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To celebrate World Sexual Health Month 2019 we’re bringing you a 5-step guide to improving your sexual health. With the start of fall and the new school year in full swing, now is a great time to revamp our wellness routine. New beginnings can be overwhelming but have no fear – these 10 tips should help get you back on track:

1. Prioritize peeing

Peeing before and right after sex, especially if you have a vagina, can help protect you from urinary tract infections (UTIs). Sex can expose your urethra to UTI causing bacteria, and peeing flushes that out.

2. Bring lube into the bedroom

Lubrication can not only improve your sexual pleasure, but also your sexual health. By decreasing friction, lube can decrease the chance of tearing skin or condoms. That means this 2-in-1 tool can decrease the risk of STIs and unintended pregnancies! Make sure your lube (or sex toy for that matter) doesn’t contain PVC, vinyl, phthalates, parabens, or spermicides. And be sure to avoid oil based lubes which can damage condoms.

3. Take time to talk

Effective communication with sexual contacts is associated with increased condom use and sexual pleasure – double win. Talking about your sexual health history with a partner can feel awkward but it’s well worth-while. Use reflective language to make sure you’re getting all the information you need from a partner, for example, “I was tested for X, Y months ago. My results were Z, and I have/haven’t had an unprotected sexual contact since. How about you?”

4. Practice safer sex

Use barrier methods, like condoms and oral dams, the right way every time you have sex. They’re the only way to prevent transmission of the majority of STIs. And if you’re trying to avoid pregnancy, be sure you know your prefered form of birth control, there’re plenty of options! Check out this blog to learn about other ways to have safer sex.

5. Don’t stress, just test

Last but not least, if you are sexually active, routine STI screening is necessary to keep you and your partner(s) healthy. The majority of these infections don’t show any symptoms, so getting tested is the only way to know your status. Find out what you should be getting tested for here.

Follow these tips and tricks to improve your sexual health and re-establish your self care routine. Want to learn more about how to prevent STIs? Click here to keep reading and take this short quiz to see what STI test may be best for you! And as always, feel free to reach out to binx at any time with your sexual health questions!