By: Sherina Nicole

Let me just say, there are few things I find more embarrassing that trying to tell a lie that even I don’t believe.  

Last winter, my partner and I were making love. We were both really into it but the creaking of his bed was was messing with my rhythm, nah mean. There was no way we were stopping, so I relocated us over to the floor… the carpet to be more exact. And it was great! It was fun using the solid ground as foundation and his body as a cushion. While on top of him, I dug my knees into the rug to steady and hold my angle while pushing my hips into his. The grip of my skin against the rug gave me steadiness and allowed me to angle my hips towards without my back without continuously re-adjusting. It was one of my favorite climaxes, to date.

But as they say, nothing comes free (pun intended). A few minutes after we both came, I noticed a soreness in my knees. When I turned on the lights, I saw that both knees had a patch of skin rubbed off. Rug burn.

Saturday morning, me and my sore knees headed to an 1.5 hr Caribbean Soca dance class, complete with whining, jumping and FLOOR work. By the end my knees were jacked up.

Still, it was not until Monday afternoon that I made my way to the doctor’s office, trying to lie through my teeth. The nurse, 8 months pregnant, took one glance at my twin burns, and with a smile asked, “And how did this happen.” She and I had been chatting and joking for about 10 minutes already, and from the size of her belly she clearly knew about sex, but I still felt the need to lie.

“Urrr, I got it from a dance class I took this weekend.”

My lie didn't sound even remotely true and her raised eyebrow immediately told me she didn't believe me for a moment.

"A dance class? Oh. Most people we see in here with rug burn usually got them from sex."

Rather than admit that I had gotten rug burn during sex with nothing to be ashamed of, I doubled down on my weak lie. I even kept it up when the doctor entered the room.

“What kind of class was this? And you said there was floor work? When was the class?” I MEAN DAMN! Can I just get some anti-bacterial ointment and go?

After feeling as though I put on a performance as dramatic as Jim Carrey in The Mask, my burn was cleansed with Iodine, and I got the ointment I needed. The doctor shared clear steps to cover the burns with ointment to prevent infection, and let the skin breathe, uncovered, whenever possible.

Overtime, the rug burns healed without infections and partner and I found other ways to expand our sex life. But what still gets me, is the innate need to lie, especially to medical professionals about something I have no need to be ashamed of.
 

The FUQs

• Medical professionals can help you only as far as the information you share with them. As a part of the Hippocratic Oath taken by doctors, they are to respect the privacy of their patients. This is the space where telling the truth can help you more than it can harm.

• Sex does not have to be shameful. Speaking about it positively and confidently can help to dismiss the undesired shame attached to it.

• You can always choose to keep it real. Even though I lied to the nurse, does not mean that I had to continue to the lie to the doctor. We have a choice.