Thursday, July 7, 2011
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Choose your lube wisely…
Everybody has heard about lube, or personal lubricant, to be used during sex but the question still begs; why do we need lube anyways? Well because it’s fun of course, but that’s not all...
If you are in a long term, monogamous, faithful, heterosexual relationship you’re not having any issues with getting all wet and wild than I give you permission to stop reading now.
For the rest of you here is the deal; not using lube could potentially increase your chances of contracting Sexually Transmitted Infections. Yep, friction from intercourse can cause micro lesions in the vaginal or anal tissue which increases the chances of transmission of STIs. So use lube okay.
Now how to chose your lube. I always say there are four kinds of lubes: Water Based lubes, Silicone Based lubes, Oil based lubes, and finally bad lubes.
Water Based:
The advantages of water based lubes are that they are less expensive, available almost everywhere, and compatible with latex condoms and pretty much every toy on the market. The down side it that you have to add mid action because it dries out quickly and gets absorbed by the body, especially during anal sex. A really good one is Muko as it’s medical grade stuff.
Silicone Based:
The great thing about silicone lubes it that they are super slick, last for hours and you don’t need much of it. Silicon lube it compatible with condoms, it fantastic for sex in the shower (careful not to slip) or jacuzzi and pretty much mandatory for anal sex. The down side is that it’s a little more expensive, not compatible with silicone toys, and may stain bedsheets.
Oil Based:
Oil based are often “natural” lubricants like vegetable oil, or shortening, olive oil, petroleum jelly, etc. I am not a big fan of oil based lube for 2 reasons. First it’s not compatible with latex condoms. Oil will actually eat up the latex in no time at all and break it down. Second I don’t advise using it vaginally since the vagina will have a hard time “flushing it out” naturally and the oil might harbor bacterial and cause infections. The one good use for oil lube is for anal play IF you don’t need to use condoms to prevent STIs.
Bad Lubes:
Finally bad lubes are the ones you should just avoid. Anything that is scented (soap) or flavored (whipped cream) unless it specifically says that it doesn’t contain any sugar because Sugar+Vagina=Infection. Even if it isn’t flavored check for ingredients like glycerin, glucose, or anything ending in “ose”. Another ingredient in some water-based products that is creeping up is propylene glycol. Finally I am skeptical about any lube that is “warming” as I wonder what chemical did they throw in there to make it feel warm… dubious…
Okay so that was my lube schpeel.
Have fun
~Maryline
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
“En Guard”: HPV vaccine not all it’s cracked up to be…
We’ve all seen numerous ads in the last two years for the new Gardasil vaccine against HPV (Human Papilloma Virus). The first time I saw one of the television commercials over a year ago it stirred up something in me. I couldn’t really explain it then, so I dismissed it to either the really bad acting in the commercials, or some residual fear we all have about contracting diseases, especially potentially cancer inducing viruses. But the feeling stuck with me. I often refer to my gut feeling as my oracle and in this case, the oracle just wasn’t having it yet I couldn’t figure out why. The information was rather factual; yes some forms of HPV have been shown to be correlated with cervical cancer in some cases apparently numerous enough to devote time and money to developing a vaccine against it. Frankly they should have kept focusing their time and effort on aids but that is just my opinion….
I saw the commercials in full or in part a few more times as well as the numerous billboards in the metro stations. Then suddenly, it hit me: they weren’t even talk about SEX!!! That’s what was bugging me; it’s not about what they were saying in the ads it’s what they were not saying about how HPV is contracted!!! I had to see the commercial again and I paid really close attention this time… nothing… no mention of means of contracting HPV… I was completely appalled. There it was on my screen: pure and unrestrained fear mongering to sell a product.
The fact is HPV is a sexually transmitted infection, which means you have to be sexually active to run the chance of contracting it. This virus is transmitted by skin to skin contact which means that infected cells have to come in contact with the inside of a woman’s vagina to risk contracting HPV on or near the cervix. And even then it’s only some specific strands of HPV that are linked to cervical cancer. It’s not a 1:1 ratio either; if you are unlucky enough to have the wrong kind of HPV on or around your cervix it only leads to cervical cancer in some case. After all these maybes and suppositions the risk is rather small. In reality more women will die this year of pneumonia than of cervical cancer.
I know what you are all thinking, it’s just three little needle pokes and then you’re done… If you decided not to get vaccinated and down the road you ever were to get cervical cancer wouldn’t that be a shame? Well if it was just an inoffensive little vaccine then sure, it would be ludicrous to take a chance and skip the needle but there is a growing number of reports of serious side effects following inoculation including, but not limited to, anaphylactic shock, warts outbreaks, blood clothing, coma, paralysis, and death… as many as 14 deaths so far potentially linked to the vaccine. What’s more Merck, the big pharmaceutical company who produces and markets the vaccine, is aggressively lobbying to the make vaccination mandatory for school age young girls. This despite the fact that the injections will not be fully tested for safety until 2009. Another problem seems to be that there is growing evidence that the vaccine’s potency tapers off after three to four years. Which means that the long-term value of the vaccine has yet to be determined so it might not even be worth it to get the vaccine after all.
In the end practicing safer sex is still your best bet to avoid contracting HPV, as well as other sexually transmitted infections for that matter. Using a condom effectively and on ever occasion remains the smartest thing women can do for their sexual health.
I saw the commercials in full or in part a few more times as well as the numerous billboards in the metro stations. Then suddenly, it hit me: they weren’t even talk about SEX!!! That’s what was bugging me; it’s not about what they were saying in the ads it’s what they were not saying about how HPV is contracted!!! I had to see the commercial again and I paid really close attention this time… nothing… no mention of means of contracting HPV… I was completely appalled. There it was on my screen: pure and unrestrained fear mongering to sell a product.
The fact is HPV is a sexually transmitted infection, which means you have to be sexually active to run the chance of contracting it. This virus is transmitted by skin to skin contact which means that infected cells have to come in contact with the inside of a woman’s vagina to risk contracting HPV on or near the cervix. And even then it’s only some specific strands of HPV that are linked to cervical cancer. It’s not a 1:1 ratio either; if you are unlucky enough to have the wrong kind of HPV on or around your cervix it only leads to cervical cancer in some case. After all these maybes and suppositions the risk is rather small. In reality more women will die this year of pneumonia than of cervical cancer.
I know what you are all thinking, it’s just three little needle pokes and then you’re done… If you decided not to get vaccinated and down the road you ever were to get cervical cancer wouldn’t that be a shame? Well if it was just an inoffensive little vaccine then sure, it would be ludicrous to take a chance and skip the needle but there is a growing number of reports of serious side effects following inoculation including, but not limited to, anaphylactic shock, warts outbreaks, blood clothing, coma, paralysis, and death… as many as 14 deaths so far potentially linked to the vaccine. What’s more Merck, the big pharmaceutical company who produces and markets the vaccine, is aggressively lobbying to the make vaccination mandatory for school age young girls. This despite the fact that the injections will not be fully tested for safety until 2009. Another problem seems to be that there is growing evidence that the vaccine’s potency tapers off after three to four years. Which means that the long-term value of the vaccine has yet to be determined so it might not even be worth it to get the vaccine after all.
In the end practicing safer sex is still your best bet to avoid contracting HPV, as well as other sexually transmitted infections for that matter. Using a condom effectively and on ever occasion remains the smartest thing women can do for their sexual health.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
