Sexplained One

Sex & Your Health

Sexplained One — Sex & Your Health is essential reading for any professional working in the field of sexual health, as well as any parent or guardian of teenage children reaching their sexual maturity, and indeed for those young people themselves.

It is equally essential reading for adults without children to worry about, who want to look after themselves, or other people.

Helen has over 30 years of practical experience within the field of sexual, contraceptive and reproductive health, and what is not covered in this book….well probably isn’t known to science!

Packed full of evidence based and researched information, this book is a culmination of Helen’s experience and wide depth of understanding of her subject.

Professionals will gain a meaningful understanding and overview of sexual and reproductive health issues, and gain an idea of some of the very common questions that often occur within practice. The book will arm them with practical advice on how to answer questions in a straightforward way, to which young people and clients can relate, and gain knowledge to make informed choices.

For parents, the book provides insight into issues of gender, sex and sexuality as well as practical and informative information about sexual infections, risks and prevention. The knowledge gained will empower any parent with a ‘toolkit’ that will allow you to talk openly and frankly with your teenage child as they mature into a sexually active young person.

For young people, this book has all you need to know about having sex, keeping it safe, not getting pregnant and avoiding disease, with a no non-sense approach that gives facts and information in an understandable and highly readable way. Dispel the myths and stories of your peers and get the facts. Know about using condoms, finding a contraceptive method that works for you and how your body works on a sexual level.

This book would be a welcomed addition to any home, school, college, university or public library.

The chapters on different infections contain a wealth of information, and help to overcome the stigma of sexually transmitted infections, and the fear of attending a genito-urinary medicine department.

Direct, factual and in parts witty, Helen is a marvel and this book is a testament to her passion, charisma and dedication to the field.

Justin Gaffney RN, Chair of Genito-Urinary Nurses Association (GUNA), UK

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Review by Claire Foster - Clarion Forward Reviews (February 20th, 2017): 

"Combining practical medical advice with answers to “squidgy” questions, Knox’s guide is suited to anyone curious about the nuts and bolts of all kinds of sex. 

With one simple, humane assertion—“Men and women are not machines on which a button can be pressed to turn on the desire to have sex at will”—nurse Helen J. Knox sets out to explore the physical, psychological, and cultural aspects of sex in her new book, Sexplained One: Sex & Your Health. It’s a mighty subject, but Knox takes it on with humor and patience. Instead of a unified theory of sex, or a moral guide, the book is a useful toolbox to help users make their own informed decisions. 

Although Sexplained One starts with some sobering statistics—such as the lifetime cost of a treating single AIDS patient—Knox writes with general humor and a friendly tone. The guide makes no assumptions about sexual experience, preference, or dysfunction, and reads like a clinical Our Bodies, Ourselves. Laid out in a friendly, welcoming format, the book is as easy to read as a pamphlet. Bright colors, sidebars, and photos provide important, need to know information. Knox’s British English may be a little unfamiliar to the American ear; she uses common British slang terms for body parts, and standard British spelling, but differences are not difficult to understand. 

Knox earned her nursing license at Westminster Hospital in 1978, and started a series of pop-up safe sex clinics in London’s most at-risk areas in the early 1990s. A dedicated sex educator who’s worked with sex workers, HIV-positive men and women, and homeless shelters, among others, she is passionate about dispelling myths, stigma, and discrimination about sex. She also fields questions in her long-running “Sexplained” column in Better Health Magazine, which she’s written since 2001. 

Rather than stick with technical detail, Knox makes sex and sexual health easy to understand, both for people who are new to sex and for people who have specific questions about sexual health. There’s no hand-wringing or shaming in Sexplained One: just good, solid reference material. Knox covers subjects from “Vaginal Topics” to “Common Willy Worries,” as well as sexual conditions and diseases and basic sexual health. Excerpts from Knox’s “Sexplained” column take center stage and give Knox the opportunity to hold forth on commonly asked questions about losing one’s virginity, sex after menopause, and intimacy following a hysterectomy or even cancer. Always candid, Knox’s tone is firm and friendly—expert at soothing jangled nerves. 

At its core, Sexplained One is all about communication and respect, which, Knox says, is the best preventative for sexually transmitted infection. While many people may reach for Google or WebMD, Sexplained One includes photos, descriptions, and suggestions—and peace of mind—that random online searches can’t provide. 

Sexplained One is gently humorous and immensely helpful. Combining practical medical advice with answers to “squidgy” questions, Knox’s guide is suited to anyone curious about the nuts and bolts of all kinds of sex.