When you think about sexual arousal, you tend to think of it as the same thing as wanting to have sex. However, sexual arousal is actually the second phase of lovemaking. First, you want to have sex and then you become aroused through foreplay and intimacy. This makes it easier to understand how sexual health issues impact on your wellness. If your mind says yes but your body doesn’t listen, your wellbeing may be affected by sexual arousal disorder (SAD). SAD – not to be confused with seasonal affective disorder – is defined, medically speaking, as a persistent or recurring inability to maintain sexual responses during the excitement stage of sexual activity. This means you are unable to maintain adequate genital lubrication, swelling or other responses, such as nipple sensitivity. As you need the blood vessels in your genital region to swell for your vagina to become lubricated, any impediment to blood flow could potentially cause SAD. This includes:
1. Pelvic surgery: There are 600,000 hysterectomies performed each year and, according to Drs. Jennifer and Laura Berman, two of the nation’s top experts on sexual health for women and authors of Women Only: A Revolutionary Guide to Overcoming Sexual Dysfunction and Reclaiming Your Sex Life, the research on this procedure is contradictory. The Berman sisters note that while some studies claim that hysterectomies can improve your sex life, others have shown negative results. These include decreased vaginal lubrication and a loss of genital sensation, even if the surgery spares your ovaries. The Bermans point out that having your cervix removed and your nerves injured during surgery can severely compromise your blood flow, thereby setting the stage for SAD to impact your wellbeing.
2. Childbirth trauma: If suction or forceps causes vaginal tearing, you might find some nerve and vascular damage to your vagina. This leads to problems with sensation in your vagina and clitoris. If you’re breast-feeding, it’s not uncommon to experience decreased lubrication due to your body’s elevated level of the hormone prolactin.
3. Blood flow diseases: If you have coronory heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol, any one of these diseases can get in the way of the blood flow to your pelvic region and, as a result, reduce your ability to become aroused. You may think that high-blood-pressure medications, such as beta-blockers, can help to address this issue; but you’d be wrong; weirdly and ironically enough, beta-blockers can actually cause sexual dysfunction. Because of this, the Bermans asserts, calcium channel blockers have become more popular as a treatment for heart disease, as they have less of an impact on your sexual function. If you have a blood flow disease and are experiencing loss of sexual function, calcium channel blockers may be a good option for you, so speak to your GP.
4. Hormonal changes: As a woman, there are many things in life that can influence the balance of your hormones. Fluctuations can be instigated by the onset of menopause, childbirth or medications. If you take progestin-dominant birth control pills, for example, you might find that you experience a loss of libido and vaginal dryness. This latter side-effect is also a common complaint of women who take medications to prevent recurrence of breast cancer, such as Tamoxifen. However, the biggest and most dramatic change will be from a drop in oestrogen, which occurs when you go through menopause. With less oestrogen in your system, your vagina will lose lubrication, and you’ll also go through a number of other unpleasant symptoms. If you’re going through menopause, or any of the above causes of reduced blood flow, speak to your doctor about your options.