Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Male Contraceptive - The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

This week, my news feeds have been flooded with stories about the recent research on an injectable male contraceptive. The headlines I saw focused on the fact that promising research was halted because a few men experienced troubling side effects such as acne, mood disorders, and decreased libido. Most of the women I know (including myself, to be honest), had little sympathy for this.

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Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Catholic School Board Wants Porn Off Your TV


I just ran across this in my newsfeed.

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmonton-catholic-school-trustees-want-broadcasters-to-stop-offering-pornographic-content

I had to double-check the article to be sure this wasn't some sort of parody or perhaps, real, but from 1986. No, it's real and it's dated from yesterday.

Continue reading

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Don't Bother with 'X-Rated' Unless Your A Porn Film History Buff

I'm spending a lot of time watching TV lately. Netflix and I have become good friends.

A new movie popped up last night that piqued my curiosity. It's called 'X-Rated' and is described as 'A look at a plethora of pornographic films ranging from the 1970s to the 2010s and a commentary about their lasting impacts on the adult industry and the world.' It certainly is a look at a plethora of pornographic films but it's not a commentary about their lasting impacts.

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Friday, September 30, 2016

'Easy' is not Easy at All - but It's Great on Toys!

Last night, I watched the first episode in the new Netflix show 'Easy'. This is an eight episode anthology series that highlights aspects of the sex lives of different people.

As I said, I have only watched one episode so far so I can't comment on the series as whole.

First thing I have to say is 'Wow, congrats on the toy, producers!'.

Read more here

Thursday, July 21, 2016

We've Moved!

TalkSense with Brenda has moved to our new Tickle Trunk website. You will find all old posts and posts going forward at Travelingtickletrunk.com.

Monday, February 8, 2016

Is it a Gadget or is it a Sex Toy? Or Both?

A big thank you to Kate Knibbs of Gizmodo, who wrote this short but sweet piece outlining all the new gadgets at CES that look like sex toys. CES is the Consumer Electronics Show. This is the place to find out about all the new high tech gadgets that are about to come on the market (pun intended). We love Kate's style. Instead of writing the boring, standard old piece about what's new and exciting in tech, she picked out the things that look like they could be sex toys. We like your style Kate!

Check out the pictures and see if you can tell what these gadgets really are. Watch out, there's a trick question!

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

And It's Probably Best if You Don't Put This Up There

'Stick This In Your Vagina' month continues with an article I came across advising that THC suppositories are the bomb for dealing with menstrual cramps. Yes, that's right, THC as in marijuana.

Foria is a company that makes lube laced with pot. I heard about them a few years ago because the media thinks that pot lube is pretty news worthy. I don't have a problem with the THC in the lube. I can't find anything that would suggest that it's dangerous. I also don't think that their claims of heightened desire, increased sensation and more frequent and intense orgasms are substantiated. It's unlikely to really do anything for you, it's very expensive and it is technically illegal in Canada and thus hard to get - but other than that, if you really want to use pot lube, fill your boots.

Now Foria has come out with something new. With the help of Dr. Jennifer Berman, they have developed THC vaginal suppositories to treat menstrual cramps.

This is not as off-base as it sounds. THC is widely used to treat all kinds of conditions, many of which cause chronic pain. Many people find that it helps to ease muscle pain. We also know that the epithelium, the lining of the vagina, can absorb substances from the vagina and transfer them into the bloodstream. It stands to reason that this weed suppository could work.

Why, then, do I think this may be a bad idea? Firstly, the delivery method is cocoa butter. It's a ball of cocoa butter laced with THC. The jury is still very much out on if, and in what measure, cocoa butter is safe inside the vagina. There's just no information on this. Many people are using coconut oil as a lubricant and claiming it does not lead to infection, but there's no actual research on it. There's even less anecdotal information about cocoa butter than there is about coconut oil.

