STDs that Can Spread from Female to Female

If you are sexually active, then you are at risk for STDs. It doesn't matter who you have sex with, once you become sexually active, STDs become a part of your health risks. While many people are aware of STDs passing from male to female or male to male, female to female STDs are a concern as well. Learn the STDs that pass from female to female, how they are most commonly spread, and what you can do to prevent catching or spreading an STD yourself.

If you are in a female to female relationship, then you are at risk for passing certain STDs more than others, although you are still susceptible to all STDs in general due to being sexually active. (Herpes doesn't care about your sexual orientation, after all...) Common female to female STDs are HPV, bacterial vaginosis (which is commonly mistaken for a yeast infection as it has similar symptoms- women who are not sexually active can get bacterial vaginosis as well, as it's where the bacteria present in the vagina goes haywire), and trichomonas. While HIV is more commonly spread amongst males (via anal intercourse with males or females), women can spread HIV amongst one another as well.

Women commonly spread these STDs amongst one another via oral sex, sexual acts where the fingers of one female are placed in the vagina or anus of another, and via sharing sexual toys made for penetration without properly cleaning or sanitizing them first. Most commonly women spread STDs to one another without even realizing it, with sexual toys being the main culprit. Women will not spread an STD to one another via simply touching or sharing the same toilet seat in the same house, but bacterial vaginosis can be spread if women share the same towel while it is still moist and the bacteria still present.

Prevention in spreading STDs is key, and getting tested for an STD for both you and your partner is the best way to ensure that you do not spread an STD to one another. Often, women will have bacterial vaginosis (BV) and not even know the symptoms for what they are, and commonly spread this STD to one another. HPV takes on over 100 different strains, so it is easily contracted. Being vaccinated against HPV (the strain that causes cervical cancer, not the warts) can help a woman keep from contracting HPV, but will not protect her against getting genital warts.

If a woman is concerned about contracting an STD or passing it along to another female, then she should contact her doctor or nearby clinic to be educated on and tested for STDs. Many people (male and female alike, of all sexual orientation) have or have had an STD without even knowing it, so getting tested is the only sure way to ensure that you do not have one. And ensuring that your partner is tested as well is your best way of preventing STDs overall. And if you do have an STD, it doesn't make you a promiscuous or even irresponsible person- it makes you an educated one who was smart enough to get tested and find out about their sexual health. Remember, any person who is sexually active is at risk for STDs.

Sources:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/health-issues-for-lesbians/MY00739

http://www.cdc.gov/std/bv/stdfact-bacterial-vaginosis.htm