3 Tips for Safe Intimate Relationships When Undergoing Chemotherapy

Contents:

Medical Video: Skills for Healthy Romantic Relationships | Joanne Davila | TEDxSBU

Sexual relationships are included in the natural needs of every sexually active person. However, there are some things that make you and your partner become hesitant to do so, for example because one of them is undergoing a chemotherapy process that tends to cause side effects. As a result, you fear this will affect the quality of your sexual relationship and your partner. Is it safe to have sex after chemotherapy? Check out the following review thoroughly.

What are the effects of chemotherapy?

It becomes commonplace for men or women with cancer to lose interest in sexual activity during cancer treatment. The reason is that they tend to feel nausea, vomiting, pain, fatigue, or depression, which makes them reluctant to have sex.

For women, the effect of chemotherapy does not really affect their sexual ability. However, for men chemotherapy can make testosterone levels decrease even though this is very rare. This is because the chemotherapy process can affect the nerves that control the erection so that you will have difficulty maintaining an erection.

In addition, anxiety in people with cancer tends to be felt because of thinking about so many things. For example, worry about cancer treatment, confused about financial management, or how the family responds to disease. Things like this can cause stress that affect a person's sex drive. Although this is only a temporary time, it is important to talk to your partner about how you feel.

Is it safe to have sex after chemotherapy?

There are many reasons that people with cancer are reluctant to have sex, especially after undergoing the chemotherapy process. One of them is the assumption that having sex after chemotherapy can cause some cancer cells to move to your partner. In fact, this is only myth mere. Cancer cannot be transmitted through sex or in any way, even most cancers have nothing to do with your sex life.

You can still reach orgasm during sex even though you are undergoing chemotherapy. Because, touch and sexual desire is needed by cancer patients so that they feel loved and increase their confidence. At the time of orgasm, endorphins are released to reduce stress and pain that is felt after undergoing the chemotherapy process.

In short, having sex after chemotherapy is safe. However, you still need to discuss it with your doctor first. Because, some types of chemotherapy can cause changes in the lining of the vagina which causes the vagina to be more prone to injury when having sex.

Medications in chemotherapy can also come out - even in small amounts - through vaginal or semen fluids, although this is not certain. To provide protection against the possibility, men must wear condoms during chemotherapy treatment for up to two weeks thereafter.

In addition, pregnancy is not recommended during the chemotherapy process. This is because the effects of chemotherapy can damage the DNA of sperm cells and endanger the development of the baby, so that it can make babies born disabled. If the possibility of conception occurs, immediately contact your doctor to choose the right contraceptive for you.

tips for increasing sexual desire

Tips for safe and healthy sex after chemotherapy

Undergoing the chemotherapy process does not mean you have to avoid intimate relationships with your partner. You can still get close to your partner if you are still afraid to have sex. Try to hug, kelonan (cuddling), and kissing to be mutually satisfying without having sex.

If you are already steady for sex, follow these tips to be safe having sex after chemotherapy:

  • Use lubricants to help get comfort during sexual intercourse, because a woman's vagina sometimes becomes dry due to the effects of chemotherapy, making women feel pain during sexual penetration.
  • Use condoms during sexual intercourse, both during oral sex and penetration (penis to vagina). Because, chemotherapy can be excreted in semen for 48-72 hours after treatment. This aims to prevent your partner from being affected by chemotherapy.
  • Be sure to use contraception according to your doctor's advice to avoid all possibilities. For example, if you have breast cancer, it's best to avoid birth control pills because the hormones in them can affect the development of cancer in your body.
3 Tips for Safe Intimate Relationships When Undergoing Chemotherapy
Rated 4/5 based on 2443 reviews
💖 show ads