February designated Condom Awareness Month

February is often considered the month of love, flowers, chocolate-covered strawberries, candy – and condoms? 

While teenagers are engaging in activities of love and lust, Planned Parenthood of Indiana is spreading the word of safe-sex practices by recognizing February as Condom Awareness Month.

The organization said it felt the need to designate a month for safe-sex practices because of current sex statistics for young people.

One in every four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease, said Kate Shepherd, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Indiana. 

Planned Parenthood spreads condom awareness and has more than 35 health centers statewide that offer condoms for free or for a small fee.

“Condom usage is one of the most effective ways to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unexpected pregnancies,” said Shepherd, pointing out that other contraceptives, such as birth control pills, do not prevent the spread of diseases.

Communication between the partners is key, said Larisa Niles-Carnes, health educator for Planned Parenthood.  Questions such as, “Were you tested recently?” and “Do you use condoms when you have sex?” are the most important.

“Sometimes people feel like it can be a damper on the sexual mood,” Niles-Carnes said. “But it’s important to know that, because an STD is a damper on the sexual mood too.”

The most likely diseases occur when condoms are not used at all among partners, Niles-Carnes said. This can lead to the spread of bacterial infections, such as chlamydia and gonorrhea.

While these infections are treatable and curable when caught early, viral infections such as human papillomavirus are incurable and can cause genital warts and lead to cervical cancer.

The center recommends individuals in monogamous relationships get tested once a year.  Women can get tested with their gynecologist and men through a simple urine test.  However, testing can be done at the IU Health Center as well.

Niles-Carnes also recommends testing after every partner change or after every six months for those who have more than one partner.

A main concern is the high probability that many people do not know how to properly put on a condom, Niles-Carnes said.

“Not everyone reads the instructions,” she said.  

While Niles-Carnes says the majority of condom breakage is human error, Planned Parenthood offers demonstrational videos on its Web site, www.ppin.org, as well as on its Facebook page and YouTube account, of how to properly put on a condom using life-like wooden models.

“There are no stupid questions when it comes to sexual health,” said Katie Wilkinson, office and outreach coordinator for the Health and Wellness Education Department in the Health Center.  

“We try to provide all of the resources for students here on campus to try to protect themselves, and hope they make the right decisions for themselves,” Wilkinson said.

The Health Center is always available for consultation about how to use condoms, where to get them and how to use the various forms of contraceptives, Wilkinson said.

Students can also take up to four condoms a day from the basket inside the Health Center with no questions asked.

She said members of the clinic would be happy to sit with patrons individually and teach them the proper ways of putting on a condom so that it is used correctly every time.  

The use of expired condoms, not noticing holes, putting them on the wrong way or waiting too long to take the condoms off can harm the effectiveness of the contraceptives, Wilkinson said.  

The center also provides information on lubricants, as some condoms are incompatible with certain lubricants. Programs are also available to residence assistants, dorms, and sororities and fraternities for more comfortable settings with smaller groups to ask more personal questions.

Sherwood said the most common myths of sexually transmitted diseases are found among those who think they have to have multiple partners or that they are immune to getting such diseases.

“Until you are both tested and given a clean bill of health, you don’t know for sure,” Sherwood said.