober? Sound familiar? At least one out of five college students abandon safer sex practices when they’re drunk, even if they do protect themselves when they’re sober. Even if you’re usually careful, you may wind up not using any protection, like a condom. According to factsontap.org, a leading website on alcohol and your college experience, as many as 70% of college students admit to having engaged in sexual activity primarily as a result of being under the influence of alcohol, or to having sex they wouldn’t have had if they had been sober.

Last week you talked about sleeping over with your boyfriend. I am kind of on the other side – I’m freaked about sleeping over in anyone’s bed. I don’t want a guy to see me with bad breath and messed up hair and stuff. Is that normal?

It’s totally normal to feel weird about sleeping over at someone else’s place. Is it just that you don’t want to deal with the potential sexual pressure that comes with sleeping over in someone else’s bed or is it more to do with your appearance?

Being in someone else’s space, much less their bed, may make you feel like you’re not totally in control. It’s okay to keep things out of your partner’s bedroom and in a more neutral location. If you have developed a relationship with a specific guy, you might feel more comfortable about his respecting your wishes and may be able to hang in his room. On the other hand, if you are sketched out from the thought of spending the night in a somewhat random hookup’s bed, that’s very normal as well! Random hook-ups are not safe sexually, and emotionally they probably aren’t going to do much for you either.

If your concern is purely aesthetic, that’s normal, but it might mean that emotionally you’re not quite ready for sleepovers. If you are in a relationship with someone you trust and care about, over time you might feel differently about him seeing you in the morning, complete with messy hair and wicked breath. It may take some getting used to, and some quick trips to the bathroom to brush your teeth when you first wake up, but eventually – when you are ready – it won’t seem strange at all to not worry about those things.

Related posts:

1. Does drinking alcohol really reduce sexual performance?
2. Encourage safer drinking
3. Cadenza: Movies, booze, and you: A guide to the greatest movie drinking games

This is a really sticky issue. On the one hand, having the newfound freedom of your own room gives you more control over your life, like when you turn the lights off, how clean you keep your room (very clean, right mom?), what music you listen to and so on. But it also propels you a little further into adulthood; you will have your own apartment (okay, with roommates) and no RAs or a hall full of friends to help you deal with your life. Moving off campus is a big decision, in and of itself, but navigating relationships outside of the dorms is also going to force you and your girlfriend to make some personal decisions.

It’s great that you recognize your need for space and want to address this issue now, before you move and have to deal with the situation. Talking with your girlfriend before you move in to your apartments will help the situation enormously. If you are feeling anxious about moving and the dynamics of your relationship, then having a conversation now, on the front end, will help set the tone for how things will be when you move. I realize that having that conversation can be difficult, and you run the risk of hurting your girlfriend’s feelings, but if you don’t say anything, you may end up resenting her and putting a great deal of strain on your relationship.

Open communication is critical to a successful, lasting relationship – whether with a friend or a significant other. By realizing that this could be an issue and wanting to address it before it becomes a problem, you’ve already shown that you care about her feelings. Helping her to realize that you have both of your best interests at heart may take some work, but in the end, your relationship will potentially get stronger if you are honest. If you were to wait and say nothing, you risk getting into the situation you described with her wanting to sleep over all of the time. Once it has happened, changing things becomes much more difficult and you may feel stuck. When you feel like you’re losing control, you may take your frustrations out on her for other reasons, even silly reasons, because you don’t know how to fix the situation. Dealing with this upfront will give you the chance to set the boundaries you want and help you to avoid a confrontation later.

All this growing up stuff is fun, huh? There is no one right way to approach this situation, but talking openly with your girlfriend is a good place to start.

Questions?

How many times have you had a question about your body or your health that you felt weird asking a friend or someone older? Especially when it’s about sex? Jill Ringold, who received her master’s degree in Public Health and is a certified health education specialist, is the health educator in the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness. And she’s here to help answer those questions that you really want to ask. If you want to submit a question, please send it to health@studlife.com or via our anonymous portal on the Student Life website (www.studlife.com).

