mbg Contributor
Alex Shea is a contract intercourse and relationships author primarily based in Texas. She studied Life Sciences at San Jacinto Faculty and has a journalism certificates from the College of Michigan.
Graphic by mbg Inventive / MICHELA RAVASIO / Stocksy
February 02, 2025
It might seem taboo, however having intercourse throughout your interval will be nice to your general well-being. At present, {couples} are sometimes extra comfy having intercourse than speaking about it.
However the fact is, intercourse is a chance to discover not solely your relationship together with your accomplice but additionally your relationship with your self. Interval intercourse is not any totally different.
Can you have got intercourse throughout your interval?
Sure, you may have interval intercourse all through your cycle in case you really feel prefer it. “There is not any well being purpose to not have intercourse in your interval,” naturopathic physician Jordin Wiggins, N.D., tells mbg.
You are not placing your self in any extra hurt by having intercourse throughout your interval. Some individuals might have extra bodily discomfort throughout their interval (reminiscent of cramping or sluggishness, for instance), which can make them much less prone to need or take pleasure in intercourse whereas menstruating. However each menstruating particular person on the planet is totally different, and the best way their our bodies work during their period is never one measurement matches all.
One research within the Journal of Intercourse Analysis discovered about half of sexually energetic girls have sex during their periods1, so it is undoubtedly widespread habits. Check the waters in case you’re uncertain. And in case you’re merely not excited by giving interval intercourse a whirl, that is completely superb, too.
Simply know that the unwritten rule that claims you should not have intercourse throughout your interval is predicated on clouded assumptions and misplaced discomfort round regular feminine bodily capabilities. There’s a complete spectrum of sensuality—far past the loop of sexual exercise we’re used to, ready to be explored in case you’re .
Are you able to get pregnant throughout your interval?
Sure, you may nonetheless get pregnant throughout your interval. Though the percentages are decrease, you will get pregnant having interval intercourse in case you skip precise safety like condoms or contraception.
An individual’s probabilities of getting pregnant depend upon the size of their cycle and the place their fertility window falls. There are 4 phases that make up your menstrual cycle—menstruation, follicle, ovulation, and luteal—and the fertility window normally begins a couple of days earlier than ovulation.
However there’s plenty of variation to account for right here: One 2020 study2 discovered that even when an individual can predict the size of their cycle, their ovulation date remains to be up within the air. Doctor and intimacy knowledgeable Alexandra Stockwell, M.D., notes, “Our bodies aren’t like math.”
Moreover, sperm can survive inside the physique for a number of days, that means that in case you are inclined to ovulate shortly after your interval, you may nonetheless get pregnant from the intercourse you had throughout your interval.
Do you might want to use safety throughout interval intercourse?
Sure, it is best to all the time be utilizing safety throughout intercourse, together with if you’re in your interval. Deal with intercourse throughout your interval like some other time you have got intercourse, and use the identical preventive measures you typically would.
Menstrual blood (whereas fully pure and secure) is like some other bodily fluid. It might be interesting to skip the condoms and get straight to enterprise, however intercourse is intercourse and the dangers have not gone away.
Dangers and uncomfortable side effects of getting intercourse throughout a interval
Like some other time you have got intercourse, there are dangers to having intercourse throughout your interval. “Blood is one other bodily fluid that may additionally transmit sexually transmitted infections (STI) like some other fluid,” says Wiggins. And having interval intercourse leaves you vulnerable to the identical STIs and any vaginal infections.
There’s additionally the prospect that interval intercourse will get messy. With the suitable precautions, reminiscent of laying down a towel beforehand, you may take your thoughts off the mess and actually benefit from the expertise.
Can a person get an an infection from interval blood?
Interval blood is a mixture of wholesome blood and tissues and subsequently fully secure for penises. “As a result of your cervix is a bit more open throughout your interval, there is a principle that it is simpler for STIs to transmit,” Wiggins says, however she says that is false. With secure intercourse and common testing, there is not any further danger concerned in having intercourse throughout your interval.
Interval intercourse leaves you susceptible to the identical STIs as some other time you have got intercourse. Your menstrual blood is not at all upping the stakes.
Advantages of interval intercourse:
1.
It gives pure lubrication
Alternatively, interval blood will also be a pure lubricant throughout intercourse that makes penetration smoother and extra pleasurable.
2.
It will probably intensify intimacy
Interval intercourse makes you extra susceptible together with your accomplice and your self. Most individuals’s interval experiences are typically non-public; nobody actually is aware of the intimate particulars of their interval and interval blood apart from themselves.
However interval intercourse opens the door to permitting one other particular person to expertise your physique throughout this time. It will probably expose your sensual being and may result in different unexplored sexual areas.
3.
It will probably enhance your temper
All of the benefits of orgasms, on the whole, apply to interval intercourse, maybe particularly so. The frenzy of oxytocin after intercourse could make you’re feeling relaxed and fewer burdened, which is perhaps a welcomed aid throughout your interval.
4.
It will probably make intercourse really feel higher
A few of your reproductive and sexual organs could also be extra engorged with blood throughout your interval, making “a girl’s physique extra responsive,” says Stockwell. On prime of that, your physique releases the same old endorphins it produces when you have got intercourse.
5.
It might shorten your interval
The length of your period is determined by how thick your uterine lining is and the way lengthy it takes to your uterus to shed all of it. Intercourse and orgasms may cause the uterine lining to slush off at an elevated price. (That is why you might need a heavy move if you’re having intercourse and a a lot slower move for a couple of days after.)
6.
It is eye-opening
Overlook the same old loop of foreplay, oral, then penetrative intercourse. “Intercourse will be many issues,” says Wiggins. You may shock your self about what your likes and dislikes actually are if you take away the worry and assumptions.
Suggestions for having nice interval intercourse:
1.
Use a dark-colored towel
Laying down a dark-colored towel or shirt earlier than you get intimate will hold your thoughts off the mess and within the second. Should you neglect to throw one down, it would not damage to realize some stain removing data (baking soda!).
2.
Take into account bathe intercourse
This fashion, you may mix intercourse and cleanup. If you have not tried bathe intercourse, interval intercourse is a good purpose to go for it. Watch out, although; it is as slippery as it’s exhilarating.
3.
Talk together with your accomplice
Begin a dialogue together with your accomplice about how they really feel about interval intercourse, any issues they could have, and likewise what may excite them about it. Wiggins recommends a easy query like “What types of intimacy are OK?” to get a basis began. When you begin having interval intercourse, additionally be sure to examine in throughout and after the expertise to verify each events are feeling good about it.
4.
Determine which intercourse positions be just right for you
You’re your personal particular person. The intercourse positions that be just right for you throughout your interval won’t work for the particular person sitting throughout the room. Dig into which of them be just right for you and your consolation stage, which might even have rather a lot to do with where you are in your cycle.
Stockwell recommends missionary type for a pair making an attempt interval intercourse for the primary time. This fashion “the expertise will be totally loved” by each events. Rest is vital to sexual pleasure in any case.
The stigma surrounding intercourse throughout your interval is disappearing. It is turning into increasingly mainstream to honor the menstrual cycle and deal with it just like the pure incidence that it’s. Embracing interval intercourse is one other instance of the methods we’re opening ourselves as much as the true energy of sexual wellness.
