Comments on: Nuvaring and oral sex

Question: Nuvaring and oral sex

slow graffiti — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:29:05 -0800

Is my partner ingesting any amount of estrogen from my Nuvaring?

Common sense says it's safe for a guy to give oral sex to a girl using Nuvaring, but I wonder...if one were using this method of birth control for years, and had the same partner and regular oral sex, would the partner end up ingesting just a bit more estrogen compared to pills or other methods? Is the hormone not very concentrated in vaginal secretions, meaning it's basically impossible to transmit via oral sex?

My paranoid thinking goes like this: they tell you not to dispose of the ring except in its foil pouch, because they don't want estrogen leaking into ground water, right? Then how is it safe to have oral contact across mucus membranes with it? Obviously it must be safe, but why?

By: exogenous

exogenous — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:52:37 -0800

I would figure this way: the ring is in you 24x7 whereas your partner is exposed for some fraction of that time (the math left to the user). Plus his contact is indirect vs. your direct contact, so factor in a large reduction there.

For easy math let's say 7 hours cunnilingus per week plus a 20-fold reduction for indirect contact (personally I would guess even more than 20-fold), then he gets 480 times less hormone than you.

Probably nothing to worry about - males have some estrogens naturally to begin with.

By: The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:13:39 -0800

7 hours a week?
God Damn!

That being said, I really would be shocked if he was ingesting any more estrogen than normal. Estrogen is a lipid, meaning that it isn't soluble in mucus. So unless he's licking on the ring, I don't think much is going to happen.

By: meta_eli

meta_eli — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:20:11 -0800

Go Ask Alice: Contraceptive ring and oral pleasuring: Will the hormones affect oral sex giver?

In short, don't sweat it.

By: 8dot3

8dot3 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:56:20 -0800

I have nothing to add here but: exogenous, I hope your partner appreciates you.
:)

By: toomuchpete

toomuchpete — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:14:33 -0800

"So unless he's licking on the ring"

Which would be quite impressive, really.