Related posts:

1. The guy’s take: after the break up, quit making up
2. Making Wupee
3. Do men experience baldness “down there”?

Whether or not you are “sexually active” really depends on your definition of sexually active. There isn’t one all-encompassing definition of sexually active. Every person defines for himself or herself what that means. For some people, being sexually active means some type of vaginal or anal sex, for some it means oral sex, and for other it might mean deep or French kissing. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Being sexually active has more to do with how you perceive and classify your own actions rather than how a dictionary would categorize them for you. Keep in mind that the same goes for defining abstinence. Some people say abstinence means no touching at all, while others define it as not having penetrative sex. And the definitions range from everything in between. The most important thing is that if you choose to be “sexually active,” you need to feel comfortable with what you are doing. It also helps if you and your partner(s) are on the same page about things. If you think you are abstaining from sex and your partner thinks that the oral sex you’ve been having is “sex,” then it might be time to discuss what you’re doing and what it means to both of you. So the next time you are asked about being sexually active, ask what is meant in the specific context – you’ll be giving whoever is asking more correct information, and you’ll make them think about being more specific with their questions.

I know that I need to go for my “well woman” annual exam (it’s been about a year) but I recently started getting my pubes totally waxed, and I’m really embarrassed to go. Is the doctor going to think I’m a freak?

It’s great that you kept track and remembered that you need to go for your yearly well woman exam. As far as your pubic hair, or the lack thereof, it’s a personal choice. If you think your health care provider hasn’t seen a shaved pootie before, think again. There is not a standard way one’s pubes should look; some people go for a shaved ‘do, others just trim, and some ladies just let the bush grow wild and free. If your health care provider does make you feel uncomfortable because of any aspect of your body, it might be time to find another provider. It’s really important that you feel comfortable and trust your provider, because it’s someone you should be able to talk with about your personal health issues and concerns. Wash U is very lucky to have Stacy Selbert, who is a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, as well as Dr. Gary Wasserman, who is an OB/GYN. You can schedule your appointment (935-4996) with either one of these professionals and be treated with care and respect.

Questions?

How many times have you had a question about your body or your health that you felt weird asking a friend or someone older? Especially when it’s about sex? Jill Ringold, who received her master’s degree in Public Health and is a certified health education specialist, is the health educator in the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness. And she’s here to help answer those questions that you really want to ask. If you want to submit a question, please send it to health@studlife.com or via our anonymous portal on the Student Life website (www.studlife.com).

Related posts:

1. I think I’m allergic to condoms…
2. Why you shouldn’t have sex on a beach?
3. I’m not a slut, but I have a sexually transmitted disease

You are probably addicted to the caffeine, which is in your Diet Coke, as opposed to the soda itself. Among its many actions, caffeine operates using the same mechanisms that amphetamines, cocaine and heroin use to stimulate the brain. On a spectrum, caffeine’s effects are more mild, but it is manipulating the same channels, and that is one of the things that gives caffeine its addictive qualities. It sounds like you may be dependent on caffeine to function, which makes it difficult to feel balanced and healthy as you go through your day.

Many Diet Coke, and other diet soda drinkers, don’t usually drink coffee. They usually go for their diet soda in the morning. So even though drip coffee has about 140mg of caffeine, whereas a diet drink usually has about 45mg, if you aren’t used to higher amounts of caffeine, then the amount of caffeine in your soda is what’s giving you that pick-me-up in the morning, or anytime you start to feel cranky. As your body gets used to the amount of caffeine in your soda, you are going to need greater quantities to get the same effects.

There has also been a lot of debate in the medical literature, as well as in the public forum, on artificial sweeteners. Diet Coke contains aspartame, which has been hotly debated as to its potential negative effects on the body. You can educate yourself and make personal decisions about if and how much aspartame you choose to consume. Keep in mind that, like many foods containing artificial additives, there is a safe daily limit. An average adult should consume no more than 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram (equivalent to ~2.2 pounds) of body weight per day. To exceed the limit, most people would need to drink at least 14 cans of diet drinks per day.

If you really want to cut back, you might try “diluting” your Diet Cokes with the caffeine-free version. Try going half-and-half. Sometimes this is easier than just drinking half a can or not drinking any at all. Wean yourself down until you are able to drink the caffeine-free version without any of the regular mixed in. Or you could go cold turkey, switch to water, and just break your habit!

Questions?

How many times have you had a question about your body or your health that you felt weird asking a friend or someone older? Especially when it’s about sex? Jill Ringold, who received her master’s degree in Public Health and is a certified health education specialist, is the health educator in the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness. And she’s here to help answer those questions that you really want to ask. If you want to submit a question, please send it to health@studlife.com or via our anonymous portal on the Student Life website (www.studlife.com).

