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]]>Q. HIV is a death sentence.
A. Successful treatment of the virus can mean a long, normal life span. It’s key for people living with HIV to have access to quality care and start antiretroviral treatment immediately. Access to proper health care means extended life span, so no, it’s certainly not a death sentence.
Q. Stick to your treatment and take good care of your body. This can help you live a long life with HIV.
A. True
Q. HIV cannot be transmitted during oral sex.
A. HIV can be transmitted during oral sex. HIV can be passed on through sex when infected sexual fluids or blood enter the bloodstream of an HIV negative person. During oral sex this could potentially happen if the mouth, gums and/or throat of the person giving oral sex has cuts and sores or is inflamed or infected.
Q. Is it advisable to use condoms when engaging in oral sex when you have any cuts or sore?
A. Ideally one should not participate in sex when one has open cuts or sores as a condom doesn’t cover them; all it covers is your private part. Having said that a polyurethane condoms should be used for any sexual activity as they are better at protecting from sexually transmitted infections.
Q. Hugging, handshakes, sharing toilet seats and mosquito bites does not transmit HIV.
A. True
Q. If you are having unprotected sex or you are sharing your needles or injection equipments (tattoos, injection drugs, diabetic), you are putting yourself at a risk of HIV.
A. True
Q. Straight People Do Not Get HIV.
A. False
Q. HIV is transmitted by the sperm which means an infected man can produce an HIV positive baby.
A. The risk of a baby having HIV is only directly related to the HIV status of the mother, not the father. So if your partner is not HIV positive, this is how you can have an HIV negative baby.
Q. When a baby is conceived it is HIV-negative in the womb. The baby normally gets infected at the time of birth when the baby’s body fluids and the mother’s blood mix. The baby can only be infected if the mother has a sexually transmitted disease.
A. If a woman is infected with HIV, her risk of transmitting the virus to her baby is reduced if she stays as healthy as possible. According to the March of Dimes, new treatments can reduce the risk of a treated mother passing HIV to her baby to a 2 percent or less.
Make an Appointment with Dr. Sharmila Majumdar at the Sexual & Mental Health Clinic, Avis Hospital, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad
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]]>The post CONTRACEPTION: 14 COMMON MYTHS – BUSTED appeared first on Dr. Sharmila Majumdar - Sexologist Psychoanalyst in Hyderabad.
]]>This is one of the most common misconceptions, responsible for many unwanted pregnancies. Also known as the withdrawal method, it has a high rate of contraception failure. This is because some pre-ejaculation fluid (or pre-come) may be released before the man actually ejaculates. This pre-come contains spermatozoids, and it takes only one sperm to get you pregnant! In addition, some men may not have enough self control to withdraw in time…
Keep in mind that pre-ejaculation fluid can also contain sexually transmitted infections, so pulling out will not prevent you from getting an infection.
The chances of getting pregnant while on your period are low, but it may happen, mainly in women with shorter cycle –i.e., if you get your period every 21-24 days. In such case, your ovulation occurs around the 10th to 12th day after the beginning of your period. Since sperm can live up to 5 days inside your body, if you have sex towards the end of your period, sperm can wait for the egg to be released and you may become pregnant.
But even in women with longer, regular cycles, the ovulation may eventually take place earlier… So remember, you can get pregnant at any time of the month if you have sex without contraception.
It has been suggested (mostly by internet rumours) that it is dangerous to take the emergency contraception pill more than one or twice in your life. According to the World Health Organisation: “Emergency contraceptive pills are for emergency use only and are not appropriate for regular use as an ongoing contraceptive method because of the higher possibility of failure compared with non-emergency contraceptives. In addition, frequent use of emergency contraception can result in side-effects such as menstrual irregularities, although their repeated use poses no known health risks.” Emergency contraception pills are very safe and do not harm future fertility. Side effects are uncommon and generally mild.
Some women believe that having sex in certain positions, such as standing up, sitting down, or if they jump up and down afterwards, they won’t get pregnant as sperm will be forced out of the vagina. In fact, sperm are very strong swimmers! It has been showed that within 5 minutes, sperm are able to reach the tube, where the fertilization of the egg takes place, and this happens regardless of the position you have sex in.
There’s no such thing as a “safe” position if you’re having sex without a condom or another form of contraception. There are also no “safe” places to have sex, including the bathtub, the shower or the sea.
