Does Sex Help When You're Sick?

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWill Sex Make You Better?Sex When You’re SickContagiousnessYour Partner’s Health

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Will Sex Make You Better?

Sex When You’re Sick

Contagiousness

Your Partner’s Health

Does sex help when you are sick with a respiratory infection like a cold or the flu? As it turns out, it can—but only for the short term. Sex triggers endorphins that may provide temporary relief from symptoms, but those symptoms will come back quickly.

Having sex won’t cure you or shorten your cold, flu, or other respiratory infection, and it may even make it more likely that you’ll pass your illness along to your partner.

This article looks at the risks of sex during a respiratory infection, when you’re contagious, and what to consider for your partner’s benefit.

Verywell / Laura Porter

Can I Have Sex With a Fever?

Does Having Sex When You’re Sick Make You Feel Better?

There’s no evidence that having sex when you’re sick will cure a respiratory infection or shorten its duration. Sex does make your body release endorphins, which can temporarily make you feel better.

Sexual arousal may also temporarily relieve astuffy nose.This is becauseadrenalinemakes blood vessels constrict. Reducing blood flow to vessels in the nasal passages and sinuses can help you breathe better. These effects don’t last very long, though.

Can You Sweat Out a Cold With Sex?Sweating releases feel-good endorphins that, combined with the endorphins released from having sex, may make you feel better temporarily. However, there is no evidence thatsweatingcan help you recover faster from a cold or significantly improve your cold symptoms.

Can You Sweat Out a Cold With Sex?

Sweating releases feel-good endorphins that, combined with the endorphins released from having sex, may make you feel better temporarily. However, there is no evidence thatsweatingcan help you recover faster from a cold or significantly improve your cold symptoms.

There are risks to having sex when you’re sick, for both you and your partner. Unless your illness is minor and your partner is okay with the risk, it’s best to wait until you are well before you have sex.

Should You Have Sex When You’re Sick?

Respiratory illnesses arepassed through droplets and saliva. Kissing, breathing close to each others' faces, coughing, or sneezing while in close contact is a definite way to spread germs.

If you’rerunning a fever, you’re likely contagious.Fevers can make you feel achy and tired, so in most cases, you probably won’t want to have sex. But even if you do, it’s better for you and your partner to wait until you’re feeling better.

Fevers are common when you’re sick with respiratory illnesses likeinfluenza (flu)or COVID-19. If you have a fever, experts recommend skipping exercise workouts.As sex can involve moderate to vigorous physical activity, it might be wise to skip sex until your fever is gone. Make sure you’re well-hydrated before you resume any kind of exercise, including sex.

Does Sperm Help With Sickness?

Is It a Cold or the Flu?

How Do You Know if You’re Contagious?

The flu, for example, is contagious 24 hoursbefore symptoms start and up to seven days after.COVID-19is contagious two days before symptoms start and up to 10 days after.

COVID-19 IsolationIf you have COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends these isolation practices:You must be fever-free for 24 hours without having taken afever-reducing medicationand have improving symptoms before ending isolation. As long as you have any symptoms, stay home and isolate from others including those in your household. After your symptoms improve, continue practicing precautions, like wearing a mask and distancing for the next five days.If you test positive, but don’t have any symptoms, you may still be contagious. For five days after the positive test result, take added precautions if you will be around others indoors.

COVID-19 Isolation

If you have COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends these isolation practices:You must be fever-free for 24 hours without having taken afever-reducing medicationand have improving symptoms before ending isolation. As long as you have any symptoms, stay home and isolate from others including those in your household. After your symptoms improve, continue practicing precautions, like wearing a mask and distancing for the next five days.If you test positive, but don’t have any symptoms, you may still be contagious. For five days after the positive test result, take added precautions if you will be around others indoors.

If you have COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends these isolation practices:

Many viruses can be passed on even after you’ve started to feel better. And, if you have a weak or suppressed immune system, you may be contagious for even longer.

Unless you know for sure what illness you have, it’s best to wait until your symptoms have completely resolved before having sex.

Flu Symptoms and Treatment

Consider Your Partner’s Health

If your partner isn’t already sick with the same illness you have, they’d probably prefer to avoid catching it. Even if they initiateintimacy, you should bring up the risk.

Consider how your illness may affect your partner. Are they in ahigh-risk groupthat is likely to have more serious symptoms than the average person? Do they have a weakened immune system due to any medications or conditions? If so, it’s probably not a chance worth taking.

