All articles
81 articles across 9 subjects.
Anatomy and bodies
How bodies are built and how they work, across all variations.
- Anus and rectumAnatomy of the anal canal for anyone, and why it behaves differently from the vagina.
- Disability and accessible intimacyAdaptations for pain, fatigue, limited mobility, spasticity, sensory difference and assistive equipment.
- Internal reproductive anatomyThe vagina, cervix, uterus, ovaries, testes and associated structures, and how they respond during sex.
- Intersex variationsDifferences in sex characteristics, what they mean for intimacy, and the ethics of medical intervention.
- Penis, scrotum and prostateExternal and internal anatomy of people with penises, including erection mechanics, foreskin care and the prostate.
- Sex and agingPhysical changes across the lifespan and what actually helps.
- The G-spot: what the evidence showsWhy anatomists have not found a discrete structure, and what the sensitivity is.
- Trans bodies and intimacyHow hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries change sensation, lubrication and care needs.
- Vulva and clitorisExternal genital anatomy of people with vulvas, including the full internal structure of the clitoris.
Consent and communication
Asking, agreeing, changing your mind, and recognising coercion.
- Affirmative consentWhat consent is, what it is not, and how to establish it in practice.
- Capacity, intoxication and consentWhen someone cannot legally or ethically consent, and how alcohol and drugs affect that.
- Coercion, pressure and sexual abuseRecognising pressure that invalidates consent, including within long-term relationships.
- Negotiation and boundariesHow to talk about what you want before it happens, and hold limits without an argument.
- Online intimacy, sexting and image consentConsent applies to images and recordings, and the law increasingly agrees.
- Withdrawing consent and stoppingStopping mid-encounter, safewords outside kink, and what a good response looks like.
Safer sex and STIs
Barriers, transmission risk, testing, prevention and treatment.
- Bacterial vaginosis, thrush and trichomoniasisThree common causes of discharge and irritation that are frequently confused with each other. What each one is, how they are diagnosed, and what actually treats them.
- Barriers: condoms, internal condoms, dams and glovesHow each barrier works, how effective it is, and the mistakes that cause failure.
- Chlamydia and gonorrhoeaThe two most commonly reported bacterial STIs: how they present, how they are tested for, current treatment including drug resistance, and follow-up.
- Doxy-PEP: doxycycline after sexTaking doxycycline within 72 hours of sex cuts bacterial STI rates substantially in some groups — and not in others. What the trials found and where the uncertainty sits.
- Herpes (HSV-1 and HSV-2)Prevalence, transmission, suppression, and why the stigma exceeds the illness.
- HPV and vaccinationThe most common STI, what it causes, and the vaccine evidence.
- LubricantsTypes of lubricant, what is compatible with what, and what irritates tissue.
- Mpox and sexual contactHow mpox spreads through close contact, and what vaccination offers.
- PrEP and PEPHIV prevention medication before and after exposure, including dosing schedules.
- Sexually transmitted infections: overviewThe main STIs, how each transmits, typical symptoms, and treatment.
- STI testingWhat to test for, from where, how often, and how window periods work.
- SyphilisSyphilis is rising sharply worldwide. Its stages, why the first sore is easy to miss, testing, penicillin treatment, and congenital syphilis.
- Transmission risk by activityA comparative view of which activities carry which risks, with the numbers behind them.
- U=U: undetectable equals untransmittableThe evidence that effective HIV treatment prevents sexual transmission entirely.
- Viral hepatitis and sexual transmissionHepatitis A, B and C: how they transmit sexually, and what prevents them.
Contraception
Every method, how well it works, and how to use it.
- Contraception after birthWhen fertility returns after birth, which methods are safe while breastfeeding, and how reliable lactational amenorrhoea actually is.
- Contraception: all methods comparedEvery available method with typical-use and perfect-use effectiveness, mechanism, and trade-offs.
- Emergency contraceptionThe three options after unprotected sex, their time limits, and which works best.
- Fertility awareness methodsCycle tracking done properly: what the fertile window is, which methods have evidence, and the failure rates.
Pleasure and practices
Arousal, orgasm, and the mechanics of specific activities.
- Anal sex: safety and practiceHow to do it without injury, why it hurts when it hurts, and what to avoid entirely.
- Arousal and the sexual response cycleHow arousal actually works, including responsive desire and arousal non-concordance.
- Ejaculation timingWhat the data say about early and delayed ejaculation, and what treatments work.
- Erectile function and difficultiesHow erections work, why they fail, and what treatments have evidence.
- Female ejaculation and squirtingWhat the fluid studies actually found, and what remains unresolved.
- Fisting safetyA practice with real injury risk, and the technique that reduces it.
