dear moxie

from The Comet - May 2022

anamnesis

Dear Moxie Rose, Can you talk about why some people (especially those with vaginas) will sometimes lose their hearing after an orgasm?

Absolutely! Quick point of clarification: I am not a medical professional or an ear nose and throat specialist. The information for this is purely based on what we know about human sexuality and human anatomy.

To better understand this it’s important to know the different “phases” of the human sexual response cycle. First there is the excitement phase, followed by the plateau phase, then the orgasm phase, and finally the resolution phase. During the excitement and plateau phases your blood pressure, your heart rate, and your respiratory rate all increase (during these phases some muscles may contract voluntarily and some involuntarily). All of this then comes to a climax, so to speak, during the orgasm phase. This is also when your brain floods your body with hormones like oxytocin. All of the things that begin to culminate during the orgasm phase cause a very complex interplay between your sympathetic and your parasympathetic nervous systems. And then it all basically comes crashing down during the resolution phase - blood pressure starts to drop again, heart rate slows down, body and muscles begin to relax, so on. Because of that, one of the leading theories for why hearing loss occurs is the sudden reduction of blood flow to the inner ear and the change in pressure to the middle ear. Changes in pressure to the middle ear can cause it to change the way sound is transmitted, The acoustic properties of sound transmission through the eardrum and other hearing bones (this would result in more of a muffled hearing loss). In addition to that, a loss of blood flow to the cochlea is going to cause it to basically not fire correctly. The sudden loss of nutrients means it’s not receiving what it needs to work properly the way it had been just moments before - causing it to essentially temporarily malfunction (this would cause more of a ringing, tinnitus type of effect). Another theory has to do with which parts of your brain are more actively firing during sexual activity. For example, one of the areas of the brain that is less active during sexual activity is the temporal lobe, which is in charge of your hearing. So that, coupled with the sudden release of endorphins, can temporarily screw with your neurotransmitters.

The reason I use the term “ theories” for this is because these effects are still being studied and as of right now those are the most conclusive results

Dear Moxie Rose, I’m not new at all to buying “adult toys“ but I did recently purchase a glass toy for the first time. I know one of the things it can be used for his temperature play, so is it safe to put my glass toy in the freezer?

Safe for the toy? Sure. Safe for you? Probably not. Things like glass and metal can become extremely cold (but still dry) when placed in the freezer and when you couple that with the natural moisture that you’ll find inside your body… let me put it this way: do you remember the tongue and frozen pole scene from A Christmas Story (or Dumb and Dumber)? But it doesn’t take much to get glass extremely cold so there are definitely alternatives. My top recommendation would be to submerge the toy into a glass of ice water or just run it under cold water, depending on your desired temperature.

Dear Moxie Rose, You actually helped me shop for a lubricant in your store a while back. I’ve reached the point in my life (thanks menopause) where I need to use lubricant that has hyaluronic acid in it. I remember you saying that it helps with inflammation and acts as a sort of reparative for that skin. But I am also now venturing into using toys. Is a lubricant with hyaluronic acid safe for silicone toys?

Yes! Absolutely. The more important thing to look for when you look at material compatibility is the base of the lubricant. So whether it is oil based, water-based, or silicone based. A silicone lubricant shouldn’t be used with silicone toys. So if you’re using a water-based lubricant that has hyaluronic acid in it, that’s absolutely safe for silicone toys.

Dear Moxie Rose, With travel starting to kind of be a thing again… Are there any TSA laws around toys? Like can I travel with my… “Spicy toys?”

To my knowledge there are no actual laws surrounding not being able to travel with motorized adult toys (but you do want to also adhere to whatever laws there are of the destination you are going to, some countries have laws about things like that). If you want to double check it’s always good to go to tsa.gov just to be sure. But let’s talk a little bit about traveling with motorized toys. There are two forms of packing and traveling with your things on an airplane: your carry-on or your checked bag. Now when you travel with your toys in your carry-on bag you do run a bigger risk of being stopped by security. Sometimes they can see what it is just through the x-ray and that’s good enough for them, but they may ask you to turn it on, or put the batteries in and turn it on (depending on if it’s rechargeable or battery powered) and prove that it is what it is. And while that’s not a super common occurrence, you definitely don’t want to be the one it happens to. For that reason a checked bag is usually safer since it goes through security on its own. If you go this route I would use the travel lock on your toy, if it has one, or remove the battery. Basically try to do everything possible to ensure it doesn’t accidentally turn on in your bag, attracting attention. The other thing you want to think about doing is putting your toy in a clear plastic bag. I know this is something usually done just with carry-on bags but on the off chance TSA does stop your checked bag to examine it, the plastic bag can allow for there to be a sanitary buffer between your toy and whoever is inspecting your bag.