Welcome to the libido lounge where we focus on all things love, lust, and libido. We believe that fabulous sex is important to health as exercise and good food. Everybody. Doctor Diane Mueller, your libido doc here.
And in this episode, we're gonna solve lube, condom, vaginal pH problems and questions, and really help you understand what lube goes with what type of condoms because you don't wanna use them altogether, as well as what types of you lube you should be using for different types of sexual pleasure.
K. So all things lube, this conversation's so important because not only is it really important to understand that the right lube is needed for any particular condom in order to help with the efficacy of that condom. That's really important to know, but, also, certain lubes can have preservatives in them, which can actually screw up the vaginal pH, and this can make women more prone to infections. So that's also a really important component of lube.
And sometimes women are really reactive to spermicide and condoms, right, where it'll throw off their vaginal pH, and they might not have a true infection. Right? So I've had this happen where women go and they are looking for a yeast infection or BV, or maybe even they think it's an STI.
And none of those things are actually happening, and it's just a reaction because the spermicide is throwing off their vaginal natural pH, and that can lead to lower levels of microbial imbalances that are not showing up on lab work. It can actually be pretty maddening because there can be this feeling of, like, knowing that there is something wrong in the vagina or the urinary tract, and having lab tests turn out normal, and it just feels really gross.
And the thing that is good to know is that the wrong lube and lubes that are actually changing the vaginal pH can do very similar things as spermicide does to some women. So, obviously, you wanna be safe. Obviously, you wanna practice protection in the right scenarios, but you wanna understand what these lubes and these condoms and the combination are doing and what they are not. So I'm gonna go over some information today. I have a quick guide on my blog.
That's basically a chart of the information we're talking about today. So look for that in the show notes if you wanna reference this material and just be reminded of what lube goes with what condoms and when do I use what lube for what type of sex act, like those types of things. You can find that on my blog. So let's go through lubes one by one. So Sliquid is a water based lube. There's many water based lubes out there. We're gonna talk about them all. Sliquid is my favorite water based lube.
It works really well. The feel is really lovely. It is a as a water based lube, we do have the widest ability of use with this particular, lube with condoms. So it's really compatible across the board with condoms. But on the negative side for water based lubes is it does have preservatives in it. So you can sometimes find that the vaginal pH is thrown off. So you wanna be aware of that with water based lubes. The condom compatibility is wonderful, like I said.
You also wanna be careful because this particular lube is not good for any anal play. So if you're interested in anal play, then this is not the lube for you. It's not viscous enough for that to actually be a good experience. With anal play, you want something that is very slippery, that is very viscous, and the water based lubes just cannot provide that. The other thing to know about water based lubes is they tend to dry up faster than silicone based lubes, so you tend to have to reapply.
Not a huge deal. But the thing to also understand about the preservative amount, the change of the the pH in the vaginal tract is if you use a water based lube, a way around the way that can sometimes help preserve the the vaginal pH is by inserting intravaginally a capsule of a 100% pure lactobacillus acidophilus type of pro probiotic.
And you really wanna make sure that it's pure lactobacillus acidophilus and that it's not a combo product because that's the last of lactobacillus acidophilus is more in alignment with the microorganisms that are naturally there. So we wanna encourage the natural vaginal environment when we are giving probiotics. And you actually give that intravaginally. It typically is best to do that overnight as that you will find some extra discharge. It's good to wear underwear.
And it tends to just be an easier experience if you do it overnight, but there's not a problem with doing it during the day. Just experience that You'll have a lot more discharge coming out, especially if you do it during the day. So that's the water based lube. Now my favorite type of lube is silicone lube. I love silicone lube because it's so viscous, so the slipperiness is really, really profound with silicone lube. You don't have to apply it so much. It's good for anal play.
It's good for vaginal play, so it's very useful as far as you can use it in these different environments. Now it is not compatible with polyurethane condoms, so you don't wanna use those together. Right? So if you're using polyurethane, you're gonna much more have a tendency to do something like your water based lubes. Now oil based lubes, what is amazing about oil based lubes is there is no preservatives, so you're not gonna have the vaginal pH thrown off as much.