Related posts:

1. Coke contract hinders Cheap Lunch
2. The Wash. U. caffeine hierarchy
3. Health Beat

I tried to buy lube last weekend and there were like 6 kinds? What do I want to buy and is there a difference?

As far as what you want to buy, it all depends on what your plans are for the lubricant. People use lubricant, or lube, for personal dryness, to make sex easier or feel better, for sex toys, and to pleasure themselves.

There are two basic types of lubricant: water-based and silicone-based. Water based lubes, such as KY, ID and Wet, are usually clear, odorless, tasteless and won’t stain. The benefit of water-based is also its detractor: it will simply wear off after awhile, so you don’t really have to “clean up” too much after using it – but you will also eventually get dry if you are engaged in prolonged sexual activity. If your partner doesn’t exactly ‘last too long,’ then water-based lubes are fine.

Silicone is a synthetic substance that primarily has industrial uses. Don’t use silicone lubricant that isn’t designed for personal use – there are silicone lubes for skateboards, sewing machines, engines, and so on. These lubes are NOT designed to be put on your most private of areas, so don’t get cheap and try to raid the toolbox for a quick fix. Silicone-based lubes, such as Wet Platinum and ID millennium, are newer to the personal health market. Silicone-based lubes won’t wear off, so you won’t need to reapply, but you will need to wash with soap and water to get it off of you. Silicone lube doesn’t react with your body, and it’s not absorbed by the skin or digestive tract if you end up swallowing some. This type of lube is ideal for extended intercourse, as well as underwater sex; silicone lubes are also preferred by many for anal use. Using condoms, male or female, with either type of lube, will make the experience not only safer, but more pleasurable. A dry condom is likely to undergo more friction and tear, as is the fragile skin inside the vagina and anus, if exposed to prolonged, dry rubbing.

A lube that you plan on using with a latex, male condom needs to be water-based or silicone-based so it won’t damage the latex. This means you need to stick to the stuff that is specifically designed to be lube – no whipped cream or massage creams on the condom since the oil would break down the latex and put you at risk of pregnancy and infections. Also, sex toys can be made of a wide variety of materials, so it’s important to read any “instructions” that come with them to be sure of what is safe to use for lube, as well as how you should clean the toy between uses and/or partners. Putting a little lube inside the tip of a male condom will increase the sensation for the guy and won’t make it slide off – just don’t squirt half a bottle onto your penis and expect to be able to get any type of protection to unroll and stay on.

They also make lubricants now that give you a warm sensation from friction. This is really just a personal choice – do you want a warm sensation from the lube? Will it add to your experience or will it detract? If it sounds appealing to you, try it out and decide for yourself. There’s nothing harmful about this type of product; it’s personal preference.

Flavored lubes are a great novelty and have a great deal of appeal to people who wisely use condoms for oral sex. Latex isn’t exactly flavorful, but a little bit of chocolate lube might make the experience a bit tastier. Flavored lubes are not necessarily designed for vaginal or anal sex, so be sure to read the packaging to see if they can be used for any type of intercourse or if they are only designed for oral sex. While they are safe to eat, some of the flavorings may be irritating to the sensitive skin in the vagina, penis and anus.

Lubes that contain spermicide (nonoxynol-9) are fading from the market because it’s been found that the N-9 can cause irritation and tiny abrasions that make you more susceptible to getting a sexually transmitted infection, including HIV. Some forms of birth control, such as the diaphragm, require the use of a spermicidal jelly, so be sure to check with your health care provider if you are using a product that contains spermicide.

So try buying a small size of a couple of the different products and experiment to see what you prefer. Talk with friends about what they have used and liked. It’s your body, so figure out what makes it feel the best.

Related posts:

1. The last time I had sex was a lot more painful than before…
2. Does anyone really use condoms or dental dams during oral sex?
3. Letters to the Editor

I guess that all of this snow and cold weather have you dreaming of sunshine and beaches … I don’t blame you! The main reason that you wouldn’t want to have sex on a beach is that sand is sharp. It may feel soft beneath your feet, but sand is actually incredibly abrasive. When you have sex, the grains can be pushed into the vagina or anus. The sharp edges can be enough to put a hole in a condom, increasing your risk of pregnancy or infection. What’s more, as sand enters the vagina or anus, it can scratch and irritate the sensitive skin. These abrasions make it easier for many STDs-including HIV-to enter the body, and if you’re not protected, risks are even higher. You may also want to think about the whole privacy thing-chances are you won’t be the only people on the beach. It can be hard to be intimate and really relax and enjoy a sexual experience with someone while you’re constantly looking over your shoulder, wondering who may be walking by or watching.

