Q: Is oral sex is safe? Can men and women can practice it regularly?

A: This is a bit of a loaded question. Will you get pregnant from oral sex? No. But you can get STD’s and that’s why it can be risky. Realistically, your chance of getting HIV from oral sex is not very high, but it does happen. Oral sex also puts you at definite risk for contracting other STDs, and the main one to be concerned about is herpes (once you’ve contracted herpes, the virus will stay in your body for the rest of your life). Many people who have herpes don’t have any symptoms, so they may not even know that they have it (and they are contagious whether they have a sore or not). Oral sex is the safest if you use condoms or oral dams to protect yourself from any potential STDs that your partner may be carrying. You might want to check out the oral dam video here , because I know that oral dams aren’t the most straightforward things in the world.

Can men and women practice it regularly? If by regularly you mean going down anyone you find mildly attractive, I’d say no, that’s probably not a good idea. I think sometimes people can forget that oral sex is still sex—and that engaging in it in a situation or with a partner you’re not totally comfortable with is still a bad idea. In a situation where you’re comfortable, and truly want to be engaging in a sex act, then I think it can be a good alternative to sexual intercourse because it is less risky. Even though oral sex isn’t SEX sex, doesn’t mean you should give out BJ’s like handshakes. The only other thing I’d say about oral sex is that girls should be receiving oral sex, and not just giving it. I find that all to often a girl will go down on a guy, but then won’t have the favor returned. Girls’ need to get theirs too!

* This answer has been approved by Margaret Higham, M.D.