HPV
How To
How to Discuss Your Sexual History with a New Partner in 10 Steps

We know you don’t want to hear it, but: you’ve got to have the hard conversation with each new sexual partner about where your junk has been and what it’s seen. Especially in an age when casual sex is de rigueur, and Tinder is causing STD rates to skyrocket, and almost everyone has or has […]

What's Up Doc?
Dr. Kate, Does a LEEP Procedure Increase My Risk for Contracting STDs?

Dr. Kate is an OB/GYN at one of the largest teaching hospitals in Boston who lectures nationally on women’s health issues and conducts research on reproductive health.  She regularly (and generously!) answers your health questions here on EMandLO.com — this week, it’s about a LEEP procedure for HPV. To ask her your own med question, click here. Dear Dr. Kate, What […]

Dear Em & Lo
Dear Em & Lo, How Risky Is Oral Sex for STD Transmission?

I’m a teenager who was kinda pressured to give a guy oral (he’s my age) and though it was only for 3 minutes tops, I don’t know anything about his medical history except that he has had sex before. I myself had never done that before, nor have I had sex (I am a virgin) and didn’t even […]

What's Up Doc?
Dr. Kate, What’s This Bump on My Boyfriend’s Penis?

Dr. Kate is an OB/GYN at one of the largest teaching hospitals in Boston who lectures nationally on women’s health issues and conducts research on reproductive health.  She regularly (and generously!) answers your medical questions here on EMandLO.com. To ask her your own, click here. Dear Dr. Kate, Hi,  I have some concerns about my boyfriend and his private parts…. […]

Dear Em & Lo
Why You Have to Tell Your Partner If You Have HPV

 photo via flickr Many experts, including doctors, will tell women that they don’t need to inform their male partners if they have HPV. The reason given is that 80% of sexually-active adults have or will acquire HPV — in other words, basically everyone — and also, the virus is much less likely to harm a […]

Sexual Health
5 STDs You Should Worry About More Than Ebola

photo via flickr Yes, yes, yes, you should be very concerned about Ebola… if you’ve traveled to Liberia recently. (Or know someone who has.) But you should be very concerned about STDs… if you’ve had sex recently. Especially if you’re not in a long-term, monogamous relationship with someone who would never cheat on you (and, […]

Videos
Everything You Need to Know About HPV

HPV is a tricky little STD: it takes a second to contract, but a lifetime to understand. So a few years ago, we broke HPV down for you, in video form. It’s worth a review — we even relearned a thing or two! MORE FROM EMandLO.com: Dear Dr. Kate, Can Hand Warts Be Transmitted to […]

Confessions
Comment of the Week: Telling on a Cheat Could Save a Life

Reader Jay Bee said the following in response to our post, “Your Call: Should I Tell Her He’s Cheating on Her?” As someone who may die from the cervical cancer my cheating exhusband gave me from one of his mistresses, you NEED to tell the wife. I highly doubt you are the first person he’s cheated […]

Research
Naked News: The HPV Edition

poster via NCCC-online.org We’ve been writing about sex and sexual health for more than a decade, and HPV still makes our heads swim. It’s such a complicated subject — complicated further by the emotional and political climate surrounding the vaccine — and guidelines on HPV seem to be constantly changing. It’s been in the news […]

What's Up Doc?
Dear Dr. Kate, Can Hand Warts Be Transmitted to Genitals?

photo via Flickr Dr. Kate is an OB/GYN at one of the largest teaching hospitals in New York City and she answers your medical questions every few weeks on EMandLO.com. To ask her your own question, click here. Dear Dr. Kate, My boyfriend has 2 warts on his fingers. We have been trying to treat […]

What's Up Doc?
Dear Dr. Kate, How Long Do STDs Take to Show Up on Tests?

photo via Flickr Dr. Kate is an OB/GYN at one of the largest teaching hospitals in New York City and she answers your medical questions every few weeks on EMandLO.com. To ask her your own question, click here. Dear Dr. Kate, How soon after sexual relations would an STD test register a newly transmitted virus? […]

What's Up Doc?
Dear Dr. Joe, What’s the Deal with HPV and Men?

photo via Flickr This week, Dr. Joe DeOrio, a urologist in Chicago, tackles questions about male sexuality. To ask Dr. Joe your own question, click here. Dear Dr. Joe, I am BEYOND confused because none of the information related to HPV seems to focus very much on HPV in men. Once a man has it, […]

Personal Essays
Confession: I'm a Safer Sex Scold and Proud Of It

photo by Lori Greig Our contributor Abby Spector, who is majoring in Feminine/Gender/Sexuality Studies at Wesleyan University, has a confession to make: College students have a lot of sex. They are horny, hot and away from home. Add in a drop (or gallon) of alcohol and you get strangers pairing off by 8pm — or […]

What's Up Doc?
Dear Dr. Vanessa: Can I Get HPV Orally?

photo by db*photography Every few weeks, Dr. Vanessa Cullins, a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist and vice president for medical affairs at Planned Parenthood® Federation of America, will be answering your questions here. To ask her your own question, click here. Dear Dr. Vanessa, Can you get genital HPV orally? — Orally Fixated Dear O.F., Yes, you can.  […]

What's Up Doc?
Dear Dr. Kate: I’m SO Confused About HPV!

photo by db*photography An anonymous poster on our site — calling themselves “medical knowledge” — recently wrote the following in response to an edition of our advice column about HPV. So we asked our own Dr. Kate — of Gynotalk.com — to clear things up, as it were. First, the anonymous comment: 80% of sexually […]

Confessions
Comment of the Week: There’s No Such Thing As TMI with STDs

photo by altemark It’s quite arrogant to think you have the right to minimize any STD. It is true that millions of Americans have HPV, it is true that some people’s immune systems are able to kick it… BUT what about all the rest of the people who have to suffer with it for the […]