That brings us to the subject of lubes and condoms.

The first thing to know about using a condom is that you have lots of reason to wear them besides your desire not to contract or transmit HIV. There’s also syphilis, gonorrhea, and herpes. And there are many other germs that live benignly in the intestinal tract that could cause urethritis in a guy’s dick.

For similar reasons, tonguework or “rimming” carries the risk of picking up intestinal parasites, among other infections. The conventional medical advice is to rim only through a latex barrier. Since not many people like the taste of rubber much, perhaps a more realistic bit of advice might be to ask yourself if you can live without that particular activity altogether.