Is there such a thing as emotionally practicing safer sex? I mean, physically I could have sex, but emotionally, I’m afraid of getting something. Is it “safe” to wait just because you are scared of STDs? Am I just being uptight?

You are definitely not being uptight. As you learn about the potential risks and consequences of being sexually active, it’s natural to be apprehensive about putting yourself in a situation that could lead to negative outcomes. You make decisions all of the time about putting yourself at risk, having nothing to do with sexual health, that evolve from weighing positives and negatives. Do I want to drink? If I work out today, do I have enough time to study? Should I get in the car with this guy? How much sleep do I need before my test? Do I really want this cigarette?

Being ready to be sexually active with a partner doesn’t just mean being physically ready. Your emotions play a much larger role. If you are apprehensive, for whatever reason, then you are probably not ready right now. You might want to find ways to explore your own body, both for pleasure and to gain emotional confidence in talking with a partner about why your body is so important and why being “safe” is necessary for you to be intimate with another person.

If you feel like your fears about disease and sex are “taking over” your ability to enjoy relationships, then you might want to talk with a counselor about your feelings. If more people took the time to think about all of the issues surrounding being sexually active, they would probably make better decisions about how to be safer and protect themselves.

Talking with a potential partner about your desire to be safe and your hesitancy to be intimate because you are concerned about infections can help. Try to let your partner understand that this is stemming from your own personal feelings about the subject, and does not reflect on his/her likelihood of having an STD. People can get defensive if they feel like they are the reason you don’t feel comfortable.

Keeping yourself safe “above the waist” is as important as “below.” If you are not emotionally ready-don’t rush it. If you want more information about STDs or safer sex, you are welcome to come speak with me, or you can call and make an appointment at Student Health and Counseling (5-6695) to speak with Stacy Selbert, who is a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner.

Questions?

How many times have you had a question about your body or your health that you felt weird asking a friend or someone older? Especially when it’s about sex? Jill Ringold, who received her master’s degree in Public Health and is a certified health education specialist, is the health educator in the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness. And she’s here to help answer those questions that you really want to ask. If you want to submit a question, please send it to health@studlife.com or via our anonymous portal on the Student Life website (www.studlife.com).

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2. Books on the beach: the ideal Olin combination
3. Making Wupee

As we get older, everyone’s hair thins. Even down there. But most people don’t end up “bald.” Over time, however, you can expect what hair remains to turn grey or even white. Because the amount of pubic hair lessens over time and the color lightens, it could appear as if one were “balding.” Topical products that are designed to stimulate hair growth on your head are not meant to be used for your genital region. If you are feeling like your sparsely-populated pubes are a problem, please consult with a doctor before trying to stimulate Chia Pet-like growth on some of your most sensitive skin!

My girlfriend won’t take off any of her clothes unless it is totally dark. What is wrong with her?

Nothing is necessarily “wrong” with her. It’s possible that your girlfriend is new to dating and relationships, and may not be as comfortable as you are with aspects of being intimate. She may be modest about her body and not as at ease as you are with being undressed. Try slowing things down and give her a chance to feel more relaxed sharing her body with you.

It’s also possible that she doesn’t feel very confident or comfortable with her body. The dark allows her to hide and prevents you from really seeing her. It’s going to be difficult for her to get much pleasure from your physical relationship if she feels uncomfortable with her own body.

Try to work on ways to help her feel better about her body. Talk with her about why she feels more comfortable being in the dark. Don’t be frustrated if after you tell her how beautiful you think she looks, she still feels the need to hide. Her shyness about her body has little, if anything, to do with you.

Also, men typically like to “see” what’s going on, while for women it’s usually more about emotions and what’s in their heads. You might try explaining that you really like seeing her body while you’re touching it. Help her to understand that for you it’s about being intimate, not just seeing her naked.

Doing something not specifically sexual, like giving her a back massage, could potentially help to ease some of her discomfort. If she’s willing to take off her shirt with the light on, she could lay on her stomach while you massage her back. Helping her to feel more comfortable with you, in a non-sexual situation where she’s not fully exposed, may be worth trying.

