If you've ever had a sex-related injury, know that you're absolutely not alone. A new survey of 1,662 people by Superdrug OnlineDoctor found that of those surveyed, 1,023 had suffered a sex injury at some point in their life. That's almost 62 percent of people who have ended up with anything from a sore vagina, to vaginal tearing, to a urinary tract infection, to a rug burn to, well, you name it. It really doesn't take much to injure yourself when you're getting it on — especially during rough sex (37 percent), as the survey found.
While the number one injury that women sustain is vaginal pain of some sort, with 57 percent of women reporting this as their sex injury, not far behind in second and third place are cramped muscles, at 35 percent and back pain, at 31 percent. Sex injuries are actually so common, that 53 percent of the survey's respondents had to go to the doctor for treatment and 13 percent ended up in the emergency room — definitely not how one wants to end a night of hot sex.
Although nothing is fool-proof, especially if you just happen to be one of those clumsy people of the world (if only I had a penny for every time I fell off a bed during sex), there are some positions that are a bit more "dangerous" than others. Here are the top nine positions that are most likely to end in an injury for women.
1Oral Sex
Although I'm not sure how 1.8 percent of women have been injured during oral sex, I'm going to wager a bet that it has something to do with an over-zealous partner. Playful nips while performing cunnilingus can feel good, but biting? That's where you run into some trouble.
269 Standing Up
Undoubtedly, 69 while standing is pretty risky, so it's no surprise that 2.4 percent of women have suffered an injury from this one. I imagine it involves being dropped on their heads.
3Anal Sex
When it comes to anal sex, if you don't properly prepare for it, then it's almost impossible to avoid an injury. I mean, we're talking about a very tight hole that needs lots of lube so as to avoid anal tearing. There's also the fact that if you're not relaxed, all the lube in the world isn't going to ease any possible pain. So for 2.9 percent of women to report injury because of anal makes sense. But, please, if you go down the anal road, include lube and breathing.
4Standing
The survey found that 4.5 percent of sex-related injuries were due to standing sex. Throw in standing while having shower sex, and that percentage skyrockets. In other words, walls exist not just to keep buildings from falling apart, but to keep you and your partner from falling over while having standing sex.
5Legs Up
A little over five percent blamed this position for causing them harm. Hey, if you haven't stretched out those legs in a while, you can't be shocked if you get a cramp or a charley horse.
6Cowgirl
Although it might not seem like a position in which the woman is completely in charge might end up in an injury, for 5.7 percent of women it has. Of those who were surveyed, the top injury that resulted from cowgirl were leg pains, at 29 percent, vaginal pain, at 25 percent, and knee pain, at 21 percent.
7Switching Between Positions
While switching from one position to the next in the movies looks like a piece of cake, it's not always so easy in real life. According to the study, 9.4 percent women ended up injuring themselves during sex when they tried to switch from one position to another. However, if you attempt this, you totally get an A for effort — to go with that herniated disc and bruised ego.
8Missionary
How, oh how does a woman get an injury during the most basic of all sex positions? By either doing it too rough or too long. For 16.3 percent of women, the missionary position resulted in an injury and of those injuries, 58 percent of them were vaginal related.
9Doggy Style
And the number one position for women with 20.5 percent being banged up in the process? Doggy style position. But are we surprised? Between all that thrusting and having to put so much pressure on our arms and wrists especially, doggy style, although great, can cause some major damage. For 57 percent of women, it was their vagina that was injured, for 13 percent it was their back, and for 11 percent it was their knees.
Regardless of the position you're in, something starts to hurt, no matter how close you are to having an orgasm, stop! There's no sense in putting yourself out of commission for days or even weeks in the name of an orgasm. And if you do injure yourself during sex bad enough that you need to go to the doctor, be honest about how you got hurt. You can't be treated properly if your doctor doesn't know how you hurt yourself in the first place. And clearly, you won't be the first one who's walked into their office with a sex-related injury.
