Sex after Prostate Cancer
Although prostate cancer patients are less likely to lose their lives, they are likely to have decreased sex after prostate cancer. Due to the advanced treatment options available these days , prostate cancer survival rate has soared. The disease is no longer considered life threatening and, consequently, a patient's most common concern now relates to sex after prostate cancer. Even with many advanced aids to help men preserve normal ejaculations, most men have a difficult sexual life after prostate cancer treatment. Patients report that sex after prostate cancer is very painful with difficulty in achieving orgasm.
Researchers, who had surveyed a large number of patients, said that after prostate surgery and radiation, over 1,200 men were treated for their sexual function. Only 12 percent of the men had satisfactory ejaculations with no medical help while 8 percent had reliable erections by using one of the many erectile dysfunction treatments. Normally, the muscles of the penis relax and are filled with blood during erection till the pressure makes the organ firm. When the blood supply is reduced ,the erection becomes difficult leading to poor sex after prostate cancer.
Sex after Prostate Cancer
Researchers have developed various new and efficient medical treatments for combating erectile dysfunction, to improve sex after prostate cancer. In come patients, sex after prostate cancer can be improved by trying certain oral medicines like Viagra or Levitra. Alternative techniques use drugs that are injected into the penis or the use of vacuum pumps that create erection. Also inflatable penile prostheses are surgically implanted to improve erectile dysfunction.
The journey to sexual recovery can begin with four simple steps - health, help, patience and an involved partner.
Three factors are involved for determining the quality of sex after prostate surgery:
(a) AGE- the younger the patient of the prostate cancer, the greater are the chances of preserving potency.
(b) ARTISTRY - It depends on the skill of the surgeon how many nerves are saved while operating. Saving of nerves can preserve erectile functioning.
(c) ANXIETY AND SELF-ESTEEM - Anxiety and self- esteem are psychological factors which help achieve and maintain an erection.
The treatment should involve consultation with a urologist , a sex therapist and a counselor. Satisfactory sex after prostate cancer can be regained with patience and the help of a partner.