Secondly, we also don't know how well the epithelium absorbs the THC. Is it really enough for there to be a therapeutic effect? This product is quite new and, for reasons I don't quite understand, doesn't seem to require an FDA approval even though it's purported to treat pain. For that reason, there's no evidence to show that it actually does work. Does it work any better than smoking or ingesting cannabis would? Is there a good reason to get this product rather than just using regular delivery routes?

Third, and you were probably anticipating this one, it's expensive. The suppositories cost about $15 CAD each. I am by no means an expert on the cost of marijuana and it's equivalent THC content, but my rudimentary calculations put this at about twice to cost of just buying the weed and smoking or otherwise ingesting it.

So overall, this is definitely not the worst thing you could put in your vagina - that number one spot is still held by the womb detox tea bags - but it's probably a waste of money. If you can get your hands on it, that is.

What does bother me about it is that the people who make it are making claims about its effectiveness while openly acknowledging that it has never been tested for safety and efficacy.
Then again, it's Dr. Jennifer Berman. Given her history with such things, this is not at all surprising.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Don't Put This Up There Either!

What is it with the vagina cures lately? I cannot open a browser without finding some story about things to do to your yoni and why it is or isn't a good idea.

I saw this one awhile ago and just left it alone but apparently it's picking up steam (pun intended). Apparently Gwyneth Paltrow thinks you should steam your bits. She recommends a spa in Los Angeles that will (for a hefty price I imagine) sit you on a pot of steaming Mugwort. It should go without saying, but it seems it doesn't, that this is a bad idea. Sitting on a pot of boiling water will obviously make the vulva and vaginal canal quite hot. Heat changes the ph balance. That leads to an imbalance in the bacteria which leads to infections. Doctors actually warn people who are quite prone to yeast infections to limit the hot baths and hot tubs.

I have no idea what mugwort does to the vaginal environment. I just know you don't need it.

Gyneth Paltrow is neither a sexual health educator nor a gynecologist. She is not qualified to tell people what they need to do to take care of their reproductive health. Please do not steam your vagina, no matter what she says.

Also in the land of 'don't put that up there', it seems the herbal detox sticks are not going anywhere. Remember these? I wrote about this way back in 2012 and just last February. Here's a recent article discussing, yet again, why sticking pumice stones in your vagina is not a good idea. The article quotes Dr. Jen Gunter, who's been very critical of all the vaginal detox crazes, in particular, the infamous tea bags.

Let me repeat, because it seems to need repeating, your vagina doesn't need to be cleaned or detox. It's awesome all by itself. Leave it alone. Don't put anything in there that shouldn't go in there.

Here for easy reference, is a list of things you can safely put in your vagina:

clean fingers (yours or someone else's, totally up to you)
clean penises
clean, body safe sex toys (go here to find out what's body safe)
tampons (although we could certainly have a discussion about this)
lubricants with body safe ingredients (go here to find out what's body safe)
medically approved contraceptive devices
condoms over top of clean penises or clean, body safe sex toys

Anything else is at best unnecessary and at worst, dangerous. Your vagina doesn't need your help, it's great all by itself. Relax and enjoy it.





Sunday, January 17, 2016

Please Don't Put That Up There!!!!

I've been away from my blog for quite some time. I've kept meaning to come back but nothing has really compelled me to get off my butt and start writing more. Until yesterday.

I noticed an article about 'vagina pearls' - little herbal teabags for your cooch that are supposed to cleanse and detoxify it.

I have seen all kind of crap that's supposed to clean and deodorize vaginas and all it is terrible but this is really, really bad. Why? Because the people who make these little tea bags are telling people to take 3 of them, stuff them up there, and leave them for three days!!

I didn't believe this was really a thing so I did quite a bit of searching and discovered that yes, this has really caught on. There is a website selling these things and several distributors who have posted a number of youtube videos explaining how they will change your life.

