Does Your Sex Life Change After a Hysterectomy?

Many women often wonder if it's safe to have sex after a hysterectomy. So is it safe to have sex after you have had a hysterectomy? Though it sounds like a funny question to ask, it's actually a reasonable one.

The answer: an unqualified yes. A hysterectomy will not prevent you from having intercourse if the mood should strike. In fact, a woman who has undergone the procedure may find one of two things occurs in her sex life:

• First, she may have the same sex life as she had before the surgery.
• Second, her sex life may improve over the sex life she had before the surgery.

Advantages and Disadvantages to Your Hysterectomy

A hysterectomy comes with several advantages and disadvantages. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having the surgical procedure?

For one, surgery is often performed to lessen a woman's pain and discomfort. It's performed for women who may have abnormalities as well. If you are a woman who has heavy bleeding along with pain and pressure, your hysterectomy should lessen any pain you feel during sex.

How so? When you have a hysterectomy, the uterine contractions that typically occur when you have an orgasm are gone because the uterus has been removed. If the orgasm occurred with pain, the hysterectomy eliminates the contractions that were felt.

Hysterectomy and Sex Studies

When looking at studies that were completed by the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and doctors Scott Goodwin and Michael Broder, it was concluded that a woman's sex life after a hysterectomy either remained the same as her sex life before the hysterectomy or improved dramatically. That means a hysterectomy gave no adverse effects on a woman's sex life especially once she was given information about the side effects or the hormonal imbalance.

Changing Your Position For Your Comfort Level

If you've had a hysterectomy that required your vagina to be shorter, it's highly probable that you'll experience some discomfort with sex. One way to reduce the pain you feel is to take the reins and get on top. This way, you are able to control how much penetration you can handle.

You should know that deep penetration in the first few months causes temporary discomfort. However, changing up positions and angling the penetration can deal this with problem.

Adequate Surgical Heal Time

Like any other surgery, it's best to wait up to six weeks before resuming sexual activity. While the vagina is somewhat shortened after the hysterectomy, it will stretch as you continue to have sex.

Hormones Affect Sex

Author Dr. John R Lee concluded that a woman's lack of certain hormones could affect sex once she has had a hysterectomy. For instance, her progesterone levels will fall within two months because of the lack of ovulation. Progesterone levels that have dropped off increase a woman's risk to developing particular types of cancer including endometrial cancer.

When a woman's testosterone levels drop, she has a high chance for developing several problems, including:

• Depression
• Low energy levels
• Low sex drive
• Thyroid deficiency

To have normal testosterone levels, a woman needs an adequate level of progesterone. Estrogen levels can drop in a couple of years after the surgery, which can lead to the following:

• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Vaginal dryness