Why One Doctor Says “Never Again” To Warming Lubricants

LEAVE A COMMENT 2018 June 21

This post is sponsored by Pulse, the most exquisite lubes on the market

What one thing could you invite into the bedroom to improve your sex life? Okay, you don’t have to share every fantasy, but hopefully something special did cross your mind: a great lubricant.

We chatted with Lauren Streicher, MD, a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Medical Director of Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause for her expert advice about how to find a safe, effective lube among the many, many choices. While she’s quick to recommend lubes to her patients if they’re struggling with dryness or simply want to improve the quality of their sex lives, she acknowledges that there’s a lot of misinformation out there, especially when it comes to warming lubes and the best body-friendly ingredients. Let’s put some lube myths to bed before you yourself slide into the sheets.

First of all, how do you know if you need to use lube?

If the phrase “sandpaper sex” makes you squirm, it should. Vaginal dryness can lead to irritation and painful intercourse, and it can be a challenge to resolve without a little extra help. According to Dr. Streicher, there are several reasons someone might need supplementary lubrication; hormonal changes, certain medical conditions, and medications can all increase dryness and affect the body’s ability to produce enough natural lubrication. On the other hand, even people who don’t struggle with dryness can enjoy using lube to enhance their sexual activities—it can be used during foreplay, with toys, or with a partner during intercourse. Essentially, if your goal is to increase comfort, ease, and pleasure, a good lube can help in more ways than one.

Lube is slippery, for one thing, and more slip means more stimulation—the fun kind of friction. With that comes more warmth and increased blood flow, which you definitely want; it helps relax tissues, heighten arousal, and improve sensation during sex.

What’s all this about warming lubes?

At first blush, the water-based warming lubes on the market do sound like a pretty enticing innovation. After all, if warmth is the gateway to more enjoyable sex, it makes sense that you’d want a warming lube. They do boast right on the label that they increase sensation and maximize pleasure, and the millions of marketing dollars behind those claims have made them hard to ignore.

Unfortunately, the advertisements can be misleading. Dr. Streicher cautions that there’s a real difference between a warming lube, and a lube that is warm. Warming lubes are formulated with the assumption that sensation is synonymous with heat (think of certain medicated ointments for sore muscles and you’ll start to see where we’re going with this). During her research about effective lubrication ingredients, Dr. Streicher learned that these lubes actually get their warming qualities from additives that create an intensely stimulating sensation more like a chemical burn than pleasant physical warmth. A number of these additives include mentholated ingredients, compounds derived from red peppers, and chemicals that can cause major tissue dehydration. People looking to spice things up with one of these warming lubricants can get more than they bargained for; Dr. Streicher says some patients report stinging, irritation, and redness after using warming lube—a whole host of discomforts that can ruin the mood.

It’s not just the warming additives that can be irritating. Water-based lubes (as opposed to silicone-based) can also include chemical preservatives like glycerin and propylene glycol. Although common in many skincare and beauty products, these ingredients may be sensitizing to some people and can contribute to dry, dehydrated tissues and seriously uncomfortable sex.

If you can’t stand the heat…find a better lubricant:

Those millions of marketing dollars we mentioned? The ones telling you that their warming lube can make all of your wildest dreams come true? There’s nothing in the budget for educating customers about what’s really in those formulas. In our conversation, Dr. Streicher stressed repeatedly how important it is for people to get savvy about these ingredients, the harm they can do and how they can affect your vagina. As she points out, your comfort is worth the effort it takes to read the label before you use something on your most sensitive body parts.

Also, just because you now know the truth about warming lubes doesn’t mean you have to forgo that soothing warmth—simply make sure you warm your lube (silicone or water-based) manually. Dr. Streicher keeps a Pulse Warming Dispenser in her office to show patients how easy and hygienic it is to use. They’re happy to have an alternative that won’t cause irritation or
interrupt the action one bit, since it can sit right within reach on the bedside table.

How to decide which lube is right for you:

If you’re ready to toss your old lube after scrutinizing the ingredients, Dr. Streicher recommends choosing your next one based on how you plan to use it. Is your rendezvous going to be with a penis, or a toy? In the shower? With a condom? Your sexual activity may determine which kind of lube will work best for you (but hey, it never hurts to experiment!).

Silicone for sex with a penis:

Silicone lubes, like Pulse’s Aloe-ahh, are ideal when you want something supremely slippery, long-lasting, and compatible with condoms. Because they don’t include those sensitizing additives or harmful chemicals and don’t absorb into the tissues, they’re far less likely to cause an unpleasant reaction.

Water-based for condoms and toys:

Water-based lubes are easy to find and compatible with both condoms and toys (skip silicone lubes with silicone toys because they can compromise the material–another sex science tip to keep in your nightstand). Prioritize finding a pH-balanced water-based lube and avoid ingredients like propylene glycol and glycerine, which can cause dehydration.

Why you need to be in-the-know about natural ingredients:

If you’re wondering whether your lube needs to be chock-full of natural and organic ingredients, Dr. Streicher encourages researching what that really means. Just because an ingredient is natural and organic doesn’t mean it belongs in your vagina–think of those red pepper extracts, for instance! Natural fragrances and essential oils can also irritate sensitive tissues, even though they’re derived from plants and as natural as they come. On the other hand, there’s nothing organic about silicone, and it makes for a truly terrific lubricant. Whether your lube is synthetic or natural or botanical or made in a factory, as long as you prioritize ingredients that are safe, gentle, and effective, your vagina will thank you.

