Got a health question? Don’t trust those “Doctors” at the University Health Center? Are you scared of Web M.D. because it always tells you you’re gonna die? Ask a real doctor, like our friend Dr. Lissa Rankin. She’s here every Thursday to answer whatever you throw at her – like performance anxiety – so ask away. Leave your question in the comments or send it over to us. Don’t be shy; she’s waiting for ya!

Q: I just recently started having sex with my boyfriend. It always feels fine (great, actually) when we’re in the act, but everything just feels…weird the next day. It sorta hurts when I go to the bathroom (mostly when I’m…er…cleaning up), when I sit, and the muscles in my inner thighs hurt. And I’m just so sore down there that I need a couple days before I can even do it again.

Is that normal? Is it something I’ll get used to? Should I be worried?

A: Sex can be uncomfortable in a variety of ways, especially for women. What you’re describing sounds more like the result of a serious sexual workout than any medical condition.  Most people with sexual pain disorders, such as vulvar vestibulitis (inflammation of the vestibule) or vaginismus (involuntary tightening of the muscles in the vagina), experience pain during intercourse. The fact that you’re enjoying the act itself is good news.

If the muscles in your inner thighs hurt, it’s probably because you’re using them to cling to your partner during sex- and just like any workout, they can ache afterwards, especially if you’re using muscles you’re not used to using. Try taking ibuprofen (Motrin) or naproxen (Aleve) to help the aching you feel. And just like spin class or lifting weights, chances are, the more you do it, the less it will hurt. (Which I’m sure your boyfriend will enjoy…)

Read More »

"Hm. Maybe this job is better suited for a lady?"

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman, so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like the first-semester boyfriend!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

Ok, let’s be honest, no one likes going to the doctor. Throw in a paper gown, putting your legs in stirrups and a “spreader” and it’s no surprise that a lot of us avoid going to the gynecologist like a plague of genital warts. But the truth is that there’s no way to really be in charge of your sexual life unless you bother to stay sexually healthy, and the lady-parts doctor is a necessary part of that.

While we try to give you hand with some of those problems here at College Candy, one of the biggest obstacles between “tear-my-hair-out terrifying” and “not my favorite thing, but bearable” is finding a down-there doctor you like, trust and feel comfortable around – and not surprisingly, a big factor for a lot of ladies is their doc’s gender. Read More »

Got a question for Tuffo? Email her at tuffyluv@collegecandy.com to be featured in her weekly column!

Dear Tuffy Luv,

I’m broke. But I’m still in college so I can’t work full-time. So I had this great idea. I’m going to donate an egg. Do you know anything about this? All I know is it’s going to make me money.
Thank you, Tuffy!

Brandi

Dear Brandi,

It’s true you can make thousands of dollars for donating eggs, but it’s a little more complicated than that. (Isn’t everything? Sigh.)

Women are born with a certain number of eggos. There’re several hundred, but what you got is all you get. To give, you have to be at least 21 and you usually have to be less than 35. You have to be healthy (no STDs or hereditary health problems) and you can’t be a drug user or alcoholic. Read More »

Childbirth is excruciatingly painful. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. But ABC’s 20/20 is going to broadcast a segment on a new documentary called “Orgasmic Birth,” about women who said that giving birth was one of the most ecstatic (and orgasmic) moments of their lives.

In the segment, to be broadcast on Friday, January 2nd at 10 pm, Tamra Larter says that she spent part of her labor for her second child making out with her husband! “The physical touch and the nurturing was just really comforting to me,” she said, “[The birth] was happening, and I could hardly breathe, and it was like, ‘oh, that feels good.’”

Um. Ew?

Dr. Christiane Northrup, OB-GYN, was interviewed by 20/20 and reported that it is possible to experience orgasmic childbirth, according to “basic science.” She says, “When the baby’s coming down the birth canal, remember, it’s going through the exact same positions as something going in, the penis going into the vagina, to cause an orgasm.”

With all due respect to Dr. Northrup, I’m not buying it. And I think it’s great that Ms. Larter was able to get it on during labor (Sidenote: what’s her kid gonna think when he reads that ten years from now?), but either she has a really, really high threshold for pain, a really big va-jay-jay, or they must have slipped her the epidural without telling her. Also, if your baby gives you an orgasm, isn’t that moderately incestual? Just sayin’.

I have no children at the moment, and I have never given birth, so I guess you could say, “don’t knock it till you try it.” But I believe childbirth may be the one thing that you really don’t have to try to knock.  So, here are just a few reasons why I’m not expecting childbirth to be orgasmic:

1. An eight-pound baby is way bigger than a penis.

It’s true that the kid will be coming out the same way his daddy’s manhood went in, but even if that dad were Ron Jeremy (ew, btw), the biggest penis in the world couldn’t possibly compare to the size and weight of a healthy newborn. Read More »

If you’re single, perhaps you can agree with me on this one. Why is it that immediately after a sexual encounter, the entire world resonates with discussion of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases?

Without fail, no matter who my last partner was, how perfect I have been about taking my birth control or how sure I am that I used a backup method too, until I get my next period I am quite convinced that I am probably both pregnant and dying of full-blown AIDS. There are no symptoms that prompt my overreaction, it just comes to me in sharp pangs of anxiety.

Once I’m satisfied that I’m not actually pregnant, however, the panic truly sets in. Sure, you’ve been tested in previous gynecological exams, but have you actually been tested for HIV? And isn’t there a lot of discussion about HIV these days? There was that program in the park, and Philadelphia has been on TV lately, and… Read More »

The alarm screams at 7:54 AM, tearing me out of dream in which I was awkwardly going back to my high school prom.

I am already not a fan of this day.

I do my best to get up and into the shower without falling asleep and slamming my head against the tile wall. Running downstairs, gulping a few spoonfuls of cereal and grabbing my keys, I

make it out the door just in time.

The rain and 45 degree day seem fitting. As does the asshole who cuts in front of me and then stops short to stare at a dead squirrel in the middle of the road. I’ve forgotten how much I hate driving. Going back to New York will be a blessing in one big, public transportation way.

Snagging a gynecologist appointment at home was a stroke of luck, but as I pull into the familiar parking lot, I can’t help but feel the pre-visit jitters. It’s not that I’m afraid of those stirrups and cold metal speculums, I’m just not happy to see them. Ever. Read More »