Your personal health and wellbeing should always be a top priority, but we know that sometimes we’re so busy with life, work and looking after others that we forget to look after ourselves.
It’s the season of love, so we’re encouraging you to love yourself, and put your own health and wellbeing first – starting with your sexual health.
Talking to your partner or a doctor about your sexual health can be intimidating. You may feel embarrassed about the questions that you have or you might not want to admit to certain feelings or fears about your health. However, talking to your healthcare provider about your physical health, as it relates to your sexual health is so important.
When thinking about how to discuss your concerns or sexual problems with your healthcare provider, remember that:
- they are there to help you and they are not embarrassed to have these conversations with you
- the things you want to talk about are almost certainly not new
- they will have dealt with many patients who come to the table with all kinds of questions or conditions
To best support you, your doctor needs to know some personal information about you so that she or he can help answer your questions, assess your risk and offer the correct advice. You may want to talk about:
- Your sexual history
- Your current sexual practices
- Your condom use
- Any symptoms you have
- Any questions you have about sexually transmitted infections and testing, or alternative contraception
- Any problems you may be having, such as erectile dysfunction or pain during sex
- If you think you could be pregnant
Sexual health doesn’t need to be an uncomfortable subject – the more open we are to talking about it, the better. It’s important for everyone to take their sexual health seriously and to seek advice and support around sexual health issues.
We want to raise more awareness of sexually transmitted infections, contraception that is available, and sexual consent. Throughout February, across all of Carnival UK, we are encouraging you to love yourself, and make your sexual health a top priority.
If you’re on board, visit the Medical Centre and talk to your doctor or nurse. If you’re shoreside, book an appointment with your doctor or a sexual health clinic – find your nearest sexual health clinic here.
If you have a question or concern about your sexual health, speak to a doctor, or, if you want to speak to someone confidentially, get in touch with our Employee Assistance Programme providers:
On board – Phone card access code: 2222-2222-2222 Dial: 222-222
Shoreside – Call Validium on 0800 3 58 48 58 or join validium.com/vClub