We know sex practices are a personal decision and we are here to help share education with our Evvy community so you can have the best outcomes from treatment in Evvy Clinical Care! We want to emphasize that this recommendation is a standard part of many medical treatments and is not a reflection of personal choices. Everyone's situation is unique, and these guidelines are in place to ensure the best possible outcome for your health.

It's our Evvy best practice recommendation to avoid penetrative sexual activity (vaginal, oral, and anal) during your treatment program, as these activities can introduce microbes into your vagina during the healing process and may impact your overall treatment efficacy. One of the top reasons for treatment failure is penetrative sex (protected or unprotected), and our Evvy best practice recommendation is non-penetrative masturbation during the duration of treatment!

If you're prescribed an antibiotic and/or antifungal, please ensure that you do not have any type of penetrative sex (vaginal, oral, or anal) during this time - even with a condom. Skin-to-skin contact can introduce bacteria, which is why we also advise against protected penetrative sex. Non-penetrative masturbation is best during this time of treatment. In the probiotics portion of treatment plans, condom use can help decrease the disruptive bacteria that may be re-introduced to your vaginal microbiome. However, even with condom use microbes can be transferred to the vaginal microbiome via skin-to-skin contact and may impact treatment efficacy.

We know abstaining from forms of penetrative sex isn’t the most ideal (we get it - and we promise it’s not forever!). Your vaginal microbiome is *especially* susceptible to pathogens at this time and we recommend only non-penetrative masturbation to decrease your chances of reinfection as well as increase your chances of treatment success! This is a short-term measure that is encouraged in order to achieve the best possible outcome for your overall health.