5 Simple Tips to Manage Your Sexual Life With Chronic Pain

You can have a happy and fulfilling relationship despite having a chronic pain condition. Keep in mind that true conversation is the basis for intimacy. You should discuss your sentiments with your partner, including what you miss and what you want or need from the relationship. Any partnership must make an effort to keep what is working and adjust what needs to be changed. You might learn something new about your partner as a result of your efforts to become closer to them. It's possible that your bond will become stronger than it did before you had to deal with chronic pain.

Here are five practical suggestions for preserving closeness while managing chronic pain.

1. Using a medical professional's services

The degree of discomfort or the use of specific painkillers can directly impact sexual intimacy. Some drugs may alter hormones and blood flow, which may have an impact on libido. If pain prevents intimacy, talking to a pain management doctor about adjusting medication dosage to lower pain levels can assist. Another drug with fewer negative effects on libido might also be suggested by a medical professional.

2. Offer suggestions for positions

It is advised to choose positions that relieve pressure on the painful area and use pillows to support it for patients whose pain is aggravated by particular positions and postures. It is frequently noticed that a side-to-side position or a sitting position tends to cause less pain for some female patients with pelvic pain. Because people prefer to have sex the same way for the entirety of their lives, one advantage of utilizing pillows for support is that occasionally a patient will discover new places of the body that are aroused.

The typical advice is to try to use more hips and knees rather than the spine for patients who want to have spine-sparing sex.

3. Managing relapses

It is best to have a strategy for handling flare-ups of pain if they occur after sex because doing so lowers your concern about them. Flare-ups of pain are a regular aspect of living with persistent pain. In order for your partner to comprehend what you are doing, it is ideal that you also tell them. A pain flare-up strategy can include things like taking a hot bath, taking painkillers, applying an ice pack, stretching, and reminding yourself that the flare-up will pass.

Set realistic goals and realize that improving your self-image takes time and does not happen instantly. However, you will get closer to your goal with each small victory.

4. Determining what causes sexual dysfunction

Sexuality is impacted by chronic pain on various levels. The simplest form of discomfort can prevent sexual activity. A 31-year-old journalist from Seattle who blogs about her daily migraines claims that her head discomfort frequently makes sex uncomfortable. Intimacy can be severely hampered by headaches, despite the cliché. In a brief National Headache Foundation poll conducted in 2007, 69% of participants reported they had postponed having sex because of a headache.

5. Try some kinds of therapies

Some doctors start their treatment for chronic pain with a set of manipulations to help loosen up tight muscles that are causing pain. Since joints are relieved of pressure when muscles are flexible, movement is easier and less painful.

Chiropractic adjustments are an excellent approach to ease pain and maintain flexibility in the body. Your muscles and joints can function more easily if your spine is aligned. Your body will be less physically constrained, allowing you to move while in discomfort.

Psychotherapists can spot issues that a pain specialist would overlook, such as sexual dysfunction and other comorbidities (such as depression, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders) that need to be treated in order to manage pain effectively.

It's important to note that other drugs can also lead to sexual dysfunction. Antidepressants, blood pressure medications, and drugs to control excessive cholesterol are frequently prescribed to patients with chronic pain; these treatments can potentially impair sexual performance. Ensure that you can reach the doctors who are prescribing these drugs.