Are Wellie's The Only Rubbers You Need For Glasto?!

For all you lucky people who are reading our blog from the mud of Glastonbury, this one is just for you :)

The lovely people at the Terrence Higgens Trust (THT) are providing six volunteer support workers this year to help people look after their sexual health.

The volunteers will be running a Sexual Health stand in the Welfare zone from 10am - 10pm all over the weekend, to offer people advice, support and free condoms! The staff on the stand are also able to signpost anyone who needs help to the correct local services, including the sexual health clinics.

For anyone at the festival, keep your eyes open for the mobile condom cart, which will be travelling around the festival handing out free condoms!

So, if you are knee deep in mud, enjoying the music, don't forget that help is at hand, visit the welfare zone if you need some support, or get your free condoms from the condom cart - they are the most effective way to prevent STI's after all.

For anyone who isn't off enjoying the festival, visit the No Risks website to find out where you can get your free condoms in Suffolk, or 'like' our No Risks Facebook page to find out more about the new relaunched 'C-Card' scheme.

Take care! :)

STI Testing..

Today the Nursing Times are reporting that there has been a decrease in the number of STI's, but that this could be due to the increase in people taking tests. In England last year there was a 10% rise of people taking a Chlamydia test, making the total number of tests a whopping 2.2 million! To read the article in full visit the Nursing Times website.

Doing a chlamydia test isn't as scary as it may seem, for girls it is a simple swab, and for boys a urine test, these get sent off the lab and results tend to come through within a week - so it's a fairly painless process!

For more information on all STI's, visit the STI page on the No Risks website or to make an appointment at one of our Sexual Health clinics in Suffolk call us in complete confidence on 0300 123 3650.

Take care!

***It's 'Men's Health Week' 2011!***

So, this week is Men's Health Week, which is aimed at all you fella's who aren't all that hot at going to the Doctors! This year as part of MHW, a new guide to all things healthy has been created, so for those of you who are a bit adverse to making an appointment when you should, it teaches you to use the correct websites and tools online to perhaps seek the medical advice you need, without a face to face with the Doc. Of course, no website is going to be a replacement for a chat with your GP, but perhaps it will help to settle your fears about certain ailments that may be bothering you. For more information on Health Clicks, see the Male Health Mini Manual.

Oh, and an added bonus to Mens Health Week, for all you techie guys, the good people at Male Health have created a super cool free iPhone app, aptly named Blokes Noises :)

Of course, as always another way to find top of the range information on all things Sexual Health visit the No Risks website.

If after all this, you are still GP shy, then make sure that you use the tools available to you, seek a bit of reassurance, and remember, whatever your issue, the GP will have seen it all before..

Take Care! x

Sex Is Safe If You Are Over 40..... ?

There seems to be a general assumption, that if you are over 40, then sex is safe, regardless of whether you use contraception or not right? Wrong.. It doesn't matter what age you are, everyone is at risk of STI's.

It is assumed that post-menopausal women are not included in the safe sex message, since the risk of pregnancy is not necessarily an issue, and most women in that age bracket are assumed to be either in a monogamous relationship, or fairly sexually inactive. However, with the divorce rate on the rise, many in this age range are starting out in new relationships and the majority who fall into this age bracket have had no previous sexual health education and are not proficient in the use of condoms.  For more information on where to get condoms in Suffolk click here.
 
Generally advice on Sexual Health and STI's is aimed at the younger generation, but the message here is clear, no matter what your age, and previous education of Sexual Health, there is no need to be kept in the dark, information is available on all types of STI's and general Sexual Health on the No Risks website.

Let us know what you think of Sexual Health in the over 40's via our Twitter page.

Childhood & Sex Education

Last night I heard on the radio that a school in Scotland had written to parents regarding a change in uniform regulation - fair enough - however, parents at the school were very concerned that the letter had alluded to the changes in uniform being due to "tight trousers" for boys and "short skirts" for girls attracting paedophiles.  Hmmmm.  Listen to the report here, 22 mins into the clip.

This comes after the latest series of "the Sex Education Show" on Channel 4, in which the presenter Anna Richardson started a new campaign: "stop pimping our kids!" For more info, click here.  The problem is that many sex educators on Twitter (@DrPetra & SexEdUKation being a couple of them) were a bit cross about Anna Richardson's assumption that parents would buy these "sexualised" clothes or that these clothes, on an 8 year old girl were "sexualised" at all; also has it really got worse, were songs not just as explicit in the 70s?  Let us know what you think (anonymously of course) here.

The other bit of controversy in the news regarding sexual health is that Life, a pro-life/anti-choice (depending on your particular point of view) charity that "care for mothers", has been given a place on the new government advisory panel for Sexual Health, read the guardian article here; lots of Sex Educators (and an opposition MP) have been saying that this will limit the advisory's ability to have a balanced view, as they will be advising on Sex Ed also (which may please Nadine Dorries).  However, if Brook is also on the panel, is that not balanced enough? Some people are definitely saying no...Let us know what you think via our Twitter page (which I'm trying to bump up to 200 followers..!) to get in on the discussion (argument?)

Abortion is, however, definitely a controversial discussion point , which is why we're looking at redesigning our young people's page to contain more information & advice on this emotive topic.  In the meantime, checkout Education For Choice, and our pregnancy page.  And I know it sounds really obvious, but the only way to avoid unintended pregnancy is to use contraception; which everyone can get for free in the UK!  For condoms in Suffolk, click here.