Why Pulse made the gynecologist-approved list:

Dr. Streicher keeps a short list of lubricants to share with patients who are struggling with dryness or just curious about adding lube to their bedroom routine, and she confirms that our Pulse Pods are a hit. While soothing water-based lubes can be hard to find, Dr. Streicher saved particular praise for our long-lasting H2Oh! formula, thanks to the pure chia extract that makes it super hydrating and non-sticky. For those who aren’t sure what to choose, either of Pulse’s lubes, Aloe-ahh or H2Oh! are a great choice whether you’re a “lube newbie” or not.

You shouldn’t be turned off by lube just because that bottle of Warming Jelly you bought last month now sounds too hot to handle. If something works–if it’s slippery, long-lasting, and doesn’t irritate you during or after sex, by all means, use what you enjoy with your partner or a toy. But if you’re looking for a superior sexual experience and want to prioritize a really good, safe, effective lube, take all of this information with you on your next shopping trip, because your pleasure is absolutely worth it. And remember: warm your lube, don’t let your lube “warm” you.

Lauren Streicher, MD, is the Medical Director of Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause.

For a limited time only, Pulse is offering Fab Over Fifty readers personal lubricant samples for only $1

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What You Should Know About Dietary Supplements

LEAVE A COMMENT 2018 June 6

This post was developed in partnership with USP

First, the good news: We’re taking care of ourselves better than ever before, and have easy access to thousands of dietary supplements (about 29,000, as a matter of fact, according to the Food and Drug Administration) to help give us the levels of essential nutrients we need that we don’t get solely from the foods that we eat. (Note: Besides vitamins and minerals, dietary supplements include amino acids, enzymes, herbs, animal extracts, and probiotics, and can be manufactured as capsules, tablets, liquids or powders.)

The not-such-good news: Before you hand over your hard-earned money for any supplement, know this critical fact: Not all supplements are what they claim to be, with the ingredients, potency or purity stated on their labels!

That’s absolutely right. While dietary supplements might seem similar to drugs, they aren’t required to pass the same kinds of rigorous clinical trials, and aren’t regulated by the FDA as drugs. That means they can be sold without FDA approval and the degree of safety and efficacy testing done on these products is not always clear.

FACT: Dietary Supplements Do Not Go Through the Approval Process Required For Drugs

So, while 76 percent of all Americans take some form of dietary supplement to maintain or improve our overall health (an exclusive FabOverFifty survey of 270 members of our community backs this), we’re not always certain that what’s on the label is in the bottle. Yet, 43 percent of the FOF women surveyed do not have a full understanding of how dietary supplement quality is regulated.

Another alarming fact: Hundreds of supplements in recent years even have been found to be “tainted with drugs and other chemicals,” according to the Federal Trade Commission website. That means some supplements are not only ineffective, but potentially unsafe.

Interestingly, 69 percent of the women who participated in the FOF survey report that they buy the supplement brands “they trust most,” but when the survey asked if there’s any way you can be sure that the ingredients on dietary supplement labels are the actual ingredients in the supplements, a whopping 82 percent said “no” or they’re “not sure.” So how can you unequivocally trust a brand if you’re unsure whether its supplements are actually delivering what they’re promising? The answer is obvious: You can’t!

Setting the Bar For Supplement Standards

I was recently glad to learn, however, that an independent and scientific nonprofit organization, called United States Pharmacopeia (USP), establishes federally recognized public standards for dietary supplements, and awards a USP Verified Mark to those products that pass its multi-step Dietary Supplement Verification Program. This mark gives us confidence that we’re choosing quality supplements, and assures us that what’s on their labels is in their bottles. USP knows that the “quality of our healthcare results depends on the quality of the products we take.” This is one of those apparent facts we sometimes overlook in our dash to try supplements that promise to do good things for our bodies. Happily, 97 percent of the respondents to the FOF survey said they might be or definitely would be more prone to buy a supplement brand with a verification seal.

FabOverFifty was pleased to be invited to participate in USP’s “Trust in Quality” campaign to raise awareness of its valuable verification program. After all, being confident in the quality of our supplement choices helps us make good health decisions.

The Mark You Can Trust

Supplements bearing the USP Verified Mark:

1. Contain the ingredients listed on the label, in the stated strengths and amounts.

2. Don’t contain harmful levels of certain contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides, and microbes. The FDA has discovered hundreds of dietary supplements containing drugs or other chemicals in recent years, particularly in products for weight loss, sexual enhancement, or bodybuilding, according to the Federal Trade Commission website. “The ‘extra ingredients’ could cause serious side effects or interact in dangerous ways with medicines or other supplements you’re taking.”

3. Will break down in the specified amount of time so the dietary ingredients can be dispersed or dissolved to deliver their intended effects.

4. Are made in a facility that follows FDA and USP Good Manufacturing Practices, using sanitary and and well-controlled processes.

USP tests products in its own labs according to USP public standards or other detailed, science-based quality specifications. Its scientists have extensive experience evaluating quality for both drugs and dietary supplements. Over 100 different dietary supplements, representing different brands and retailers, carry the USP Verified Mark. What’s more, USP will pull products off shelves, and test them, to make sure they continue to meet program standards. The USP Verified program evaluates each product individually. Not all of a brand’s products may have completed the process to receive the USP mark.

USP advises us to always consult with our healthcare practitioners before taking any supplement or over-the-counter medication. Although 63 percent of the women responding to the FOF survey reported they don’t typically do this, it seems like it’s time to make a change.