Spring here, which, for many of you, means warm weather, daffodils, birds chirping, sun shining ... oh, and more sex. Yup, spring tends to fire up our libidos. We get to strip off our bulky, unflattering clothes, show some skin, and trade the winter blahs for a little more buoyancy.
So - and not to be a killjoy here - maybe it's a good thing that April is also STD Awareness Month. Actually, every month should be STD Awareness Month, but we're rolling with April because, well, it's already sanctioned by the government. Plus, now is as good a time as any to start practicing safer sex.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 20 million new STD infections occur each year in the U.S. That number is shocking enough, but what's really mind-blowing is that a lot of these infections could have been prevented. How? With better education about testing, safety and contraception.
So let's start at square one, shall we? Condoms. They're one of the simplest, most effective ways to protect yourself from sexually transmitted infections. The catch? You have to use them - and you have to use them correctly.
Do you know what it takes to play safe? Take our quiz to test the strength of your condom knowledge.