Now in a lot of these silicone lubes, silicone is generally pretty safe. A lot of silicone based lubes will have these small amounts of certain types of silicone that can be endocrine disruptors. They can disrupt the hormone system a little bit. That's what endocrine disruptors are. I've generally not seen that problem in people using the silicone based lubes. That's always something to watch out for.
But I've seen people do very, very well on silicone based lubes, and I really appreciate the fact that because there's no preservative in it, you don't have any negative impact on the vaginal pH. So that is huge, huge, huge. So then we have our oil based lubes, and the oil based lubes, you don't see marketed as much. They're not as, I don't think, as popular as the water based or the silicone based.
Typically, you use the oil based most commonly for oral for oral or vaginal use, not for anal so much. So it's gonna have a much lower range of condom compatibility. You don't wanna use it with latex or polyisoprene condoms. You can use it with polyurethane condoms. So you just wanna make sure your condom compatibility has a lower range. It will also have some preservatives in it. So you wanna be careful about the true oil based lubes.
Now another thing you can consider is you can consider pantry solutions. So you can consider, like, oils that you have around your pantries. So avocado and jojoba work really well. Some people use coconut oil, and coconut oil has a nice feel as long as you're getting the super refined stuff. The unrefined can have a little bit of a grainy feel to it. But the problem with coconut oil is it's very antimicrobial.
So, again, it's gonna come back to throwing that vaginal pH off, and we don't want that. So I I would avoid if you're really trying to stay just like pantry solutions as natural as possible, then using avocado or really good jojoba oil works great. But, yeah, you wanna stay away from anything that has a strong antimicrobial property like a coconut because even though coconut, for example, is a great remedy for anti yeast. Right? It can be helpful for anti, like, candida remedies.
So if you have a yeast infection, that'll be a great time to use coconut oil. But you wanna use it only in those temporary therapeutic conditions from a vaginal perspective because the good bacteria all of us women have good bacteria in our vaginal tract. That's essential from vaginal health, for proper pH, for everything staying really clean and beautiful.
And so we don't want coconut oil all the time because we have those good bacteria that are preventing geese from showing up for it to preventing bad bacteria. So you wanna make sure those good bacteria staying super healthy. You don't wanna kill them off. So using an antimicrobial oil like coconut could cause a problem for those types of reasons. So these are all the things to consider. You know, you wanna play.
Like, another thing I would really encourage you to consider with these loops and oils is consider playing around. Consider different getting different products. It's amazing how changing a lube can actually add to the experience. You'll find that certain lubes will add to the sensation. Right? I'm a huge lube fan. Like, I think having a lot of of moisture and lubrication is extremely important. You'll see in some of my other videos and one of my previous videos in a different episode.
For example, I talked about the cardiovascular system and the importance of the cardiovascular system to help with natural lubrication. So if you're not being fully lubricated, you know, there's definitely good reason to make sure hormones are imbalanced, that blood flow is good, that there's no cardiovascular disease. We talk about that on other episodes. But you also really do wanna make sure that if you're not afraid of losing of using lube. Right?
Because even with all those other things, even with good foreplay, sometimes, like, a little extra lube just helps it feel extra extra good. So don't be afraid of of of using lube. Don't be afraid of trying it. Just be aware of some of the nuances between lube. And, again, you can use this, like I said, as a way of trying something new, saying you add this new product. Does that do anything? Does it feel extra good?
So make sure you check out that link where I kinda sum up this information on a blog for you. And then, also, make sure you check out the show notes where I have, Uber Lube, my favorite lube. I have a discount code in there for you to get a discount off that lube, so check that out. They're my favorite. They're the best. So, there's a 10% discount code in the show notes for you as well to get a little bit of a discount off of their products. And, you know, happy sex.
Remember to continue to do your work, to continue to stay classy, to continue to feel sexy, and I will see you in another libido lounge episode. Thank you for listening to the libido lounge. Please don't keep me a secret. Please share this with your friends. You can find me on YouTube, on Instagram, as well as how to work with me at mylibidodoc.com.