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DOCTORSÂ’ ADVICE: Sex keeps urge to merge alive
Regular intercourse, masturbation key to long sex life, Siriraj physicians say
The Nation
July 7, 2005
Regular sex helps prevent sexual dysfunction during old age, and people should engage in more pleasurable sexual activities either with their partners or on their own, sex experts said yesterday.
One in three Thai men aged 60 and up develop erectile dysfunction, the most common form of sexual dysfunction in males, said Dr Anupan Tantiwong, associate professor of Urological Surgery at Siriraj Hospital.
“It’s now or never,” he told the Siriraj Medical Congress in Bangkok yesterday.
The other two most common sexual dysfunctions in males are loss of libido and ejaculation disorder, he said.
Dr Pansak Sugkraroek, sex counsellor and columnist, said having sex regularly is good for older couples.
“Making love is good exercise. It’s tantamount to climbing 20 flights of stairs,” he said.
As the physical structure degenerates, people begin to experience more difficulties in their sex lives and that usually leads to the end of sex and finally sexual dysfunction, Pansak said. ItÂ’s usually the husband who starts having problems, he said.
“When her body is not attractive any more, he then focuses on his own pleasurable climax,” the expert said.
Deteriorating sex lives and relationships among Thai couples is usually caused by poor communications in a society where sex is taboo.
The vagina becomes drier and less elastic when women get older, he said, which makes sexual intercourse painful and uncomfortable, and leads to less sex between partners.
Older people take longer to reach their sexual climax because of the physical changes in their bodies, which causes them to imagine sexual problems and deters them from trying more often.
“But they still have sexual desires,” Pansak said.
Anupan said local research among men and women aged between 60 and 64 found that more than 80 per cent had sexual desires.
Up to a quarter of the respondents aged 80 years or older said they still had sexual urges, Anupan said.
Sexual dysfunction problems usually begin at the menopause period of women and men when physical and chemical changes occur in their 50s.
However, the exception to this occurs with people who have been sexually active, said Prof Dr Rungnirand Praditsuwan, a urologist at Siriraj Hospital.
It was also found that the younger people become sexually active, the longer their sexual function remains, he said.
People seem to regard sexual dysfunction as a manÂ’s problem, but women actually suffer from this problem more because they live longer than their men, he said.
A considerably higher number of females aged 60 and above live alone after their spouses have died.
“Those widows are forced to avoid sex or even masturbation because of norms imposed by society,” he said.
Pansak said widows or women without sexual partners should engage in sexual activities on their own by slightly massaging their G-spot regularly to arouse the fluid that moistens their vagina.
“This is masturbation. But if you want to reach ejaculation, please do it. It’s good for you,” he said.
Women with partners who have problems were advised to consult their doctors and seek counselling to resolve the problems.
“It’s a kind of dual therapy, not an individual problem,” said Prof Dr Phanom Kateman, a psychiatrist at Siriraj.
People with sexual dysfunction can choose from psychological therapy to medicinal treatment depending on what type of problems they have, the doctor said.