- Manual sexFingering, handjobs and mutual masturbation, with hygiene and injury prevention.
- Masturbation and solo sexHealth effects, the evidence on frequency, and how solo practice affects partnered sex.
- Models of sexual responseFrom Masters and Johnson to Basson and the dual control model, and why the model matters.
- Oral sexTechnique principles, risk, and the practical points that are usually left out.
- OrgasmWhat happens physiologically, the orgasm gap, ejaculation, and difficulty reaching orgasm.
- Sex toys: materials, safety and cleaningWhich materials are body-safe, which are not, and how to clean each properly.
Kink and BDSM safety
Negotiation, risk frameworks, physical safety and aftercare.
- Aftercare and dropThe physiological comedown after intense sex or kink, and how to look after everyone involved.
- BDSM negotiation and safewordsHow kink scenes are agreed in advance and how they are stopped.
- Bondage safetyNerve injury, circulation, positional risk, and the rules that prevent permanent damage.
- Breath play and choking: the risk evidenceWhy strangulation cannot be made safe, and what the injury data show.
- Impact play safetySafe and unsafe target zones, implement behaviour, and injury management.
- Risk frameworks: SSC, RACK, PRICK and the 4CsThe competing ethical frameworks kink communities use and what each actually claims.
Reproductive and pelvic health
Cycles, pelvic floor, pregnancy, and postpartum intimacy.
- Anal health and sphincter careFissures, haemorrhoids, screening and continence — what is normal and what needs a clinician.
- Birth injury and perineal recoveryPerineal tears, episiotomy and caesarean recovery: how common each is, healing timelines, and what the evidence says about returning to sex comfortably.
- Crohn's disease and anal sexHow Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis affect anal and receptive sex, what perianal disease changes, and how to have anal sex safely with IBD — based on gastroenterology guidance and patient research.
- Endometriosis and intimacyA common cause of deep pain during sex, and what the evidence supports.
- Fertility and trying to conceiveWhat actually affects the chance of conceiving, and when to seek help.
- Menopause, GSM and hormone therapyWhat changes at menopause, and the evidence on treatments including HRT.
- PCOS and intimacyPolycystic ovary syndrome affects cycles, fertility, body image and sexual function. What the diagnostic criteria are and which effects are well evidenced.
- Pelvic floor healthHow pelvic floor muscles affect sex for everyone, and why more Kegels is often the wrong answer.
- Pregnancy and postpartum intimacyWhat is safe during pregnancy, what changes after birth, and realistic recovery timelines.
- Prostate health and screeningBenign enlargement, prostatitis and prostate cancer: what each does to sexual function, what PSA screening can and cannot tell you, and treatment trade-offs.
- The menstrual cycle and intimacyHow the cycle affects desire, lubrication and comfort, and sex during menstruation.
- Urinary tract infections and sexWhy sex triggers UTIs in some bodies, what prevention is actually supported by trials, and what to do about recurrent infection.
- Vaginismus and pelvic pain conditionsWhat vaginismus and related pain conditions are, and the treatments with trial evidence.
Mental and relational health
Desire, pain, trauma, and how partners relate to each other.
- Body image and sexual wellbeingBody image predicts sexual satisfaction more strongly than body size does. What the research shows about self-focus during sex, and what changes it.
- Chemsex and drug interactionsWhat the drugs do, the specific interaction dangers, and how to reduce harm.
- Desire differences between partnersThe most common sexual problem in long relationships, and what the evidence says helps.
- Infidelity and jealousyWhat the research finds about prevalence, causes, and whether relationships recover.
- Intimacy during and after cancer treatmentWhat treatment does to sexual function, and what can be done about it.
- Medication and sexual side effectsWhich common medicines affect sexual function, how often, and what can be done.
- Painful sexCauses of dyspareunia in all bodies, and why "relax and use more lube" is not an answer.
- Perinatal depression, anxiety and intimacyPerinatal mood conditions affect both parents and reshape sexual life. Prevalence, birth trauma and PTSD, treatment while breastfeeding, and rebuilding intimacy.
- Pornography: what the research supportsSeparating well-supported findings from contested claims in a heavily politicised field.
- Relationship structuresMonogamy, open relationships, polyamory and other arrangements, and what makes each work.
- Sex work: health and safetyOccupational health and safety information, and what the evidence says about legal models.
- Sexual frequency and satisfaction: the dataWhat large surveys actually find about how often people have sex, and what predicts satisfaction.
- Talking about sex with a partnerScripts and structures for the conversations most people avoid.
- Trauma-informed intimacyHow trauma affects sex, what triggers and dissociation look like, and how partners can respond.
Reference
Glossary and site guidance.