Study Reveals Lubricant Makes Sex More Comfortable

I am always a tad surprised when I read about some of the studies that researchers devote time, energy and money towards and it makes me wonder what other studies are currently being performed and researched across the globe that I have no idea about. One such study I recently came across involved the use of lubricant during sexual encounters and how it contributed to one’s sexual pleasure. Wow, bet it wasn’t hard to get people to sign up for that one. This new study came out of Indiana University and had over 2,400 female participants between the ages of 18 and 68. Its findings determined that using lubricants during sexual activity either alone or with a partner caused sexual satisfaction and pleasure to increase.

Lubricants have been around for a long time, but there has been very little research done on its effects during sex; however, lubricants have long been advertised to help women’s comfort levels during sexual encounters and to help prevent the vagina from tearing due to dryness. Preventing vaginal tearing is extremely important as it can cause an increased risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease like HIV. Debby Herbenick, the associate director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University’s School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, led the study and had the female participants use one type of silicone or water-based lubricant out of an array of six. Results from the study showed that using lubricants rarely caused any side effects in women. During the course of the study, less than 1% of the participants reported vaginal tearing and less than 5% of the participants experienced genital pain during sexual activities. Other results from the study include over 70% of women stating that using lubrication during sex made the encounters more comfortable and pleasurable. These results were presented in November at the Indiana University’s “What’s Sex Got To Do With It?” general session.

While health professionals often recommend adding lubricant to condoms during sexual intercourse, until now, there had been very little research done to back up those recommendations. There were many reasons why a woman decided to use lubricant but the most frequent answers included reducing the risk of vaginal tearing and making the sexual encounter more comfortable. A separate study done through CSHP involved over 1,800 male participants with over 8,500 sexual cases documented. In this study, close to 47% of the sexual encounters had the participants using latex condoms and close to 25% of these had the participants using lubricant. In terms of how the lubricant was used, 22.5% added the lubricant to the tip of the condom, 16.2% added the lubricant around their partner’s vaginal area and 16.2% add the lubricant to both the condom and the vaginal area. It was determined that adding lubricant to the condoms happened more often with sexual partners who were spouses, intercourse sessions that were lengthier and when the female was the one who put the condom on their partner.