Healthy sex life goes a long way

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Sex is an inevitable part of our lives, and a healthy sex life makes this a lot more pleasurable. It is important to be sexually healthy, which means taking care of your physical, mental, and emotional health by practising safer sex. You need to be comfortable in your skin, sexuality, and relationship.

Sex is good for you

Healthy sex is good for your physical as well as mental health. It helps you to connect with people. It helps in better sleep, better self-esteem, better fitness, and reduces stress and tension. An orgasm releases endorphins, hormones that block pain and make you feel happy and high.

But, to avail the benefits, you need to maintain a healthy sex life which includes safer sex, regular medical check-ups, hygiene, and avoiding unwanted pregnancy.

Unprotected sex- An invitation to STDs

If you are sexually active, you need to be more careful as there are risks of getting STDs. More sexual partners increase the risk of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. So, it is important that you know your partner and not involve yourself in unsafe sex.

It is always advisable to use barriers like condoms to avoid STDs that spreads due to the exchange of fluids like HIV, hepatitis, and gonorrhoea. It also reduces the risk of acquiring diseases that spread through skin-to-skin contact like syphilis, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), etc.

Vaccines

Currently, there are vaccines available to prevent STDs. These vaccines are more effective when given before a man, or a woman gets involved in sexual activities. It is recommended to be given before the age of 11, but one can get vaccinated in their late 20s as well.

There are vaccines available for Hepatitis B that can cause liver damage. It is normally given during infancy. Hepatitis A does not spread during sex, but it can be transmitted through anal or oral intercourse. It is recommended to all children under the age of 1.

Regular check-ups and birth control

In case of any discomfort or issue, always consult your doctor. It is good to have regular check-ups for STDs if you have an active sex life. It reduces the chance of long-term consequences if the issue is detected on time and treated appropriately. Women also need to learn about healthcare and hygiene.

As a woman, you need to know your birth control options. Unwanted pregnancy can affect your health and sex life. There are numerous birth control options available, some might require a medical prescription, but some are affordable and readily available.

Barriers such as condoms (both male and female), cervical cap, etc. are some of the commonly used birth controls. Birth control pills, contraceptive sponge, diaphragm, under the skin implant, and sterilization are some of the methods which require medical attention. Talk to your doctor to know which option is best for you.

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“Latika, wiped her tears on her shawl as she finished narrating her fears to her best friend of being pregnant now that she’d been ‘close’ with her lover. “

But, the fact remains that one CANNOT get pregnant just by kissing. A fact Latika was unaware of, and she’s not alone. Many young adults of both the sexes with such limited knowledge are a testimony to the pitiful state of sex education in India, despite sex being a natural and almost inevitable part of life. It’s ironic to see that Sex and anything related to it is a taboo, especially, when it affects everyone’s lives in so many different ways.

Beginning with the early years of the teens, we were introduced to a plethora of feelings hitherto unknown, so it is imperative that proper guidance is given because devoid of such guidance from appropriate sources, teens seek help usually from the wrong sources, like their friends who themselves aren’t aware of the right facts or from the Internet, which without a doubt is misleading in ways more than one can imagine, especially to a young adult. This leads to these teens growing up with no or wrong knowledge about sex.

Also, sex education encompasses Sexual health, which is another critical issue to be aware of. Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) like AIDS, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, etc. can be prevented from spreading with proper education about condoms and its proper usage.

According to “the quint” India has 16 million teenage mothers which is a shocking 11% of the world total. The shamefully high number can be attributed to the fact that 27% of the girls are married before their 18th birthday, according to the National Family Health Survey. Now, doesn’t it bother you that almost all these girls enter their married life with pretty much no knowledge about sex or its related issues? Not to mention the pressure of becoming a mother that mounts her when she herself is not even legally an adult.

Also, the knowledge of men regarding menstruation is also pathetic. For most men, menstruation is simply 5 days where the girl is ‘impure’ and should ‘stay away from people.’ In fact, such ignorance has led to women using rags, sand, and even ashes to absorb their menstrual blood.

With sex education, we can also address the issues of unwanted pregnancy and contraception, which is again a very alien subject for a large number of teens. Team this up ‘no idea of Sexual health ‘ and presto! You have the perfect recipe to bomb your health and even risk your life.

Sex education, while addressing the medical aspects of sex, can also be used to target the ethical aspects too. With proper sex education, teens know what these newfound feelings are, and also they have a proper person to go to with their problems. This reduces the risk of young adults resorting to the Internet and eventually, even pornography to satisfy their curiosity. This can have a very negative impact on their minds as it can cultivate unnecessary ideas which can culminate in the form of the tragic ‘Nirbhaya’ rape case.

It is very clear by now about the significance of sex education and its sorry state can be connected to the fact that sex usually shuts people up in the name of decency, morality, and what not! But, the fact is, the more we close our eyes and pretend blind to this situation, the more “indecent” it will get.

Instead, teachers and parents should be sensitized to these issues and the generation gap between the children and parents should not be a hurdle that makes a child prefer a half-knowledge friend over their own parents and teachers.

So here’s to hoping for a Latika who is confident and educated in the ‘basics’ of human nature.