Better sex

Better Sex With Sal in Seven Steps

We all know safe sex is fun, but think about all the other great stuff is does for us Here are 10 benefits of safe sex…

1. Sex is a beauty treatment. The hormones released during sex can make your hair shinier and your skin smoother.

2. Sex reduces your chances of suffering dermatitis, skin rashes and blemishes. The sweat produced cleanses the pores and makes your skin glow.

3. Sex can burn up those calories you piled on during that romantic dinner.

4. Sex is a good sport! It stretches and tones up just about every muscle in the body. It’s more fun than jogging, and you don’t need special training.

5. Sex can help with mild depression. It releases endorphins into the blood stream, producing a sense of euphoria and leaving you with a feeling of well being.

6. Sex can unblock a stuffy nose. Sex is a natural antihistamine. It can help combat asthma and hay fever.

7. Sex relieves headaches. A session can release tension that restricts blood vessels in the brain.

STD FRIDAY

Boys and Men...As you know, Friday is STD Friday. This weeks special is HERPES!


Herpes can be simply passed by touch. It's most passed on by kissing, sucking, having anal sex without condoms, rimming and sharing toys.

A person is most infectious before the blisters appear and later when they are visible.

What do they look like?

They appear as small blisters or sores filled with a clear liquid that turns into a yellow pus! These blisters tingle, itch or sting when they burst. They develop into red ulcers that scab over and hear in a few weeks.

Where can I get them?

Not at your local store but on your mouth, butt or penis.

Curable?

Once you get them, you always have them. There are meds that ease the pain of having them and shorten the time of the attack. However, once you catch it - you always got it.

Your on Vacaition, HIV is NOT!!!

Your on Vacation, HIV is Not.

“Your on vacation, HIV is not” is the message that the CAMPsafe program is trying to get out during the beach season. CAMPsafe realizes that many men are coming to Rehoboth to escape the doldrums of city living to have some fun at the beach. Our programs are geared towards being a reminder to men to play safe while they are here on holiday. Many of the men we provide services to are making an effort to stick to safer sex but many are escaping “safer sex” realities by losing control and doing things they might not in their own home communities.

Gay men are subject to social pressures to maintain high standards of safer sex practices. Men use condoms because they feel they should, or because in moments of rational reflection it makes sense, and not because ‘safe sex is hot sex’. Some - not all - gay men make a conscious effort most of the time to use condoms, and then at other times give up on restraining themselves, and indulge in what they are meant to be avoiding – having sex without condoms.

Over the past several years, the CAMPsafe program has seen many gay men drink to intoxication, take drugs, or go to a cruisy bar, because they know that it will allow them to move from a state of ‘reality’ to one of ‘escape’ We realize guys are here to have fun and that sex while using drugs or alcohol allows some people to ‘loosen’up more easily and become less inhibited. Here are some of the effects of drugs that guys use while they are here or other places:

Alcohol: Alcohol loosesn inhibitions and clouds judgement. It is also a depressant, which makes you feel like you need to be with someone which in turn increases our desire for sexual contact.

Cocaine/Crack: Crack/cocaine is a stimulant that makes you feel more alert, sexy, confident and sometimes paraniod. Too much confidence can be a dangerous thing especially when your judgement is impaired and you are having sex with multiple partners.

Ecstacy: Ecstacy is a stimulant, but can act like a drug which causes a state of happiness and relaxation. Sensations are enhanced and many people report feeling less inhibited and very sexy with fewer thoughts for caution or concern. Safer sex can take a back seat to an overwhelming sexual drive.

Crystal: People say that this drug can make you feel invincible. It makes you more alert and highly aroused. This leads to a false belief that HIV/AIDS cant touch you.

Poppers: Poppers may make sex more enjoyable but can mask the pain that might be causing tears to your anal linings. Using poppers with Viagra can be very deadly.


These drugs can impair your ability to make good decisions about sex. If you are going to use drugs and have sex, know your limits and try to remember to Play Smart and CAMPsafe. Only you have the power to prevent yourself from becoming infected while you are here in Rehoboth. Remember, while you are on vacaition, HIV is not. Protect yourself, protect your lover and protect your community.

If you are in need of more information or have some questions about safer sex and drug use, please contact staff at (302) 227-5620. Staff is available for free sexual health counseling.

STI of the week

This week: Gonorrhoea

What is it?

Gonorrhoea is a bacterial infection you can get in your penis, butt, throat, or eyes.

How do you get it?

You can get it by having anal sex without a condom, rimming, oral sex or by getting an infected guy's cum in your eyes. It's one of the most common STIs.

How do you prevent it?

Using condoms will prevent many cases of Gonorrhoea. If you wanted to further reduce risks, you have to use condoms for oral sex. Many guys have gonorrhoea in their throat and they don't even know it.

How do you know you've got it?

