Our new “Kegel Anywhere” CD has 5 Kegel circuits with two choices of music to help you stick to the Kegel program you know is good for us!  Learn more about Kegels and how other MCFS products can help you tackle the challenges in your sex life – or just make it more fun!

Regardless of age or sexual dysfunction, every woman should have a bottle of lube next to her bedside.  Whether it is because you suffer from vaginal dryness, want to have a “quickie” and haven’t given yourself enough time to become aroused, or because you just like the feeling of having something ‘extra’ down there to help the penis and/or toys slide inside you.  Lubrication is also extremely helpful when applied to the clitoris to help the fingers slide and glide over it. 

Most people have seen the KY jelly commercials and the various products that are available offering ‘warming’, ‘cooling’ and even ‘intense’ sensations from the lube itself.  What you may not know is that there are more brands available than just KY and, depending on preference, you may enjoy one of these even more.  Typically, lubes come water-based or silicone.  Both are condom compatible but you don’t want to use the silicone with any sex toys.  Some people have never even heard of silicone lube, but this is an excellent option because it coats the skin rather than soaking into it like water-based lubes can.  The other thing women have recently been concerned with are the chemicals that make up the product.  Most women do not have any problems with the chemicals in KY, but some women find KY irritates them.  If this is the case, or if you are trying to reduce your contact with chemicals, you may want to look for one that is glycerin and paraben free.  Glycerin can break down into the body and turn to sugar which can affect women prone to yeast infections.  Paraben is a preservative added to the product which can cause irritation and an allergic reaction to the vulva area.  Liquid Silk is an excellent option for glycerin free lube and Wet Platnium is a silicone based, glycerin and paraben free product. 

Shameless plug: our website now recommends products of all kinds that have proven to be effective with our patients over the past 12 years that the Center has been open! Take a look.

Here’s where that pays off:

In Time Out New York, a weekly event magazine, there is a column called Sex & Dating. In the April 28th edition (sorry for the delay) there is a report on eco-friendly sex toys, including something called a “Tidy Cloth” that resembles grandma’s hankie but is used for other purposes, a wooden dildo varnished to a glimmer, sea oils and a few ideas having to do with rope (hemp, the kind that softens with use…)

Take a look.  It’s summertime! Time Out New York Sex & Dating

   He believes he’s the first OB/GYN to do so. Maybe he is. Maybe he isn’t. He certainly is not the first PHYSICIAN to sell sex toys. We’ve been carrying them for  years – for many of the same reasons he has. Patients are embarrassed to go to a sex toy store and often they need advice and encouragement that only a professional can give. Anyhow, good for him! We’ve been trying to convince OBs for years that there are specific sex aids they should carry in the office. Maybe it’ll catch on.

Here’s a link to a piece written by a well educated and well informed “sorority sister,” describing her experience buying sex toys as an engagement gift. It’s fun, but even more so, it’s informative. It seems Ann Arbor Michigan is home to one terrific sex toy shop. Maybe it’s time you located one near you? Or, failing that, go on line and … do a little shopping!

http://www.michigandaily.com/content/rose-afriyie-shopping-sex-toys

I cannot for the life of me figure out why I got a google alert today about an article that seems ready for the post-Christmas blues…but I did.  And it’s really a good one.

The article was published in Redbook and is called 12 Resolutions for a Great Sex Life (see the holiday theme in there?) and in addition to the usual suspects there were some interesting additions:  touch your husband every day [hmmm, that would soften my 'gotta get this done and move on to the next project' demeanor],  have sex (sometimes) when you’re not in the mood [ yes, I recall that working wonders from time to time] and – a personal favorite of the Medical Center for Female Sexuality: use grown up toys.  In Redbook!

Go read it where the publishers have authorized permission:   http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/07/16/hearstmagrelationships277718.DTL

Happy Holidays

Ilene