Condom

Whether alcohol affects your birth control really depends on what method you’re using. If you rely on birth control that requires you to use it before you have sex, like condoms or a diaphragm, then alcohol may make it harder for you to use your method correctly or to remember to use it at all. Here’s more detail about how alcohol can affect sex and birth control.

If you’d like more lubrication than your lubricated condom provides, go for it. Just make sure you use water- or silicone-based lube with latex condoms. Applying more lube to the inside or the outside of a condom—or both—can add to the sensation that there’s nothing in between you and your partner.

If the condom breaks—or leaks or spills—you can prevent pregnancy by using emergency contraception up to five days after it happens. Just remember, EC pills are more effective the sooner you take them. You may also want to get tested for STIs and consider taking medications to prevent HIV if your partner has HIV or you are unsure about the HIV status of the person you had sex with.

While many people worry that condoms can reduce sexual pleasure, research shows that people rate sex with a condom as just as pleasurable as sex without one.

Both water-based and silicone-based lubricants are totally safe to use with latex condoms. Steer clear of oil-based lubricants (including massage oil, hand lotion, Vaseline, and all types of cooking oil, including coconut oil) that can cause condoms to break.

Condoms, internal condoms, spermicide, emergency contraception pills, and one brand of the pill are all available at your nearest pharmacy, big box store, or online.

Probably not. The most common symptom of all STIs is no symptom at all. STIs are often asymptomatic or display such mild symptoms they go unnoticed or are mistaken for something else. For that reason, most people with an STI don’t know they have one. Even when STIs have no symptoms or only mild symptoms, it’s still possible to pass them to others. Untreated STIs can cause long-term health problems internally long before we’re aware of their effects, so it’s important to get tested regularly.

The best way to prevent Zika is to protect yourself from mosquitos and practice safer sex by using condoms consistently for all kinds of sexual contact. Zika is also another great reason to use birth control carefully and consistently if you’re not trying to get pregnant.

If you’re under the influence of alcohol—or anything else—a birth control method that doesn’t require action right when you’re about to get your freak on may be your safest bet. Fortunately, there are plenty of options. Note: These methods will cover you against pregnancy, but you should pair them with a condom for STI protection.

And speaking of covering all your bases, here are some tips for safer, smarter hookups.