We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. To get an STI from a sex toy , it has to have been used by a person who had an STI and then not properly cleaned before you used it. Any STI that can be transmitted through sexual activity can be spread via a shared sex toy — including STIs that are spread via bodily fluids and those spread through skin-to-skin contact.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. On their own, sex and drugs are cultural taboos. Combining them only adds to our reluctance to talk about them. Humans have intentionally used drugs to facilitate and enhance their sexual experiences for millennia. Ancient Egyptians used extracts from the blue lotus flower to increase sexual desire.

We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. When it comes to sex, no matter what you enjoy, you can usually play by the rule: the wetter the better. Instead think less friction, smoother skin, and all around better sex — no matter your gender, age, or stage in life. In fact, according to an Indiana University study , 70 percent of the 2, women surveyed said that lube made sex more pleasurable and enjoyable.

If you reserve your electronic bedmate for those nights when your living, breathing, human partner isn't around, what are you doing? Sex toys are a clutch way to up the ante in the bedroom and heighten intimacy with your S. And let's be real: Fingers, mouths, and genitals can only do so much, while the best sex toys for couples can take care of pretty much everything else. Of course, bringing a toy into partner play for the first time can be a bit intimidating, especially if you're not sure how your person might react. But if they ARE into it yay!