Summary

Sex can lead to a release of endorphins, which may give you temporary relief from your symptoms. The relief will be short-lived, however, and you might also pass your illness along to your partner.

Engaging in any kind of exercise should be avoided when you have a fever. It is best to avoid having sex until you’re feeling better and are no longer contagious. Different illnesses are contagious at different stages and for different durations, so the safest way to be sure is to wait until your symptoms are gone.

8 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bulut OC, Oladokun D, Lippert BM, Hohenberger R.Can sex improve nasal function?-an exploration of the link between sex and nasal function.Ear Nose Throat J. 2023;102(1):40-45. doi:10.1177/0145561320981441Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Stay home when you are sick.American Lung Association.Can you exercise with a cold?Demir M, Ozdem S.Evaluation of total antioxidant capacity in human seminal plasma.Int J Med Biochem. 2022;5(1):54-59. doi:10.14744/ijmb.2021.30092Sharbatoghli M, Rezazadeh Valojerdi M, Hadi Bohadori M, Salman Yazdi R, Rashki Ghaleno L.The relationship between seminal melatonin with sperm parameters, DNA fragmentation and nuclear maturity in intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection candidates.Cell J. 2015;17(3):547-553. doi:10.22074/cellj.2015.15Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How flu spreads.Harvard Health Publishing.If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing Spread of Respiratory Viruses When You’re Sick.

8 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bulut OC, Oladokun D, Lippert BM, Hohenberger R.Can sex improve nasal function?-an exploration of the link between sex and nasal function.Ear Nose Throat J. 2023;102(1):40-45. doi:10.1177/0145561320981441Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Stay home when you are sick.American Lung Association.Can you exercise with a cold?Demir M, Ozdem S.Evaluation of total antioxidant capacity in human seminal plasma.Int J Med Biochem. 2022;5(1):54-59. doi:10.14744/ijmb.2021.30092Sharbatoghli M, Rezazadeh Valojerdi M, Hadi Bohadori M, Salman Yazdi R, Rashki Ghaleno L.The relationship between seminal melatonin with sperm parameters, DNA fragmentation and nuclear maturity in intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection candidates.Cell J. 2015;17(3):547-553. doi:10.22074/cellj.2015.15Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How flu spreads.Harvard Health Publishing.If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing Spread of Respiratory Viruses When You’re Sick.

Bulut OC, Oladokun D, Lippert BM, Hohenberger R.Can sex improve nasal function?-an exploration of the link between sex and nasal function.Ear Nose Throat J. 2023;102(1):40-45. doi:10.1177/0145561320981441Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Stay home when you are sick.American Lung Association.Can you exercise with a cold?Demir M, Ozdem S.Evaluation of total antioxidant capacity in human seminal plasma.Int J Med Biochem. 2022;5(1):54-59. doi:10.14744/ijmb.2021.30092Sharbatoghli M, Rezazadeh Valojerdi M, Hadi Bohadori M, Salman Yazdi R, Rashki Ghaleno L.The relationship between seminal melatonin with sperm parameters, DNA fragmentation and nuclear maturity in intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection candidates.Cell J. 2015;17(3):547-553. doi:10.22074/cellj.2015.15Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How flu spreads.Harvard Health Publishing.If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing Spread of Respiratory Viruses When You’re Sick.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Stay home when you are sick.

American Lung Association.Can you exercise with a cold?

Demir M, Ozdem S.Evaluation of total antioxidant capacity in human seminal plasma.Int J Med Biochem. 2022;5(1):54-59. doi:10.14744/ijmb.2021.30092

Sharbatoghli M, Rezazadeh Valojerdi M, Hadi Bohadori M, Salman Yazdi R, Rashki Ghaleno L.The relationship between seminal melatonin with sperm parameters, DNA fragmentation and nuclear maturity in intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection candidates.Cell J. 2015;17(3):547-553. doi:10.22074/cellj.2015.15

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How flu spreads.

Harvard Health Publishing.If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing Spread of Respiratory Viruses When You’re Sick.

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Does Having Sex When You’re Sick Make You Feel Better?#

Can You Sweat Out a Cold With Sex?#

Should You Have Sex When You’re Sick?#

Does Sperm Help With Sickness?#

How Do You Know if You’re Contagious?#

COVID-19 Isolation#

Consider Your Partner’s Health#

Summary#