Lubricants may not harm fertility

In a study that tracked couples trying to conceive, researchers found no differences in the success rates of those who used over-the-counter lubricant products and those who didn't.

Past research has shown that lubricants can impede sperm's ability to swim, and even damage their chromosomes, at least inside a test tube.

"There are some recommendations that couples trying to conceive should not use lubricants, for fears that it will be toxic to sperm and make it harder for them to get pregnant," said Dr. Anne Steiner at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who led the new study.

Researchers cautioned couples against changing their behavior based on the results of this one new study, though.

"It's important that the research is repeated. We're kind of the first people to look at this, so we have to take the bigger picture into context," Steiner told Reuters Health.

It's estimated that 62 percent of women in the U.S. have used a vaginal lubricant during intercourse, and some 25 percent of women use lubricants regularly.

There's also evidence that couples trying to conceive are more likely to need lubricants, to ease problems like vaginal dryness, and about a quarter of all couples who are trying to get pregnant will use the products.

So Steiner and her team set out to test whether lubricant use was really linked to fertility problems. And if so, whether the lubricants were actually to blame, or using them might be just a sign of other issues, like a lack of natural vaginal mucus, that could affect fertility.

The researchers made use of information collected between 2008 and 2010 through the University of North Carolina's 'Time to Conceive' study, which looks at factors affecting fertility in women aged 30 to 44.

A total of 175 women, all in the early stages of trying to get pregnant when they entered the study, were included in the analysis. For six months, or less if they conceived, the women kept a record of each time they had intercourse and if they used lubricant.

Women were classified as frequent users if they used lubricants at least 50 percent of the time when they had intercourse, and occasional users if they used them less often.

According to the findings reported in Obstetrics and Gynecology, women who frequently used vaginal lubricants - about 14 percent of women in the study - were just as likely to get pregnant as those who never used lubricants.

Overall, about 63 percent of the women included in the analysis got pregnant during the six-month study.

Among these, 73 percent of lubricant users conceived by their sixth cycle of trying and 68 percent of non-users conceived.

Steiner's team also checked the effect of lubricant use specifically during the women's most fertile time of the month, a few days either side of ovulation.