Symptoms will include a white or greenish puss coming out of your penis and a burning sensation when you pee. Infection in your mouth can result in a sore throat and sometimes a cough. Infection up could butt could be noticed by a yellowish puss or fresh blood on your poop or itching and pain when pooping.

How do you treat it?

Get to a doctor or STI clinic. It is completely treatable and curable by antibiotics.

Can I Get HIV from a Shower Curtain?

Living in this part of Delaware amazes me sometimes. The knowledge of some people regarding HIV is really basic, sad but amusing at the same time. I received this questions just the other day from someone who stopped me on the street.

"Can I get HIV by using a shower curtain as toilet paper"

(I am not kidding! This was a real question!)

My answer to that is "What in Buddhas name are you using a shower curtain for toilet paper! Besides being just disgusting, it's safe to wipe with the material that protects your shower! HIV can only live on the outside the body for a very short time. So, unless someone else wiped a bleeding wound, the inside of their butt or dripping penis on the curtain a few seconds before you used it".

Pierced Tongue and STI's

I have always been into guys who have body modifications. Tats and Piercings really get me going! At 25 I decided to pierce my nipples and finally last year I was brave enough to get my ears pierced in SF! I started with a 12g and now have moved to a 6! I will probably stop at 6 but you never know. So, with my last entry about two toungues..I wondered about STI's and tongue piercings.

I talked with a piercer in SF. Here is what he said...

Once the piercing is completely healed, it is no longer open. This should protect against HIV and other STI's. However, if the piercing becomes irritated, infected or bleeds...you are at risk for HIV. This, however, would still be low risk.

As far as other STI's, you can still catch them with oral sex whether or not you have a piercing.

Two tounges are better than one..

I saw him standing in the corner. I knew that I had to get to know him. He had the look that I liked and I could tell was very comfortable in his own skin. My type can vary on the drop of a dime but my favorite is tattooed, pierced and dark Italian men. You could definitely tell that he marched to the beat of his own drum. I think that was part of the attraction.

I finally got up the courage to talk to him. He had been getting into body modifications in his twenties and now had several. After talking for a bit about tattoos and piercings, he showed me a few. He had done some of them on his own and was particularly proud of a few of them he was able to do on his own. The next thing I know he was opening his mouth and sticking his tongue at me! I had to take a second look because I swore he had two tongues instead of one. He said that he had gotten up enough courage a few years ago and decided to split his tongue. It was pretty interesting and you could only imagine how the conversation progressed. He got a call on his cell and had to leave for awhile.

After he left, I began thinking about gay men and our body/self-image issues and how that related to risk taking especially around sex. My new friend was obviously comfortable in his own skin to make such extreme changes to his body. For many of us it takes a long time to get to a point where we can look in the mirror and not start a sentence with 'if only I were slim/muscled/skinny' but the reality is that for many of us that isn't going to happen over night and actually we're not in the right place to make that change Someone who makes us feel sexy in that moment, at the bar, bathouse or online, says something we want to hear – at that point all rational thinking goes out the window and we want to make that connection regardless of how risky is might be.

Getting to a point where you can look in the mirror and just accept what you've got, is a good start to being happier in your skin. Our bodies are awesome machines of love and pleasure. And expressing that should be encouraged, dammit. It is when we don’t respect our bodies that we might take risks might harm these awesome machines of self-expression

Fundamentally it doesn't matter what anyone else says to you about being handsome, sexy or attractive...until you can look in a mirror and see that spark that others find attractive you won't believe it. My two tongued friend taught me this lesson that evening. So start staring at that mirror and find the bit of yourself that you are comfortable with and start to learn to live with your skin and the shape that you are.

Eventually he came back to the place where I had met him and we began chatting up each other again. I won’t go into details (you can use your imagination) but I can tell you this - two tongues are better than one!

4th of July...

I am breaking up my butt entries to bring you some shots of the beach! Rehoboth turns into a madhouse on the 4th and remains crazy till the end of the summer. Here are some shots from this am. I will add more during the day..

Happy 4th!

Butt Play...

If you like using toys during your down time, there are a few things you can do to keep it safe. If your sharing your toys with someone they should be cleaned with HOT soapy water, or a new condom should be used on one everytime you remove it from you and put it in someone else! Make sure your using water based lube or else the condom might break.

Speaking of lube - make sure you use alot of when playing. Lube can make thed entry easier and helps avoid damage to the anal lining which could facilitate HIV or other nasty bugs!

Cleaning out down there....

Some guys call and ask about cleaning out down there. Some guys like to wash their butts out before sex. It may actually be not a good idea. You don't really need to clean things out if you have a good diet and goto the bathroom before you have anal sex. Still, many guys like to be clean before things happen below the belt.

If you are going to clean out than you have to realize that safer sex is really important. Douching the anus can irritate the lining of your butt making it more vunerable to infections like HIV. Whatever you do - DONT USE SOAP. Soapy water can cause major irritation. Make sure you use water thats at body temperature - you don't want to burn anything.