Anal Sex and STDs. How to reduce risks.

People rarely think about safety when practicing anal sex. They erroneously consider anal sex to be much safer than vaginal and do not care about protection against sexually transmitted diseases including deadly HIV. But they are wrong. STDs are transmitted through anal sex. What is more, anal sex is even more dangerous than vaginal or oral.

The fact is that tissues of anus and rectum are very thin, so these can be easily damaged. Thus bacteria and viruses can easily get into body through anal sex. As well anal sex is dangerous because it implies high risk of contact with blood during intercourse. Besides this, mucous tissues of bowels very actively absorb everything that gets from outside, so any virus very quickly gets in blood from bowels.

So you see that HIV and other STD's can be easily transmitted through anal sex, unless you use a condom. And keep in mind that little sores and injures can occur as the result of any anal stimulation, no matter whether this stimulation is provided with finger, hand or an anal toy ( a butt plug, an anal vibrator, etc). In the following these injures will increase risk of HIV and other infections transmission through anal intercourse.

Anal Safer Sex Tips

• 1.Use condoms. This is a strict rule which can never be disobeyed. Always have condoms handy and use them for each anal intercourse. Preferably you should use especial heavy-duty condoms, but simple condoms are good as well.
• 2.Put condom on properly. Keep in mind that a condom is effective only if it is put on correctly. Make sure you know how to put a condom on.
• 2.Use water-based lubricant. Unlike vagina, anus does not have natural lubrication, so an anal lube is necessary in order to avoid pain and injures. And keep in mind that lubricant should be water based as oil based lubricants damage condoms. By the way, oil based lubricants damage some materials anal toys are made of. So a water based lubricant is your choice!

• 3.The more lubricant, the better. There cannot be too much lubrication. Anal lubricant decreases risk of condom breakage and injures. The more lubrication - the less risks. Keep that in mind.
• 4.Make your anus ready for the first anal contact. You can ask your partner to insert his finger into your anus, or you can do that with your own fingers. As well you can try to use some anal toys, for example a thin butt plug that will make your anus ready for penetration with penis. You can do that together with the partner or on your own - this depends only on you.
• 5.Use anal toys properly.

This implies a few rules that must be followed

• Care for your anal toys properly. This especially concerns anal toys cleaning. As we have said above rectum very easily absorbs viruses and bacteria. So all anal toys you use must be completely clean. For more information about anal toys cleaning see our Sex Toys Guide.
• Never use the same sex toy for both anal and vaginal penetration. This means that you should not take a sex toy from the anus and immediately insert it into vagina - thus you will transmit an infection from the anus into vagina. Actually, you should usefor these purposes different sex toys as sex toys designed for vaginal penetration should not be used for anal stimulation. Use especial anal toys - butt plugs, anal probes, anal vibrators, etc.
• Stop means stop. As soon as the receiving partner asks you to stop you must do that.
• In the end of the intercourse penis or an anal toy should be taken outside very slowly in order not to cause injuries which in future might become so called "open gates" for infections.

Always follow these safety measures as carrying for your health and health of your partner shows your being a responsible person. You might think that following all these tips makes sex less exciting than it can be. May be you are right. But always remember that health is above all. Be responsible for everything you are doing.

Care for your and your partner's health! Enjoy safer anal sex !