As fun as sex can be, it can also be surprisingly dangerous. Who knew that every time you get intimate, you’re risking a wide array of sex-related injuries? A survey of data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System found 450 cases of sex-related injuries logged over the course of six years. So while they’re fairly rare, you don’t want to become one of the many statistics who land in emergency rooms or doctors’ offices every year due to an injury sustained during sex. There are precautions you can take to make sure you don’t end up in the hospital explaining your embarrassing story of coitus gone wrong to your doctor.
Here are some of the most common sex injuries that can happen and the ways you can avoid them.
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Fracturing Your Penis
Yes, you can break your penis! It’s not technically a fracture (since there aren’t any actual bones in your penis), but that doesn’t make it any less painful. It’s a syndrome called “penile fracture” that happens when the membrane surrounding the core of the penis tears. The tissue in the core fills up with blood when the penis becomes erect, so that torn membrane causes that blood to leak out into the rest of the penis and cause bruises and swelling. It happens when you exert too much force with your penis or bend it too far. The female partner is often the one to cause this type of injury, typically by leaning too far back during cowgirl. Or it can happen if your penis slips out, but she slams back down on you without realizing. Ouch!
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Masturbation Injuries
One of the most common causes of penile injuries is masturbation. A lot of guys tend to get overly enthusiastic with their solo time, and end up causing skin irritations or even lacerations. No one wants to have a scabbed over penis, so be gentle with your little guy. Don’t use so much force, and give him a break from time to time.
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Tearing Her Hymen
In case you don’t know, the hymen is a membrane of skin that stretches across a woman’s vagina. Here’s a fun fact about the hymen: It can stay intact long after a woman has lost her virginity. Sometimes it tears away in one fell swoop, but other times it can stay partially intact. If you inadvertently tear her hymen further, she may feel a twinge of pain, or you may simply notice some blood on your sheets.
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Microtears in Her Vagina
This injury sounds scary, but it’s quite common. She can get tiny tears in the wall of her vagina from the friction of your genitals rubbing up against each other during intercourse when she’s not properly lubricated. The tears can cause pain, burning, and irritation, so make sure to spend plenty of time on foreplay—and use lube.
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Infections
Aside from the sexually-transmitted ones you already know, like chlamydia, syphilis, and herpes, you can get urinary tract and yeast infections from sex. Bacteria can get pushed up either of your urethras, leading to infection, which is why it’s so important to pee right after having sex—urinating washes the bacteria away. You can also get an infection from going from her anus to her vagina without properly cleaning up first. You can safely go from vagina to anus, but not the other way around.
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Rug Burns
This usually happens when you’re trying to get creative and have sex outside of the bed. Having sex on the floor or on a carpet can feel fun in the moment, but can lead to some pretty nasty rug burns on your backs, butts, and knees.
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Restraint Burns
Lots of people experiment with kink without fully understanding how to do it safely. If you try to restrain your partner with ropes, cable ties from your shed, or cheap metal handcuffs from a sleazy sex shop, you’re going to burn or bruise her wrists. Even softer items like scarves or neckties can cause burns if not used properly. Do yourselves a favor and invest in some quality restraints.
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Head Trauma
Sex can be really dangerous for your head if you’re not careful. You could slam it on your headboard or on the wall, slip in the shower and hit your head, or even fall out of complicated sex positions like the wheelbarrow.
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Throwing Out Your Back
This is perhaps one the most run-of-the-mill sex injuries. It’s shockingly common to injure your back in the middle of sex, but nothing will make you feel like you’re getting up there in age like throwing your back out mid-thrust.
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Assorted Bites and Bruises
If you and your partner tend to get a little rowdy in the sack, you could easily leave marks on each other in the heat of the moment. You can get hickeys or teeth marks from biting and sucking, and overenthusiastic spanking, flogging, or improper use of restraints can all lead to bruises.
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Candle Wax Burns
This one is less common, but it’s worth noting. A lot of people love having candles in the bedroom, and some people try to copy that move you’ve seen in porn or movies—you pour hot candle wax onto your partner’s body and they moan with pleasure, right? But the thing is, most candle wax is extremely hot and can cause pretty bad burns. Fortunately, there’s an easy solution. You can buy specialty candles that are designed for this explicit purpose. The wax burns much cooler, making it safe for the skin.
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Getting Things Stuck
Pretty much every emergency room doctor has a funny story about a patient getting something stuck in their vagina or anus. Beverage bottles. Produce. Electric toothbrushes. Food jars. Cell phones. Live ammunition. (Yes, this really happened!) Do yourself a favor and invest in a high-quality sex toy (with a flared base if you want it to go in your anus).
