Read My Lips by Debby Herbenick, Vanessa Schick Page A

methods of birth control. If you have ongoing issues of vulvar or vaginal discomfort or pain, talk with your healthcare provider about the current method of contraception you are using and whether another method may be a better choice for you.
Go plain. Although flavored lubricants can seem fun, they’re not for everyone. Keep in mind that men’s and women’s genitals are quite different from each other. Because men’s genitals are mostly covered with skin, men can often more easily tolerate flavored and sugary products on their genitals. Similar products can cause irritation on lady parts. As such, opt for plain lubricants over flavored lubricants, sprinkle body sugar or spread body frosting on your breasts or stomach (rather than your vulva), and use flavored condoms for oral sex only. Flavored condoms can cause irritation if used vaginally.
Wash him off. Be sure to wash any sugars, body frosting, or flavored lubricant off of your partner’s penis (if male) or your sex toy before you allow it to enter into your vagina. Flavored, sugary sex-play products can be fun and tasty, but they don’t belong in your vagina and may cause vaginal itching or irritation. Run a small washcloth under warm water and then use it to clean his penis before you go further into the Land of Penetrative Sex. The same is true if you have a female or male partner wearing or using a strap-on/dildo: if you’ve made it tasty for oral-sex play, clean it before it goes back inside your body.
Lower your yeast risk. Although it can feel pleasurable to receive oral sex, it’s not for everyone—and not just because of personal preference. Some women are particularly prone to recurrent yeast infections. Research suggests that these women may face an increased risk of yeast infections if they have intercourse with a male partner who has saliva on his penis (for example, if she or he put saliva on his penis as a lubricant, or if she recently performed oral sex on him). 3 Women are also more prone to repeat yeast infections if they frequently received oral sex from a partner. If you’re prone to repeat yeast infections, you might find it helpful to meet with a vulvovaginal specialist (find one through issvd.org or nva.org). You might also find it helpful to use a dental dam or condom cut in half during cunnilingus or to wash his penis or your toy off before intercourse.
    PERIOD DOS AND DON’TS
    Most women experience menarche between the ages of ten and fourteen and reach menopause by their early fifties. Women in the United States and many Western countries don’t tend to have large numbers of children. This means that women will commonly spend three to four decades of their lives having monthly (or thereabouts) periods. Whether you started menstruating last month or twenty years ago, you can benefit from the health-related period tips in this section.
    Women have a wide variety of period products to choose from including tampons, pads, pantyliners, menstrual cups, and menstrual sponges. Most women can use any of these without upsetting the vulva or vagina goddesses. Others have to choose more carefully based on their own health needs. We describe all of the products in detail in chapter 5, but here are a few things to consider when pondering the impact of period products on your health:
    Tampons
    Tampons are one of the most popular methods of period management among women in the United States. But that doesn’t mean that women can’t benefit from being reminded about how to use them for the safest possible experience. First and foremost, let’s start with a few tips on the greatest danger associated with tampons: TSS.
    What’s TSS? It stands for toxic shock syndrome. If you have never known anyone who has ever had it, you are in good company. At the height of the TSS scare, only thirty-five people were diagnosed with it (and ten of those people were men). Of the women, the majority had vaginal symptoms, which suggested it was related to