Sexuality plays an essential part of being human. Love, affection, and sexual intimacy contribute to healthy relationships and our individual well-being. From a young age we are taught a sexually healthy individual engages in safe sex practices and understands the unintended consequences surrounding sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. However, not a lot is covered regarding the many common sexual health disorders. In this months Giddie News we cover the importance of being a sexually healthy individual. 

What is Sexual Health?

Sexual health encompasses many facets of a person’s physical and emotional well-being. An open discussion of the issues surrounding sexuality is important to promoting sexual health and well-being. There are many things that can lead to a decrease in sexual wellness. Aging, hormones, and common sexual health disturbances such as gynecologic problems, urinary system problems, and sexual dysfunction, including painful intercourse and loss of sexual desire, can alter how we perceive ourselves and function as a sexually healthy individual. The good news is, there are things you can do to regain your sexuality. 

Sexual Dysfunction

On average, sexual dysfunction affects about 30% to 40% of women. Problems with sex tend to increase as we age, but can affect women, and men, at any stage of life. Sexual dysfunction in women is a disorder of many forms and causes. The most common problems related to sexual dysfunction include the inability to have an orgasm, painful sex, low libido, lack of sexual desire, and difficulty becoming aroused. A loss of tissue elasticity, muscle tone, and blood flow to the genital area can lead to a reduction of sensation, making sexual pleasure and orgasm difficult, or even impossible. 

Some women experience bladder leakage during intercourse or with orgasm due to increased urgency, instability of the urethra, or poor muscle coordination. This urinary incontinence can have a big impact on a woman’s sexual arousal, since she may be constantly worried about leaking during the act.

How Can Sexual Dysfunction Happen?

Several studies have shown that pelvic floor weakness and imbalance can lead to many facets of sexual dysfunction for women (and men). Your pelvic floor muscles form the bottom of your pelvis and support your pelvic organs (uterus, bladder, and bowel). They’re also the muscles responsible for contraction during an orgasm. Being able to contract and relax the pelvic floor helps make for pain-free vaginal penetration, optimizes the blood flow during sex to promote orgasm and helps to increase vaginal lubrication, as well as assist in urinary incontinence issues. Recognizing these problems and knowing how to address them can help you maintain a happier, healthier sex life. 

How to Help Alleviate Sexual Dysfunction

Health care professionals recommend maintaining a healthy body weight and eating a balanced diet, avoiding constipation by eating foods high in fiber, use the bathroom prior to having sex, exercising regularly, experiment with different sexual positions to find one or more that work best for you, and doing pelvic floor exercises such as Kegels to maintain strong muscles. Other treatments include arousal techniques, counseling, hormone therapy or medications. 

Why are Kegels Important? 

Kegels are pelvic floor exercises used to strengthen this group of muscles. This helps to improve blood flow to your vagina and pelvic floor, increasing sexual arousal, vaginal lubrication (wetness), and making it easier for you to reach orgasm. It also allows for proper relaxation and contraction of the pelvic floor muscles, decreasing pain with penetration. Kegels are also an integral part of reducing urinary incontinence. 

Men can benefit from Kegels as well! It can improve sexual experience with firmer erections as the flow of blood into the groin improves, enhance duration with better control of muscle contraction, and helps to strengthen key muscles important during ejaculation and emptying the urethra after urination.

How to Perform Kegel Exercises

1. Make sure your bladder is empty, sit or lie down.

2. Contract the muscles you would use to stop the stream of urine, and the muscles you use to keep yourself from passing gas. Don’t contract your buttock, abdomen, or inner thigh muscles. If you do it correctly, your body shouldn’t lift up at all (if you notice that your body does lift slightly, you’re likely using your buttock muscles, and these muscles won’t help you strengthen your pelvic floor). Hold this contraction tight for 3-5 seconds, then relax for 3-5 seconds. 

3. Repeat 10 times, 3 times a day (morning, afternoon, and night).

Progress by holding the contractions for 6 to 10 seconds, then relaxing your muscles completely for 10 seconds.The Goal should be to hold a strong contraction for 10 seconds 10 times in a row.

Alternative to Kegels

Don't have time to do Kegels, or want to accelerate your results, try EMSELLA! 

It is a non-surgical, non-invasive treatment that contracts deeper into the pelvic floor muscles vs the traditional Kegels. This is used for incontinence caused by a weakened pelvic floor for both men and women. It can also be utilized for vaginal rejuvenation to help improve the tightness and sensation of the vagina, and for erectile dysfunction in men helping to obtain and maintain an erection, and improve premature ejaculation. The Emsella chair emits a high-intensity focused electromagnetic (HIFEM) wave to create supramaximal contractions, providing you with close to 12,000 contractions, re-educating the pelvic floor muscles over a 30-minute session, twice a week for 3 weeks. 

Why Emsella?

Additionally, Emsella helps create a tighter vaginal canal and improves the sensation of the vaginal tissues, including the vaginal opening and clitoris. Lastly, It permanently increases blood flow to the pelvic floor and perineal area in women, triggering the production of new fibroblasts and collagen, helping to make the tissues of the vagina, labia, and clitoris more sensitive. This, coupled with the incrase in blood flow, elevates sexual function, sexual pleasure, boosts sex drive, and makes it easier to achieve orgasm in both men and women. 

Embracing and Growing in Your Sexual Health

Sexual dysfunction can be a frustrating, challenging condition for many women. But it’s nothing you should feel ashamed of or embarrassed about. Talking openly and honestly with your partner and your healthcare provider can help get to the root of the problem and makes you a much more sexually healthy individual. To date, there are many treatments available to assist with alleviating symptoms associated with sexual dysfunction. Having a healthy sexual relationship starts with taking care of yourself!