The claim is that these tiny teabags contain herbs that basically make your vagina into a teapot that steeps an herbal tea for your 'womb'. They say these herbal concoctions can cure everything from yeast infections, to fibroids, to infertility. According to these folks, there is all kinds of 'garbage' sitting up in your uterus and the herbs act as dump trucks which drive around there, collect it all, and dump it out. I am not kidding, one of the people in the video actually uses this analogy. Worse, they say that it is completely normal, and a sign of these working, to see all kind of nasty stuff come out of you after you've had these in you for three days. Worse still, the videos show pictures of the yuck that comes out. Do not look at this video unless you have a very strong stomach.

I don't even know where to start with what's wrong with this.

First of all, as I have said many, many, many times, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR VAGINA!!!! Vaginas and vulvas have a natural odor that we have been conditioned in our society to think of as disagreeable. It is not foul, some people just think it is. The solution to this is simply keeping the vulva clean. That will minimize body odor. If there is a stronger smell than simple body odor, it probably means you have an infection and should see a doctor. You don't need to, and should never, clean inside the vagina. Doing this can upset the ph balance and allow overgrowth of bacteria. Look at this site telling someone that what is clearly a raging yeast infection is a normal and healthy part of using these pearls.

Second, the anatomy is completely wrong here. How they possibly think this vagina tea is going to get into the uterus and up to the fallopian tubes (because it's supposed to unblock the tubes is beyond me). Gravity is working against you here. The cervix doesn't just suck up anything that goes in there. If it did, we would all be at constant risk of serious uterine infections. That is actually why doctors advise those in the last stages of pregnancy to be somewhat careful about the cleanliness of anything that goes into the vagina. The cervix is beginning to open and it's possible to cause an infection by something getting into the uterus. That vagina tea is just not going to go in there and if it did, that would be a very, very, very bad thing.

Third, there are no dead skin cells in your vagina. There is actually no skin in your vagina. The epithelium is made of quite different cells than skin. They have a different purpose and operate differently. Any cells shed from the epithelium are naturally absorbed in the body. We do not need to exfoliate that vagina. In fact, doing so is flat out dangerous. Scraping the walls of the vagina causes damage to that epithelium which can then lead to an increased risk of infection and development of scar tissue.

Fourth, speaking of scar tissue, most of us don't have any in our vaginas. The youtube videos show gunk that they claim is scar tissue. It is possible to have scar tissue in the vagina but that is unusual. It pretty much only happens as a result of a serious infection or an injury during childbirth, surgery or other trauma. Scar tissue can result from radiation therapy as well. The treatment for scar tissue is absolutely not scraping the vagina or using herbal remedies. This must be handled by a physician or physiotherapist. It can be removed by surgery or by therapies which help to stretch and dissolve it. This has to be handled with care by someone who is knowledgeable about such things. Messing with it can cause more damage and infections that lead to more scar tissue.

I've written about things like this a lot so why has this one in particular got me so upset. My big worry hear is that the instructions are to leave these little teabags in the vagina for three days. Leaving anything, but particularly some absorbent like this, in the vagina for more than a few hours at a time can lead to toxic shock syndrome. TSS is a dangerous buildup of staph bacteria - basically the bacteria gets trapped and held in that absorbant thing and grows. The longer it's in there, the more the bacteria can grow. Staph is very very dangerous. TSS CAN BE FATAL! It causes low blood pressure, high fever, and seizure, all of which can kill you. The fact that these little pearls simply won't work and that they could lead to bacterial vaginosis and other infections is bad enough, but these little things could actually kill you. TSS is not something to play with. You should never ever ever leave anything in your vagina (except a nuva ring or other medically approved contraceptive device) for more than a few hours.

It scares me to death that people who know absolutely nothing about reproductive health are advising people to use this. There are many testimonials from people on their website and the youtube videos saying how much 'stuff' came out of their vagina and how much better they feel now. I am worried for their health. I am baffled that somehow these people think it is acceptable to advise people to do something which they have absolutely no proof is effective much less safe.

Please don't ever do this and if you know of anyone who has done it or is talking about doing it, tell them to please don't.