CBD and Sex: The Best CBD Products to Try
Can cannabidiol (CBD) make sex more enjoyable?
If you’ve heard about CBD’s growing list of medicinal uses and wondered if it can enhance your sex life, you’re not alone. When it comes to CBD and sex, researchers and brands believe there are multiple ways that CBD can improve sex. And a growing number of companies are harnessing CBD’s therapeutic properties to create products that will make sex better. But before you decide to purchase one of these products, you need to know if it’s actually worth it.
The benefits of CBD for sex
Science suggests there are various ways that CBD can boost your sex life. In fact, the cannabinoid is not only helpful during sex, but also before it even happens. Here are three reasons why researchers believe CBD and sex can go hand-in-hand and lead to happier sex.
1. CBD decreases performance anxiety
Research suggests that CBD is great at alleviating performance anxiety, a common problem people experience when they’re worried about disappointing their partner. According to sex therapist Claudia Six, sexual performance anxiety in women manifests itself as “difficulty getting interested in sex, difficulty getting aroused, or difficulty with orgasms.” In men, the most common symptoms are problems getting or maintaining an erection or climaxing prematurely.
But a survey that examined 502 people — including men and women — who used CBD for sex found that 66% of them said the remedy helped reduced anxiety. This research isn’t surprising. Kat Merryfield, the founder of Kat’s Naturals, has heard people say their sex life is better when their anxiety is gone.
As a natural health practitioner, Kat has helped many women who’ve struggled to conceive. She’s often found that their anxiety was the leading cause of their difficulties. But when they weren’t suffering from performance anxiety or another kind of fear, they tended to conceive within a couple of months. They didn’t have a medical condition like they previously thought. Their anxiety was the only thing preventing conception.
CBD’s anxiolytic properties, meaning its ability to decrease anxiety, make it a great solution for conditions like performance anxiety. After a few drops of CBD oil before sex, you’re going to relax and find yourself having more fun.
2. CBD helps prevent painful sex
Dyspareunia is a term that explains the pain women feel during sex. It’s defined as a “persistent or recurrent genital pain that occurs just before, during, or after intercourse.” Many women experience dyspareunia at some point in their lives and suffer one or more of the following symptoms:
- Pain during penetration (depending on severity, this can include discomfort when inserting tampons)
- Pain during thrusting
- A burning or aching sensation
- Throbbing pain, which remains after intercourse and sometimes lasts for hours.
Research suggests that CBD is great for pain relief. Specifically, taking CBD vaginally can alleviate much of the pain women feel during sex. This finding is why several products have CBD in them.
3. CBD may help reduce erectile dysfunction
In the BioMed Research International journal, there’s an article about Ayurveda practitioners. The article explains that the practitioners use Cannabis sativa, the same plant that CBD comes from, to help improve sex performance and ejaculatory function.
Research does not detail how CBD can help with erectile dysfunction. But one theory suggests that CBD promotes blood flow by relaxing the blood vessels. With better blood flow to the penis, men can relieve erectile dysfunction and experience longer-lasting sex.
Which CBD products will improve your sex life?
With a large number of CBD products on the market, it’s easy to think that you should buy any and everything. But in reality, there are only four CBD-infused remedies that you should purchase and use when your sex drive is in gear.
1. Skin Serums and Massage Oils
These topical CBD products combat performance anxiety. The act of giving your partner a massage and spending intimate time with them should help them relax before you start having sex.
However, using a CBD-based massage oil offers other benefits. It relieves pain, alleviates the symptoms of social anxiety, and its anxiolytic properties enhance the sense of relaxation.
CBD skin serums and massage oils are always a good go-to. But make sure your products don’t have too many essential oils in them. Lavender and chamomile are okay, but you want the concentration of CBD in your product to be strong enough to activate its full effects.
2. CBD Lubricants
Research on the benefits of CBD lubricants is still ongoing, but there is much promise. Scientists already know that CBD’s anti-anxiety properties can help you feel more receptive to sexual activity. And because the lining of the vagina is incredibly absorbent, you can feel CBD’s effects more intensely when it’s applied as a lubricant.
CBD is also a vasodilator, meaning it increases blood flow. According to Kiana Reeves, a somatic sex expert and the Director of Education at Foria Wellness, “Increasing blood flow to the genitals and erectile tissue network is the basis for arousal and heightened sensation.”
But when it comes to CBD and sex, the advantages don’t stop there. Research suggests that CBD can relieve muscle tension, which means CBD lubricants could make sex more comfortable. The pelvic floor, bladder, uterus, and internal anal sphincter are all made of muscle tissue. Therefore, a CBD lubricant could enhance relaxation in those areas
Again, it’s important for you to check the ingredients. Many brands make CBD lubricants using an oil base, such as coconut oil, which erodes condoms. However, if you can find a CBD lube that relies on a different oil base, you should have no problem using it.
3. CBD Suppositories
These are suppositories you can apply vaginally if you know that you’re going to have sex. These products work by dissolving and acting as both a lubricant and a relaxant, and many women have found them to alleviate menstrual and pelvic pain.
As with lubricants, you can absorb CBD into the bloodstream through your vaginal wall so that it can work quickly. CBD affects you by interacting with your endocannabinoid system, which regulates a range of things from your nervous system to the functioning of your organs.
Researchers believe that the highest concentration of endocannabinoid receptors are in your reproductive system. And Dr. Felice Gersh, founder of the Integrative Medical Group, cites this finding as a potential reason for CBD’s effectiveness in treating conditions such as vulvodynia, fibromyalgia, and endometriosis, as well as menstrual cramps and painful sex.
4. CBD Oil
Finally, if your primary need is to combat anxiety, you have the option to use CBD oil. Whether you choose full-spectrum CBD or a THC-free CBD remedy, a CBD oil is sure to come in handy.
Research suggests that CBD inhibits your body’s uptake of serotonin — a hormone and neurotransmitter that helps regulate your emotions — to preserve the cannabinoid in your bloodstream for extended periods of time. As a result, taking CBD oil can increase the amount of serotonin available in your brain and improve your mood.
If performance anxiety is hampering how much you enjoy sex, taking few drops of CBD oil could be a simple yet effective solution.
CBD can have a role in the mental and physical aspects of sex
When it comes to CBD and sex, there are various products you can choose. Some products are known to put you at ease, alleviate pain, and remove some of the barriers that might otherwise impede an enjoyable experience.
That said, whether your needs are mental or physical, there are products you can try. But please remember that CBD is not a cure-all. It only helps you take a few steps to enhance your sex life.