Sex during your period - why not?

If you're able to see past the prejudice, sex during your period can be better than ever.

An incomplete knowledge of sex during your period and a general unwillingness to even discuss the subject are reasons that many couples abstain from sex completely for the duration of the period or limit their sexual activity in those days. They conveniently “forget” about sex rather then to get acquainted with the facts and separate them from misconceptions and ungrounded prejudice about sex during your period. Don't want to be one of them? Then read on!

Menstruation period isn’t dangerous

Despite the fact that almost every woman between the ages on 12 -51 menstruates, menstruation period has a very bad reputation in the Western culture. Throughout history, various religions and social norms linked menstrual blood to feces, shame and un-cleanliness. Menstruating women were blamed even for such things as drought, bad crops and rotten food. What is interesting is, that even now, when all the benefits of sexual intercourse during a woman’s period for her reproductive health are known, this sort of prejudice still lives on. The advertising industry selling women’s hygiene products focuses on complete protection without any odors and in their ads blood doesn’t even enter the picture. The use of the word protection itself suggests that menstruation period is something dangerous, dirty and unhygienic, which isn’t true.

Menstruation period isn’t dirty

According to a 2002 US  survey on the modern perception of intercourse during menstruation, many participants described menstruation period as “dirty and disgusting”. And though many old myths about menstruation sex have been dispelled (such as "having sex with a woman during her period will kill you"), the conviction that it’s better to avoid sex during those days because it’s messy and unhygienic is still going strong. For couples who aren't worried about blood, sex during those days is pretty much the same as always. The blood can actually function as an extra lubricant which enhances the pleasure for both partners. If you’re worried about stains on your sheets and clothing, use a towel or consider having intercourse in the shower. There are some options even for couples who find blood disturbing, such as menstrual cups and diaphragms which trap the blood inside the vagina. In this way, blood doesn’t come in contact with air and doesn’t decompose. This eliminates the unpleasant odor we sometimes associate with menstrual blood. The use of tampons during vaginal penetration, however, is not recommended by experts. 

Menstruation period won't stop you from getting pregnant

The mistaken belief that it’s impossible to get pregnant during your period is still going strong. Doctors will tell you, though, that pregnancy can happen even during your period, especially if your cycle is short or irregular. Sexually active women who don’t want to conceive need to use one or more forms of contraception, even during their periods. Safe and consensual vaginal, anal and oral intercourse during menstruation is normal and healthy, but both partners need to be aware of potential risks involved. You do need to know that unprotected sex and especially cunilingus during menstruation, can increase the risk of contracting STD’s, especially those transmitted by viruses such as HIV and HPV. 

Menstruation period doesn't have to be painful

One of the negative aspects of menstruation which women and couples experience in their sex lives, are painful cramps. Here, having an orgasm has been proven to be very useful, as it helped alleviate the pain in some cases by relaxing the uterine muscles, releasing endorphins (happiness hormones) and making the women les sensitive to pain. Besides that, a group of experts from Yale University have in their 2002 study discovered a connection between  intercourse during menstruation and a decreased risk of suffering from endometriosis – a painful disease which causes the  endometrium (tissue that normally grows in the womb during a woman’s cycle  and is excreted by menstruation) to spread to other parts of the body. 
 

You're in control of your menstruation period

With the advent of various vesrsions of oral contraceptives, women now have more ways to influence their menstrual cycles and shorten or almost eliminate their periods. These new forms of contraceptives reduce the number of periods from 13 to 4 a year. The menstrual cycles can also be toned down through time by  having hormone treatment (shots). The number of cycles decreases steadily and in a couple of years your menstruation period may disappear altogether. However, you do need to be cautions when using these methods – hormone treatments are often linked with side-effects such as headaches, nervousness, mood changes, bloating, hot flashes, decreased libido, tension in your breasts, acne, hair-loss and back pain.