How Likely are You to Get HIV from Protected Sex?

If you are using birth control pills or some sort of shot that prevents you from getting pregnant, that is not protection against HIV.

Types Of Protection

When talking about protected sex you absolutely must remember to distinguish between protection from sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) and protection from pregnancy!

The only way to protect yourself from HIV is through the use of a condom. Latex condoms are generally the safest ones to use, although some people are allergic to them. In that case, you can check out sheepskin condoms. You will want to check the precautions on them though before you use them, in order to ensure that they are effective at protecting against STDs.

How to Use Protection

Even if you purchase latex condoms, that does not mean that you are 100 percent protected against HIV. In order to optimize your safety, please read the directions on the box of condoms. There should be directions on how to correctly put the condom on. If you do not follow them exactly, you are putting yourself at risk of contracting an STD, pending that you are not 100 percent sure that the other individual does not have one.

Additionally, you cannot just throw the condom on at any time during sexual intercourse. In order to prevent against HIV, you must put the condom on before any physical contact or insertion occurs.

You need to use a condom every single time that you engage in sexual intercourse if you want to prevent an STD from occuring. Of course, if you are married and your partner has tested negative for STDs, you are in a much safer atmosphere.

Condoms Can Fail

It is not likely that you will get HIV from protected sex; however, condoms are not 100 percent effective. Even if you or your partner wears a condom every single time and it is always put on correctly, condoms can still break or slip off during sexual intercourse. Furthermore, even if the condom does not slip off or break, there is a slight chance that it will not work.

You should check the label before you purchase a box of condoms, but you will typically find that condoms are between 90 to 99 percent effective if used correctly.

How to Stay Safe

Now that you see that you cannot protect yourself 100 percent against HIV if you are involved in sexual intercourse, you might want to know how you can possibly protect yourself against the disease. Here are some ways to do this:

• Avoid random sexual encounters with people you do not know. You are less likely to have developed a sense of trust with them, and you may never know that they have HIV until it is too late.
• Make sure you trust your partner. If you are having sexual intercourse with someone on a regular basis, you need to be able to trust that he or she is telling the truth about his or her sexual past.
• Ask your partner to get tested. You should get tested as well. Then you will know if both of you are clear of HIV or other STDs or if there is a problem that you should both be aware of.
• Abstain from sex. If you do not have sex or other sexual activities that could put you in contact with HIV, then you are not going to contract HIV. Wait until you are with someone who you trust, before having sex.