Women's Perceptions About Lubricant Use and Vaginal Wetness During Sexual Activities

Abstract

Introduction Exogenous lubricant use in the United States is common among women; however, there is little empirical research describing women's perceptions of lubricants, lubricant use, and vaginal wetness or dryness during penile-vaginal intercourse or other sexual behaviors. Aims To assess women's perceptions about lubricant use, women's perceptions about vaginal wetness during sexual activities, lubricant purchasing and application patterns, and the relationship of age to women's perceptions of lubricants and vaginal wetness. Methods Cross-sectional baseline data from an online daily diary study of 2,451 women enrolled in a study of lubricant use were analyzed. Main Outcome Measures Demographic items, women's lubricant purchasing patterns, lubrication use, perceptions about lubrication, and perceptions about vaginal wetness. Results Overall, women felt positively about lubricant and lubricant use, preferred sex to feel more wet, felt that they were more easily orgasmic when sex was more wet, and thought their partner preferred sex to feel more wet than dry. Perceptions varied by age group with women in their forties reporting more positive perceptions of lubricants than women under the age of 30. Conclusions Findings suggest that women generally feel positively about lubricants and lubricant use and prefer vaginal-penile intercourse to feel more wet. Such insights into women's perceptions of lubricants and lubricant use can be helpful to medical and other health professionals as well as sexual health educators, who routinely make recommendations to women about ways to incorporate products, such as lubricants, into their sexual activities.

The Influence of Consent on College Students’ Perceptions of the Quality of Sexual Intercourse at Last Event

“…Interestingly, feelings related to physical response were significant predictors of quality of sexual intercourse for women, but not for men. Such findings make conceptual sense as signs of physical response in women such as increased lubrication (often associated with physical arousal) tend to increase sexual pleasure and sexual satisfaction (Herbenick et al, 2011;Jozkowski, Herbenick et al, 2013). Thus, it might be expected that women who indicated a higher level of physical response also experienced a greater quality of sexual intercourse.…”

Treatment of Symptoms of the Menopause: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline

“…Vaginal lubricants are used to enhance the sexual experience in women with symptoms of VVA by alleviating vaginal dryness and preventing dyspareunia (258). Lubricants do not treat the underlying problem and only briefly alleviate symptoms.…”

Lifetime Lubricant Use among a Nationally Representative Sample of Lesbian- and Bisexual-Identified Women in the United States

“…Scientific literature describing women's lubricant use is growing. Nationally representative surveys of U.S. adults have shown that a majority (62.0% to 65.5%) of women aged 18 to 59 years have ever used a lubricant for solo and/or partnered activities, with a quarter of the same age group doing so in the last month [13,14], and a third doing so during their most recent sexual encounter, both with and without condom use [15–17]. Nationally representative samples of lesbian and bisexual women suggest similarly high levels of lifetime lubricant use [18], with 25% of lesbian‐identified women and 40% of bisexual‐identified women reporting lubricant use in the past month [3].…”