Sex quality not hurt by vaginal ring.

• Position: Intercourse - Brief article

Most women who use an experimental vaginal ring for HIV prevention report that the physical act of sex largely is unaffected by employing the product, which is inserted monthly for continuous wear. This finding is among several insights gleaned about experiences of women who used the ring during the ASPIRE study, announced at the HIV Research for Prevention meeting in Chicago, Ill.

While most women found that the ring did not negatively affect the physical act of sex, some said they were continually preoccupied with how their partners would react if they felt or discovered the ring. To address this issue, some women removed the ring before sex, a practice not recommended by study investigators. Others limited sexual activities that they believed might heighten their partners' awareness of the ring, such as certain sexual positions and receptive oral...