Sex File: All my friends rave about using toys — am I missing out?

Good sex is not two people turning on a sex toy. It is two people turning on each other

Sex toys can provide a temporary thrill but they are no substitute for connection between you and your partner

All my friends keep telling me that they use vibrators with their partners and on their own, and that I'm missing out. I feel quite satisfied with my sex life as it is, but are they right?

Your friends are obviously excited about what they are getting from their new sex toys but that doesn't mean you and your husband are missing anything. Vibrators make it easier and faster to achieve orgasm so more and more women are using them alone and with a partner. It's hard to get an exact figure for how many women have one - sex toy companies estimate about 55 per cent but academic research suggests the number is much higher. The most robust academic research dates back to 2010, when Debbie Herbernick at Indiana University in the US conducted a study with 3,800 women aged 18 to 60 and found that more than half regularly used vibrators.