The Little Black Book for Girlz: A Book on Healthy Sexuality

Other Infections

Some infections can be transmitted sexually AND also in ways that have nothing to do with sex. Check out these too (and also trichomoniasis earlier in this chapter).

Urinary Tract

What is it and how do you get it?

It is an infection of your bladder (the sac that holds your pee), and your urethra (the tube that your pee travels through). UTIs are often caused by a bacteria from your bowels. UTIs happen when the bacteria travels to your urethra during intercourse, oral sex, or when you wipe yourself with toilet paper from the back to the front. You can get UTIs from factors that have nothing to do with sex.

How do you know if you have it?

• You have to pee a lot, but only little bits at a time.

• It burns when you pee and there may be blood in your pee. • Your pee smells bad or it is not clear.

What should you do?

Go to your doctor. They will be able to tell you if you have it by your symptoms and by testing your urine. They can give you antibiotics, which will help make the infection go away.

Yeast Infection

What is it and how do you get it?

Yeast is a fungus. It's not as gross as it sounds. It grows in our vaginas anyway, but if we have too much, it causes itching and soreness. These infections are very common. They are really irritating, but they aren't life threatening.

Yeast infections are caused by an overproduction of yeast. You can get one without having sex, but it can sometimes be transferred between genitals during sex. That means that if you have sex with a guy while you have an untreated yeast infection, he can get itching and redness on his penis and have discomfort.

You can get yeast infections from:

• eating too much sugar

• taking antibiotics

• taking the birth control Pill

• sexual partner who has a yeast infection

• wearing restrictive clothing that doesn't let your vagina breathe or synthetic underpants

• too much stress

• drinking and smoking can also make it worse

How do you know if you have it?

• itching, redness, and swelling of the vagina

• discharge that is thick and white, like cottage cheese • pain when you have sex

What should you do?

A doctor can tell if you have one from the discharge and a swab. Yeast infections often come and go on their own. If they don't go away, you can get medicine from the drug store or from your doctor. Acidophilus pills from the drug store can be inserted in the vagina overnight. Alternatively, putting yogurt that contains acidophilus culture in your vagina can help treat the infection or take away some of the pain and discomfort. The easiest way to do this is to dip a tampon into plain yogurt and then insert the tampon into your vagina overnight. Try it three or four nights in a row. It may also help to allow your vagina time to breathe by wearing cotton underwear and loose clothing.