While most HPV infections clear on their own, some HPV infections can live in the body for a long time, and often do not cause any symptoms. It is very possible for someone to have HPV for years (10, 20, even more) and never know it, and so you may have gotten HPV from a past sexual partner. HPV is extremely common, and most people who have been with two or more sexual partners in a lifetime have been exposed to the virus. Currently there are no HPV tests for men, and so there is no way to know if your boyfriend has it.

It can take a long time after your last Depo shot for your fertility to return. The average amount of time it takes someone to get pregnant after stopping Depo is 9 to 10 months – this means about half of people who stop Depo will get pregnant within 10 months.

It’s never necessary to douche. Vaginas are designed to be self-cleaning and douching can throw off the healthy environment, which can lead to increased risk for STIs or other vaginal infections. For this reason, vaginal douching is discouraged. Some people who have receptive anal sex (i.e "bottom" or have someone else's penis in their butt) douche before anal sex so that sex is not messy. Douching is a personal choice. It is most important to avoid injury to the anal/rectal tissue to reduce the risk of STIs.

Many women get urinary tract infections (i.e. UTI or bladder infection) from any physical contact with their genitals -- penile intercourse, oral intercourse, digital intercourse, sex toy use, masturbation, etc. To prevent this, some women drink lots of fluids before sex, and empty their bladders both before and after sexual activity (the acidity of the urine can help to kill some bacteria). Your partner washing before sex, especially under the hood of his penis if he's uncircumcised, couldn't hurt either to reduce the frequency of your infections. 

A pelvic exam is a check-up of the vulva, vagina, and cervix (opening of the uterus, inside the vagina). It may or may not include a pap smear, which is a test looking for abnormal cells on the cervix that are usually caused by an infection of human papillomavirus (HPV). For more information, please visit our pelvic exam and pap smear info page.

Yes, it's true, you may be at risk for pregnancy if you had condomless sex after missing some birth control pills. Your exact risk depends on a few things, like which week of your pill pack that you missed your pills. For example, missing two pills at the very beginning of a new pill pack puts you at high risk for pregnancy. Missing two pills in the last week (where the pills don’t have hormones, they are just reminder pills) does not increase your risk for pregnancy.

Yes, there is a chance of pregnancy any time a condom comes off or breaks during sex. If this happened within the last 5 days, you can come in to get emergency contraception (the morning after pill) [link to emergency contraception page]. Please come in as soon as possible so we can help you get this medicine. If you are not able to come to the clinic, one kind of emergency contraception (Plan B) is available without a prescription at most pharmacies.