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You could be allergic to sperm and not even know it! | Source: ShutterStock
I’m allergic to cats and pollen, which suck enough. But there’s another allergy that’s coming to light that sounds a lot worse: A lot of women are actually allergic to sperm.
Say what?!
The technical term for being allergic to sperm is seminal plasma hypersensitivity, and it’s when your body reacts to proteins in semen. About 20,000 to 40,000 women in the U.S. suffer from it, and a lot more may be suffering from it–because it’s often misdiagnosed or not reported because they’re embarrassed.
Symptoms of a sperm allergy include pain, redness and swelling after or during sex. Some women break out in hives or feel like there’s a needle pricking their vagina (OMG, ouch). Scary!
The problem with that is that sperm allergies are often misdiagnosed since they have similar symptoms as yeast or vaginal infections and some STDs, so a lot of women who suffer from it don’t even know it. Another issue? A lot of sexual health products, from lube to spermicides to latex condoms, can contain allergens too, so it takes a lot of narrowing down to realize that sperm is the problem. They just know that they’re in pain and that their sex lives are suffering because of it.
Thankfully, sperm allergies are treatable. It takes some trial and error to figure out which specific proteins in a guy’s semen you’re having reactions to. When docs narrow it down, they gradually expose you to them more often until you’re not sensitive to them anymore.
More good news? Having a sperm allergy won’t affect your fertility, so if you want to pop out babies someday, you should be fine–as long as you’re not too uncomfortable while you’re making them. (But you have a long ways to wait for that anyway–so use protection!)
Do you or someone you know have a sperm allergy? How do you think you’d deal if you were diagnosed as allergic to sperm? Do you have any other bizarre allergies? Tell us in the comments!
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