Shower sex can be an exciting way for couples to add variety and sensory novelty to their intimate lives, but it comes with very real safety considerations that most bedroom play does not. Wet tile, reduced friction where you do not want it, altered condom performance, and slippery footing mean that a little preparation goes…
Sex toys are a normal, healthy part of many people’s intimate lives — but like anything that comes into contact with the body, they need to be kept clean. This sex toy hygiene cleaning guide walks you through how to clean every major toy type, which infections can realistically be transmitted through shared or poorly…
Condoms have an image problem. Ask around, and plenty of people will tell you that condoms and sexual pleasure don’t mix — that safer sex is, by definition, less satisfying sex. But the evidence tells a more interesting story: in a large nationally representative study, American adults rated sex as highly arousing and pleasurable regardless…
Looking for clear, honest information about the sti risk sex toys carry is a sensible step — intimate products have become mainstream, but the hygiene questions around them rarely get the detailed treatment they deserve. The short answer is yes: sexually transmitted infections can spread through shared sex toys that move between people without proper…
When people ask whether oral sex can transmit infections, human papillomavirus (HPV) deserves special attention. Research on the oral sex HPV risk shows that HPV — the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States — can be transmitted through oral sex, and that persistent infection with high-risk HPV types is now the leading…
Two names, one letter apart, completely different jobs. If you have been researching ways to protect yourself from HIV, you have almost certainly run into both PrEP and PEP — and it is easy to blur them together. Understanding PrEP vs PEP HIV prevention options matters because using the wrong one, or using the right…
Oral sex is often treated as the “low-risk” category of sexual activity — and compared to vaginal or anal sex, that description is partly fair. But “lower risk” is not “no risk.” Gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, herpes, and HPV can all spread through oral contact, usually without noticeable symptoms in the person passing them on. That…
Finding an unfamiliar bump in the genital area can be frightening. Your mind races: what is it, how did it get there, and is it serious? If the bump turns out to be a genital wart, the good news is that this is one of the most common and manageable sexually transmitted conditions in the…
If you believe you have been exposed to HIV — through sex, a needlestick injury, or a broken condom — there is an emergency medicine that can still prevent infection. PEP HIV exposure treatment (post-exposure prophylaxis) is a 28-day course of antiretroviral medicine that must be started within 72 hours of a possible exposure. The…
More than one in three adults in the United States reports having had anal sex at least once, yet it remains one of the least openly discussed topics in sexual health. That silence has a cost: many couples have real questions about anal sex safety and the STI risks involved, but never get straight, judgment-free…