Questions?

How many times have you had a question about your body or your health that you felt weird asking a friend or someone older? Especially when it’s about sex? Jill Ringold, who received her master’s degree in Public Health and is a certified health education specialist, is the health educator in the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness. And she’s here to help answer those questions that you really want to ask. If you want to submit a question, please send it to health@studlife.com or via our anonymous portal on the Student Life website (www.studlife.com).

Related posts:

1. Am I “sexually active”?
2. Could I be addicted to Diet Coke?
3. How can I tell the difference between genital herpes and acne?

It does sound like a pretty good line, “We can’t use condoms because I’m allergic.” In reality, you could be allergic. The first place to start is with the lubrication on the condoms you are using. If the condoms are lubricated with the spermicide Nonoxynol-9, this could be the cause of your problems. N-9, while it does kill sperm and viruses, also causes irritation in many people, and can actually increase your risk of getting STDs/HIV. So ditch any condoms lubricated with N-9. If you were already using plain, lubricated condoms, then you need to try out a non-latex condom. There are condoms on the market now that are made of polyurethane. They are effective at preventing pregnancy and the transmission of STDs; however, they haven’t been tested as strenuously as latex condoms, so it’s recommend that people use latex condoms unless they have an allergy. The only brand of polyurethane condoms that don’t have N-9 are made by Durex and are called “Avanti.” Most drugstores carry them, or you can buy a bulk order online. They are more expensive than latex condoms, but if they don’t cause an allergic reaction, then you might be willing to shell out the extra cash. Try out an Avanti and see if you still think that you’re allergic. If you are still having negative symptoms, it’s time to head over to Student Health and Counseling for a check-up. Anytime you have a rash or major irritation of your genitals, getting it checked out by a health care provider is your best bet. You may also be allergic to other latex products like Band-Aids, latex gloves, and so on. Be sure to ask your doctor about a latex allergy and what it means for you.

What is “dysplasia”? My roommate said that she’s got it, but it’s not a big deal.

Dysplasia means abnormal cell growth anywhere in the body. When you go for your regular, annual, gynecological check-up and they do a pelvic exam, one of the things your provider will do is a Pap test. This is when they will collect a few cells from your cervix to look for any changes or abnormal growth. If you have abnormal changes, your doctor will let you know that you have “cervical dysplasia.” If it goes unchecked (i.e., you don’t get your annual exams) and untreated, it can possibly progress to cancer, or in some cases, heal on its own.

Cervical dysplasia has been linked very strongly with the presence of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause genital warts and is usually, although not always, sexually transmitted. It is estimated that at least 1 in 4 people are infected with HPV, so it is extremely important to get a Pap test done every year. In fact, 80% of sexually active people will likely contract HPV at some point in their sexual lives. College age women are actually at a higher risk to contract HPV than any other segment of the population. As you get older, and potentially enter into a long-term monogamous relationship, your risk will decrease and your provider may not feel you need to get a Pap test every year. But for now, it’s simple and quick-and you can get it done at Student Health and Counseling. They have a well-trained OB/GYN nurse practitioner and a gynecologist on staff who enjoy working with college-aged women and will be sensitive to your needs and concerns.

Keep in mind that if you are diagnosed with HPV or with cervical dysplasia, it does not necessarily mean that you “got it” from your current partner. You could have gotten this from anyone in your past as well-it can remain undetected for years. The more partners you have, the higher your chances of getting HPV-and you can become infected with more than one kind. Actually, there are over 100 different types of the human papilloma virus and only a few of them cause actual, visible genital warts. The warts are caused by low-risk types of the virus that are much less likely to lead to cervical dysplasia; the multitude of high-risk types, which don’t cause visible signs, are the ones that have the potential to cause abnormal cellular change and possibly progress to cervical cancer.

It may not be a big deal for your roommate-but that’s because she found out about it in time.

Questions?

How many times have you had a question about your body or your health that you felt weird asking a friend or someone older? Especially when it’s about sex? Jill Ringold, who received her master’s degree in Public Health and is a certified health education specialist, is the health educator in the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness. And she’s here to help answer those questions that you really want to ask. If you want to submit a question, please send it to health@studlife.com or via our anonymous portal on the Student Life website (www.studlife.com).

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1. Health Services offers non-spermicidal condoms
2. College men need education on condoms
3. Does anyone really use condoms or dental dams during oral sex?