Of course the best way to not get an STD is to not have sex, but that’s not an option. Our readers want to have sex, but safely. Getting an STD is not only risky for your health, it’s also humiliating. So here are the top 10 ways to avoid STD’s in the first place.
1. Make sure you and your partner are clean by getting tested regularly. At least every 6 months if you have multiple partners in that time period. If either of you comes back with anything, finish treatement before resuming sex, or you’ll just pass it back and forth to one another. Also make sure backtrack it to the last known possible source so it doesn’t circle through your friends and end up once again at you.
2. Have sex in a mutually monogamous relationship. If you do decide to open your relationship, make sure the invited party has been recently tested and is clean.
3. Know your limits. If you plan on having sex that night, come prepared. If you don’t, keep yourself out of a situation where it’ll be hard to say no.
4. On that note, sober sex is safer sex. Don’t get into it if you’ve been drinking or using drugs. (Besides, sex under the influence is more often than not, worse, not better).
5. Be responsible for you. Bring your own protection. And use it.
6. Talk to your partner about what they consider to be safe sex. Is he thinking that condoms are only for anal sex? Does she consider oral sex safe? Is it safe to go down on a man but not a woman without protection? Come to terms with one another.
7. If you don’t know your partner that well and are just ‘hooking up’, perhaps just this once, keep the sex simple and straight forward. Don’t do oral, don’t finger her anus, just make sure you are using a fresh reliable condom and keep it simple.
8. If you know that a potential partner practices risky behaviors (aka, been around the block and does things you only see in porno flicks, get’s drunk and has sex with people they don’t know), odds are they have had a run in with an STD. Find another target.
9. Know how to please yourself. Hey, there are alternatives. 
10. Say no. If you are not comfortable with the situation, know how to stop it and get out. If you feel pressured to do something you don’t want to do, men or women, it’s ok to walk away.