If you are worried about catching an STI you can find our best preventative advice, depending on the type of STI, on the individual STI pages. But here is what we would recommend as best practice when practicing safe sex.
How to avoid STIs
You can do your best to protect yourself against sexually transmitted infections by:
- Using condoms every time you have vaginal or anal sex
- Covering the genitals with a latex or polyurethane square, sometimes known as a ‘dental dam’, or use condoms every time you have oral sex
- Washing or covering sex toys with a new condom before anyone else uses them
We’d also recommend getting tested regularly, to ensure that you catch any STI infections, or other bacterial or viral infections, early, so they can be treated as soon as possible, and you don’t accidentally pass anything onto any of your sexual partners.
Remember, if you would like to know the specific ways to prevent yourself from catching a certain STI, or other another type of infection, make sure you check out our pages that tell you more about each type of STI, including how to avoid, test and treat them.
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