The ins and outs of sex with the Nuvaring

April 27, 2012 1:19 PM

I've looked at every question here dealing with the Nuvaring, and read all the patient information, and yet still I don't know: What does it feel like during sex?

If you're a man -- can you feel it, is it uncomfortable or neutral or pleasant? If you're a woman -- does it get in the way, do you find it comes out easily?

I've also read differing opinions on whether you can or should take it out during intercourse -- either that there's a 3-hour window, or that that window is only for occasional emergencies where the ring has come out without you noticing.

Thank you. Enquiring minds want to know!

posted by anonymous to health & fitness (23 answers total)

We used the NuvaRing for about three months and I only felt it a couple of times, and it was a very minor sensation. For the most part it might as well not have been there, and my fiancee said she didn't notice it either.

The problem is that....well, it didn't feel any different. So when it fell out, she didn't notice that. We still have no idea what happened to it, although the assumption is that it was left in a hotel room somehow. Switched to the pill after that scare.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:25 PM on April 27, 2012

My GYN recommends taking it out for sex. I usually forget, though. I think I have noticed it during sex once; it wasn't painful, just like the feeling of the sock bunching up in your shoe, only in the vagina.

My husband says he has never noticed it.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:26 PM on April 27, 2012

I don't think it feels like anything during sex. It sometimes needs readjusting during the month if I don't get it seated correctly the first time I put it in. Boyfriend says it's occasionally noticeable but it's not annoying or anything.
posted by elsietheeel at 1:29 PM on April 27, 2012

My husband can feel it, I can usually unless its some serious pushing and it gets twisted or something. Its not uncomfortable to him, but best described as distracting, so we take it out. If you don't take it out, it sometimes comes out or sometimes ends up around his penis, which is hilarious. (to me, your milage may very on funny or not.) I don't find taking it out for the twenty minutes (or whatever) of actual piv messes anything up.

Just be sure to put it back in! And really leave it in till you get to the, um, hard thrusting bit. We have been having sex about everyday for the last 18mths, taking it out every time and I'm not pregnant, but again, your milage may vary.

One last note, when I first started using it, we'd forget to put it back in. We developed a policy like any other household thing, if he took it out, its his responsibility to make sure its back in and vice-versa. When I did end up forgetting to put it back in, I felt "off" the next morning, then spotting and weird followed shortly, so it was a pretty clear indicator that I'd left it out too long and needed to use a back-up.
posted by stormygrey at 1:29 PM on April 27, 2012

I have a nuvaring. I am dating a woman, so I can't speak to PIV sex. When my girlfriend fingers me, she can feel the ring (but it's no big deal), and I can't feel anything different at all.
posted by Why hello, I am a sock puppet at 1:30 PM on April 27, 2012

My wife used one for quite awhile. I could feel it most of the time. Sometimes the extra stimulation was pleasant, sometimes it was unpleasant. Sort of depending on all the stuff that that kind of thing depends on.
posted by Gygesringtone at 1:31 PM on April 27, 2012

I used it for a year. I could NEVER feel it, I never took it out for grownup activities, and it never accidentally came out on its own during said activities. My husband said he could feel its presence just enough to feel confident that it was still there, but not so much that it was distracting or bothersome.
posted by joan_holloway at 1:31 PM on April 27, 2012

I don't think it feels like anything during sex. It sometimes needs readjusting during the month if I don't get it seated correctly the first time I put it in. Boyfriend says it's occasionally noticeable but it's not annoying or anything.

That's exactly what I was coming in here to say, elsietheeel - I've been using it for (five?) years and this is totally my experience. I have occasionally been worried that it would come out during a BM (because it warns against that in the pamphlet), but I try not to think about that and it's never happened to me.

You can take it out for sex if you'd like, but adhere to the time limit given by your doctor or pharmacist. You might also want to ask your doctor about wearing it for a month straight and then just switching it for a new one (with no week off). At my last physical, my doctor said new research said you could do that and perhaps avoid your period all together.
posted by youngergirl44 at 1:48 PM on April 27, 2012 [2 favorites]

We take it out, as my partner is larger and definitely feels it, to the point of rubbing. We put it someplace we're sure to find it after (with my glasses or where the lube goes when it is put away).
posted by Riverine at 1:50 PM on April 27, 2012

Yeah, I think I got scolded here last time I suggested you could take it out for a short time period. I took it out for sex, generally rinsing it and putting it in a safe place in the barroom and then putting it back in after when I'd go back to the bathroom to pee. On occasions where I left it in, he said he couldn't feel it and neither could I. My gyno at the time told me this was totally acceptable.
posted by amanda at 2:08 PM on April 27, 2012

I couldn't feel it, he said he could but not in a bothersome way. It came out a couple of times during sex, usually around the penis (yes, hilarious!), but we always noticed after it happened (um, after we were done). I just popped it back in. I never took it out specifically for sex.
posted by anaelith at 2:12 PM on April 27, 2012

Male here. Usually neutral. Sometimes slight positive. Heavily dependent on position.
posted by supercres at 2:28 PM on April 27, 2012

The NuvaRing insert states the ring can be safely removed for 3 hours without altering your chances of accidental pregnancy. Scroll down to page 4, #19 ("Expulsion") for details.

