2008 Woodie Awards
Column: Don't be sexless, use protection
Peggy Spencer
Issue date: 10/25/06 Section: Opinion
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by Peggy Spencer
Daily Lobo columnist
Dear Dr. Peg,
I'm freaking out. I went to a great party last night and had a fantastic time, but I guess I had too much to drink, and there was this really attractive person, and one thing led to another, and we had sex. We didn't use protection. This morning I'm sober. I have a roaring headache. I feel like an idiot, and I'm terrified. What have I done? What could happen to me? I can't believe I did that. I'm never having sex again.
Scared Sexless
Dear Scared,
What have you done, you ask? You made some choices that put your health at risk. You are clearly regretting this as you look back with the clarity of hindsight. What could happen to you? That depends on a few things.
If you are Scared Susie, you'll be worrying about disease and pregnancy, unless you had sex with a woman, in which case you'll still be worrying about disease. If you are Scared Sam, it's the possibility of disease that's making your headache worse. Let's take these issues one at a time.
For pregnancy prevention, come to the Student Health Center for emergency contraception. You need a prescription for this hormone treatment, but soon it will be available over the counter. The sooner you take ECP the better, but it can be effective up to three days after unprotected sex. ECP is not an abortion pill. While you're at the SHC, you can get more information about birth-control methods.
The other issue is STIs. This is the new and improved acronym for sexually transmitted infections, formerly sexually transmitted diseases. There are several. For practical purposes, I'm going to divide them into two categories, curable and
incurable.
Curable STIs are infections that can be cured with antibiotics, after which they are gone from your body for good, unless you catch them again. Please note that most of these can be silent, meaning you can have them and not know it. We can find them for you, though, with blood, urine or swab tests. When they do cause symptoms, they are typically as follows. Trichomonas, also called trich - pronounced "trick" - is a parasite that can cause an itchy, smelly, greenish discharge from the penis or vagina. Chlamydia is a bacterium that can cause burning with urination, a penile or vaginal discharge, painful sex or vaginal bleeding. We see several cases of chlamydia at the SHC every year, especially after spring break. Gonorrhea, or the drip, causes a goopy, yellow discharge from the penis or vagina. Pubic lice, also known as crabs, cause severe itching and rash in the pubic area. If you look closely, you might be able to see the lice themselves or their egg cases on your pubic hair. Crabs are treated with a cream or liquid. Molluscum contagiosum virus causes bumps that look and feel like hard pimples. Removing the core of each lesion, which we do in the clinic, helps the infection clear up more quickly.
Daily Lobo columnist
Dear Dr. Peg,
I'm freaking out. I went to a great party last night and had a fantastic time, but I guess I had too much to drink, and there was this really attractive person, and one thing led to another, and we had sex. We didn't use protection. This morning I'm sober. I have a roaring headache. I feel like an idiot, and I'm terrified. What have I done? What could happen to me? I can't believe I did that. I'm never having sex again.
Scared Sexless
Dear Scared,
What have you done, you ask? You made some choices that put your health at risk. You are clearly regretting this as you look back with the clarity of hindsight. What could happen to you? That depends on a few things.
If you are Scared Susie, you'll be worrying about disease and pregnancy, unless you had sex with a woman, in which case you'll still be worrying about disease. If you are Scared Sam, it's the possibility of disease that's making your headache worse. Let's take these issues one at a time.
For pregnancy prevention, come to the Student Health Center for emergency contraception. You need a prescription for this hormone treatment, but soon it will be available over the counter. The sooner you take ECP the better, but it can be effective up to three days after unprotected sex. ECP is not an abortion pill. While you're at the SHC, you can get more information about birth-control methods.
The other issue is STIs. This is the new and improved acronym for sexually transmitted infections, formerly sexually transmitted diseases. There are several. For practical purposes, I'm going to divide them into two categories, curable and
incurable.
Curable STIs are infections that can be cured with antibiotics, after which they are gone from your body for good, unless you catch them again. Please note that most of these can be silent, meaning you can have them and not know it. We can find them for you, though, with blood, urine or swab tests. When they do cause symptoms, they are typically as follows. Trichomonas, also called trich - pronounced "trick" - is a parasite that can cause an itchy, smelly, greenish discharge from the penis or vagina. Chlamydia is a bacterium that can cause burning with urination, a penile or vaginal discharge, painful sex or vaginal bleeding. We see several cases of chlamydia at the SHC every year, especially after spring break. Gonorrhea, or the drip, causes a goopy, yellow discharge from the penis or vagina. Pubic lice, also known as crabs, cause severe itching and rash in the pubic area. If you look closely, you might be able to see the lice themselves or their egg cases on your pubic hair. Crabs are treated with a cream or liquid. Molluscum contagiosum virus causes bumps that look and feel like hard pimples. Removing the core of each lesion, which we do in the clinic, helps the infection clear up more quickly.
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