Although these three methods are the best-known, there are 15 different methods of contraception (the available options differ in each country). Unfortunately -for women- there are only two choices for men (the male condom and permanent sterilization). Women have a choice of about 13 methods, including several of long-acting reversible contraception -this means you don’t need to remember to take it or use it every day or every time you have sex.
In the USA, 44% of adolescent girls ages 15 to 19 have had sexual intercourse. Although most of them have used contraception, teenagers frequently use methods with high failure rates -such as withdrawal, or they incorrectly use more reliable methods -such as the pill. In fact, 8 out of every 10 adolescent pregnancies are unintended.
The intrauterine device (IUD), a small device that is inserted into the uterus, has been traditionally reserved to women who have had children. However, new guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have changed this old perception. The IUD, together with the contraceptive implant, are considered now first-line contraceptive options for sexually active adolescents and young women. They are the most effective reversible contraceptives for preventing unintended pregnancy, with about 99% effectiveness.
Of course, the IUD and the implant do not protect against sexually transmitted infections, therefore you should also use condoms for that purpose.
These persistent misconceptions are, unfortunately, still responsible for many unplanned pregnancies. If the intercourse takes place during your fertile period, you may become pregnant, whether it’s the first or the hundredth time you’ve had sex, whether you liked it or not.
Condoms may occasionally break. Many people think that using two condoms (also known as “double bagging”) is safer than using one. Actually, it’s exactly the opposite: using two condoms causes friction between them, increasing the risk of breakage. Thus, two condoms should not be used, neither for pregnancy prevention or for safer sex. This is also true for using a male and a female condom at the same time. When used properly, a male condom is 98% effective at preventing pregnancy, a female condom is 95% effective.
During intercourse, adding lubricant may ease penetration, so sex is pleasurable and not painful. This is important when, for many reasons (such as stress, medications, taking the pill, etc) the natural wetness of the genital area is reduced.
Lubricants can be made from water, oil, petroleum or silicone. However, when using condoms, water-based lubricants should be used. Oil-based products such as petroleum jelly, creams, or baby oil and can damage the latex and make the condom more likely to split, resulting in no contraceptive protection.
Silicone-based lubricants are a newer form of lubrication; they are safe to use with condoms. However, they can be harder to wash off and may cause irritation.
This is another very common misconception. After stopping the oral contraceptive pill you may get pregnant immediately. But sometimes it may take two or three cycles for your fertility to fully return, no matter how long you have been using it. Some studies have shown that, within a year after going off the pill, 80% of women trying to get pregnant will get pregnant – exactly like women who were never on the pill.
Vaginal douching (washing out the vagina) after sex won’t help to prevent a pregnancy. Again, this has to do with spermatozoa being fast swimmers. By the time a woman starts douching, sperm are already well inside the uterine cervix, where no douching solution can reach them.
In fact, you should never douche. Douching can lead to many health problems, including problems getting pregnant, vaginal infections and sexually transmitted infections.
While you’re less fertile when breastfeeding, you may become pregnant. There is no accurate way to predict when fertility returns, even if you breastfeed exclusively. You may not menstruate for several months after giving birth, but at some point you will have your first ovulation. This is where you can get pregnant- and this will occur two weeks before you get your first period.
Thus, when nursing you should use birth control if you wish to avoid pregnancy.
If you have a regular cycle of 28 days, the ovulation usually occurs the 14th day of your cycle. But it’s not only that day that you are fertile. As said before, sperm can live in the cervix for up to 5 days, waiting for the egg to be released. Studies have shown that most pregnancies result from intercourse that takes place during a six-day period ending on the day of ovulation. Once the egg leaves the ovary, in about 24 hours it dies, and the fertile period is over.
However, even in women with a perfectly regular cycle, the hormonal balance involved in the ovulation process can be disrupted by many factors. These include stress, medications, etc, which can lead to an earlier or delayed ovulation. Thus, trying to avoid a pregnancy by just having intercourse on the “safe” days can be difficult and may eventually result in an unwanted pregnancy.
A survey conducted in France showed that “…one in ten young women ages 15 to 20 is not aware that the pill does not protect against HIV and sexually transmitted infections”. In fact, the only contraceptive method that offers protection against STIs is the condom. Barrier methods, such as the diaphragm, do not to keep bacteria out of the vagina. Others like the pill and IUD offer no STI protection at all.
Dr. Sharmila Majumdar
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