Feeling a little distant from your Mr. Right? A couple hundred (or thousand) miles can do that. For the estimated 7 million U.S. couples currently in long distance relationships, sex and intimacy require a whole new set of rules. According to Dr. Marianne Brandon, Co-Director of The Sexual Wellness Center in Annapolis, Md., distance doesn’t necessarily mean the destruction of your relationship or of your libido. “…What feels more difficult in a long [distance] relationship is the fact that we tend to feel more longing when our partner is not around,” she comments. “That longing can hurt, but while it feels bad, it actually tends to cultivate intimate feelings and wanting.” If you’re looking to make your heart grow fonder and your sex life hotter, check out these tips from women who kept their long distance relationships healthy and sexually satisfying.

Change It Up.
Couples stuck without the benefit of regular face-to-face contact have to find alternative ways to connect in order to keep their relationship going. For Tina Snyder, 37, starting a relationship with a man living 170 miles away meant long phone calls, frequent e-mails and a mutual commitment to open communication. “I believe our communication held us together during the first year of our relationship,” says Snyder, who recently became engaged. “We would talk for hours every night. We talked about everything; work, children, careers, our future. And we had a lot of phone sex.”

While inexpensive webcams and voice chat programs have made it easier to hear the sound of your loved one’s voice, Dr. Brandon warns that it’s not how often you communicate but how well that counts. She also advises couples not to be shy about their desires—sexual or otherwise. As long as everyone’s comfortable, phone sex, cybersex, sending erotic packages or leaving naughty answering machine messages are all healthy ways to connect with someone who’s not around.