Your doctor is ready to listen to any concerns or subjects you want to discuss, yet you may be leaving one important one off the table: sex. Most people, me included, aren’t comfortable with openly talking about our sex lives, and that’s just fine in most cases, but not when it comes to your physician.
Even if your doctor doesn’t bring it up, you can direct the conversation in that direction if you have questions or something in your sex life you need to discuss with a medical professional. Check out the following four reasons why your doctor just might need to be clued in about what’s happening in your sex life right now.
1.Your Drive Is A Mirror For Your Health….
Good sex can do wonders for you, including providing an immune system boost, lowering your blood pressure and dropping your risk of a heart attack, according to WebMD.
Naturally, desire is needed for you to get those benefits, and a healthy desire can indicate a healthy body. But the opposite, a poor sex drive, can signal the opposite: a health issue or condition. Sometimes, a drop in your sex drive can act as an early detection signal of a developing problem, even if you’re not having any other symptoms yet.
The Mayo Clinic reports that a loss of sex drive in women can be caused by numerous medical conditions, such as coronary artery disease, depression, cancer, neurological conditions and diabetes, and WebMD notes the same is true for men.
Things like abnormal hormone levels and even too much stress can also put a dent into your sex drive, so if you’re struggling to get into the mood, be sure to talk it over with your doctor. Don’t dismiss a decline in sexual interest as being a normal sign of aging, as that’s not always true.
2….And Your Relationship
A good, healthy sex life can reflect the state of your relationship. Generally, people need intimacy, emotional connections and affection for a happy, healthy life. While a strong emotional bond isn’t necessarily a part of every sexual relationship, it’s found in many of them, and a lack of sex can be an early red flag.
Discuss concerns you have over your sexual relationship with your partner with your doctor if you feel something may be wrong. Your doctor will listen without judgment, and an open, honest discussion with a neutral third party may help you pinpoint your relationship issue before it becomes a much bigger problem.
3.You May Be Experiencing Side Effects
A surprising number of medications list sexual dysfunction as a side effect. For men, medicines used to treat high blood pressure, diuretics, antihistamines, anti-depressants, anti-epileptic medications, anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxers and cancer treatments can all cause erectile dysfunction, per WebMD.
Many of these same drugs can also cause problems in the bedroom for women, as noted by the AARP.
If you’re taking medications and experiencing sexual dysfunction, talk to your doctor about it. He or she may be able to prescribe you an alternative medicine that will not interfere with your sex life.
Be sure to list all the side effects you believe you’re having, as you may need to get off the culprit medication as soon as possible. Your doctor may have you try a few different medications until they can find the one that works for you with the least amount of side effects.
Always check the potential side effects of any medication you start to take so you’re aware of what to watch for.
4.Knowledge Might Just Keep You Safe
As with anything else, knowledge is power when it comes to sex. The more you know, the better you’ll be able to protect yourself against its risks, including sexually transm
itted diseases and the possibility of pregnancy.
Unfortunately, sex is not a subject that is fully covered in school, so you need to do some legwork on your own, but you can at least ask your doctor for help!
Your doctor is the perfect person to ask about these subjects and about other medical concerns you have when it comes to your sexual health, and there is no need to be embarrassed, as that is part of their job.
While the Internet is a great starter guide, it can’t replace the knowledge you’ll get from a trained medical professional to whom you can directly talk about your specific situation.