I've used the ring for several years with no problems. I leave it in during sex because my spouse isn't bothered by it, and I've never had a problem with it falling out. I've never heard of anyone getting the ring "looped" around their partner's penis (until now - ha!) and it's never happened to me, FWIW. When asked, my husband said he could feel it occasionally but that it "didn't really feel like anything in particular." I asked him if it ever felt uncomfortable or painful, or if it ever made things less pleasurable, and he said no. He did say it was easier to feel in certain positions.

My OB-GYN advised me to wash my hands before removal or insertion. She said if I did take it out, or if it fell out, to rinse with lukewarm water before re-inserting.
posted by pecanpies at 2:35 PM on April 27, 2012

My girlfriend used it for a while. I never felt a thing.
posted by SansPoint at 2:38 PM on April 27, 2012

I've had one on and off across multiple relationships, and whether or not my partner can feel it seems to depend primarily on how well-endowed that partner is. One partner was particularly large so we always took it out for sex; my doctor agreed this was totally fine even on a regular basis, but I had problems with often forgetting to put it back in afterwards (which is not fine).

If you're the kind of woman who's perfectly happy sticking her fingers up there it goes in and out trivially easily. I suppose if you were squeamish about that it could pose a little more of a problem. I have a hard time imagining it falling out without me noticing though -- not because I would be able to tell the difference between having one in or not based on how it feels, but because I think I would have noticed the sensation of it passing through the entrance to my vagina. In any case, I never had it fall out on its own.
posted by ootandaboot at 2:48 PM on April 27, 2012

I couldn't feel it. Boyfriend said he did a little but didnt care.
After two months, i stopped using it because it took me forever to take it out and I didn't like having to dig for it.
posted by KogeLiz at 3:02 PM on April 27, 2012

I could feel it. We joked about dolphins jumping through rings.
posted by SpecialK at 3:37 PM on April 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

I never felt anything, but feedback from 2 different guys was that it's a little uncomfortable. I popped it out and back in for sex, which worked well unless I fell asleep without remembering.

I've since switched to the pill, and the pre/post sex routine played a part in the decision to change.
posted by thatelsagirl at 3:55 PM on April 27, 2012

I've used the NuvaRing for years at this point - lots of male partners later, none have remarked on the ring during sex. I can't feel any difference.

I generally advise folks not to take it out during sex unless it's a real problem (because if it's left out for more than 3 hours, then you start a whole new ring/month...and dang it's easy to forget when you're lying around naked or otherwise involved). but if you're good at keeping track of that kind of thing, yeah, you got a 3 hour fun-times window.

I will say that there was one partner that was pretty proficient at inadvertently dislodging the ring -- you can kind of imagine where it wound up (think ring toss).
posted by circle_b at 4:42 PM on April 27, 2012

Man, have only tried this with one partner but can't really feel it (maybe once in a while). No issues at all, totally neutral. My understanding, which this thread seems to confirm, is it depends heavily on a number of factors --- so basically, whether it is a problem depends on the partners involved -- you don't know until you try.
posted by wildcrdj at 4:44 PM on April 27, 2012

I don't feel it at all, and never had a partner mention that he could either, though I have had a few "hole in one" incidents, which are usually just humorous.
posted by tryniti at 6:25 PM on April 27, 2012

Like... nothing.

I think for the first week or so, I was hyper-aware of it and "felt it" or felt like I should feel it, or worried that my partner would feel it.

Then I didn't, and he didn't, and it didn't matter because it worked and everything was OK and I moved on with my life.

I think one time someone told me that they could tell that it was there, but couldn't actually feel it in any concrete way that made a real difference.
posted by Sara C. at 7:19 PM on April 27, 2012

I don't feel it dring sex at all. My husband mentioned to me that he didn't really feel it either, but he didn't like that during foreplay, he could feel it with his hands and he didn't like that. To be honest, I was so awful at taking the pill and physcially I couldn't have an IUD, so this has been amazing.
posted by AbsolutelyHonest at 12:16 PM on August 15, 2012