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1Hey Guys!!
I thought Dr.Simran was a gynecologist. But i guess she's a therapist too and now all of a sudden she seems to be an expert on paralysis. Wish i had that many skills. (I'm in Med-school and believe me this would be a dream come true for any doctor).😊
I found this very enlightning article on net:
by Vida Jurisic
"Sex is something you do, sexuality is something you are."
-- Anna Freud
Although sexual adjustment of some kind is a fact of life for many persons with disabilities, frank discussion about sexuality and disability still remains a profoundly personal and sensitive topic. One reason is that sex (which has come to mean sexual intercourse) and sexuality (which embraces the whole self) are very often merged in people's minds. Such confused thinking can easily produce the "you're as good as your sexual performance" syndrome.
Another reason is that not enough health professionals have integrated sex education and counselling into their personal practice or rehabilitation setting. To be successful, rehabilitation must address people's physical, emotional and social needs. Getting the facts about the sexual implications of your condition is an important part of this process. But so is integrating this knowledge into your relationships with partners, family, health attendants and co-workers. That's where some people could use support from health professionals.
Just how well is the health profession doing with respect to sex education and counselling in rehabilitation programs? A recent study by Mitchell S. Tepper, M.P.H., of 458 members of the American National Spinal Cord Injury Association revealed an obvious gap between services needed and services offered in a rehabilitation program. To meet the needs of persons with spinal injury, the study suggested that a program include:
- discussion of sexuality initiated at an early stage;
- a combination of written materials, videos and individual counselling;
- four or more sessions dedicated to topics related to sexuality;
- consultation access to other persons with spinal cord injuries who have more sexual experience; and
- the individual's physician being open and available for consultation.
While not all disabilities are the same, the issues remain the same for every person with a disability who has experienced altered sexual function, according to Dr. Michael Barrett, Ph.D., professor of zoology at the University of Toronto and chairperson of the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada (SIECCAN). These issues include sexual desire and response, partnership functions, bowel and bladder functions, fertility and contraception, mobility (positioning, caressing, etc.) and the effects that changes in these things can have on self-image and self-esteem.
Both sexes can have their sexual response altered by some disabling conditions such as spinal cord injury. A study by Meredith E. Drench, M.Ed., P.T., found that men place high value on performance. Any challenge to their sense of sexual adequacy, for example, changes in erection, ejaculation and fertility, can affect basic psychological needs and greatly impede overall adjustments and acceptance of their disability.
Women with cord injuries, on the other hand, adjusted better because they have traditionally placed more value on the intimate interpersonal relationship aspects of sexuality such as tenderness, care and concern. Their genital function loss is also considerably less and therefore these women's sexual adjustment may be easier. Kettl et al., in "Female Sexuality After Spinal Cord Injury", report that women can often experience orgasm after spinal cord injury. Even women with complete spinal injuries may experience a buildup of sexual tension and release that, although different from before their injury, is physically and psychologically satisfying.
It is noteworthy that considerably more research exists on male sexuality after spinal cord injury than on female sexuality. According to Kettl, "the reasons for this are not entirely clear. Since only one in five spinal cord injuries occurs in a woman, this lack of information may reflect a lack of knowledge in a specialized area in a less affected population. However, medicine has ignored sexuality and especially female sexuality far too often and the lack of data concerning female sexuality may simply reflect this overall trend in medicine."
Contrary to well-established myths about persons with disabilities, men and women with spinal cord injury continue to have sexual feelings and can achieve sexual satisfaction depending on the level and extent of injury. For this reason, proper assessment of the injury by medical personnel is very important and a sexual history is helpful.
In the case of men, Drench reports that, generally, the higher the lesion, the greater the likelihood of erection, and the lower the lesion, the greater possibility of ejaculation.
Attaining an erection is not as problematic as having orgasm and ejaculation. Paraplegic women, along with experiencing orgasm, can conceive normally and carry babies to full term, often giving birth through vaginal deliveries. Since fertility is rarely affected, it is important to consider appropriate contraception options.
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