Sexual Health (General)
Make Time for Intimacy in your Relationship
Posted by
admin 1 November, 2008
(1) Comment
If you are married, be sure to make time for intimacy in your relationship. Sex is a great stress reducer and keeps a marriage happy. Sex is healthy act that should be enjoyed.
Categories : Health, Men's Health, Men's Sexual Health, Sexual Health (General), Tips and Advices, Women's Health
Breast Exams
Posted by
admin 1 November, 2008
(1) Comment
Make sure you conduct regular breast examines. This can quickly and painlessly be done during your shower or lying down when going to bed. Contact your primary physician or gynecologist for a free pamphlet showing the proper way this is done. Taking proactive steps could save your life.
Categories : Sexual Health (General), Tips and Advices, Women's Health
Sex and Heart Disease
Posted by
admin 12 August, 2008
(0) Comment
Men with heart disease face exceptional challenges to their sexuality. Distressing pain and other symptoms make it difficult to feel comfortable, much less sexually aroused. Many men with heart disease are afraid to have sex because they and their partner fear that the increased physical exertion could cause chest pain or even another heart attack. But most men with heart problems can have sex without causing any physical problems. Talking to your doctor about such a delicate subject can be uncomfortable, but you need to find out what your limits are. Even if your heart condition is so serious it restricts your ability to have intercourse, you still can be affectionate and intimate with your partner in other ways. For example, you could bring your partner to orgasm using your hand or mouth. Remember that heart disease should never prevent you from having a loving and caring relationship with your partner.
Categories : Heart, Blood, and Circulation, Sexual Health (General)
The Effects of Alcohol on Your Sexual Performance
Posted by
admin 8 August, 2008
(0) Comment
Social drinking lowers your inhibitions and may make you feel more ready to have sex, but too much alcohol can actually impair your sexual function. Alcohol is neither an aphrodisiac nor a stimulant. It is a central nervous system depressant that slows down your responses, making it harder to get an erection or to ejaculate. Drinking alcohol also can impair your judgment, making you less likely to practice safer sex.
But the sexual problems that can arise after having a few drinks are mild compared with the effects of chronic alcoholism on your body. Alcoholism can obstruct the blood supply to the nerves in the penis, resulting in erectile dysfunction. The liver damage caused by alcohol can increase the levels of the female hormone estrogen and lower the levels of the male hormone testosterone in your body, leading to breast enlargement, shrunken testicles, and a reduced sperm count.
If you have a problem getting or maintaining an erection and you think it may be related to excessive alcohol consumption, cut back on your drinking for a few weeks to see if your ability to have an erection improves. You need to get help for your drinking problem. Ask your doctor what kind of alcohol-treatment programs are in your community, or call the local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Categories : Sexual Health (General)
Learning to Be a Lover
Posted by
admin 1 August, 2008
(0) Comment
Understanding your and your partner’s sexual bodies reminds you that lovers are made, not born. Your ability to enjoy sex and make sex enjoyable for your partner is dependent on your confidence, comfort, awareness, psychosexual skills, sensitivity, imagination, and ability to communicate—all of which are a matter of learning and experience. You can increase your potential as a lover and learn how truly satisfying sex can be if you transform performance-oriented sex to pleasure-oriented sex. Sexuality integrates feelings about you as a man—including your body image, physical well-being, attitudes, emotions, behavior, values, and—most important—your relationship. Base your sexual expectations solidly on knowledge about your body while remembering that, at its essence, sexuality is an interpersonal process.
Categories : Sexual Health (General)
Responsive Sexual Desire: A New Model of Female Sexuality
Posted by
admin 1 August, 2008
(0) Comment
Both men and women follow a similar physiological arousal sequence, although the psychological and relationship factors are somewhat different. Basson (2002) has found that in committed, long-term relationships, women’s sexual desire becomes more integrated into her psychological system. In the beginning phase of a new relationship, romantic love and passionate sex lead to easy sexual response for many women, but in a long-term relationship (after one or more years), increased distractions and fatigue lead to a different kind of sexual desire pattern.
In this model of female desire and sexual response, women have a lower biological urge for the release of sexual tension than men. Orgasm is not necessary for satisfaction and does not need to occur at each sexual encounter. Basson proposes that women’s sexual desire is often a responsive rather than a spontaneous event, greatly influenced by subjective psychological excitement. While a man’s sexual desire may be energized by physical drive, typically a woman’s sexual desire develops from her receptivity to gentle, relaxed sensual touching and/or playful, teasing touching. This touching leads to sexual desire and continues to emotional closeness, sensuality, genital stimulation, arousal, and eroticism. Sexual desire develops after initial sensual contact.
Healthy female sexual response in an established relationship often begins in sexual neutrality, but sensing an opportunity to be sexual, the partner’s desire, or an awareness of potential benefits that are important to her and their relationship (emotional closeness, bonding, love, affection, healing, acceptance, commitment), she elects to seek sensual contact and stimulation. With beginning arousal, she may become aware at that time of a desire to continue the experience for sexual reasons and experience heightened arousal, which may or may not include wanting orgasm. This brings her a sense of physical well-being with added benefits such as emotional closeness, love, affection, and acceptance. This model acknowledges that for men sexual desire may be more biologically driven, whereas for women it is more psychological and relational. Advertising appreciates this: consider the billboard ad for a five-star hotel that shows an attractive couple smiling at each other over dinner with the caption: “Gentlemen: We do for her what lingerie does for you.” Too oft en, men mistakenly believe that sexual performance is more important than emotional intimacy for women. Most women in fact value your presence, touch, and shared closeness.
Categories : Sexual Health (General)
The Myth of Pen!s Size and Female Anatomy
Posted by
admin 1 August, 2008
(0) Comment
One reason to get your facts straight about male sexual anatomy and physiology is that this has been so dominated by superstition and misinformation. Men stubbornly perpetuate pen!s myths because they are afraid to challenge self-defeating sexual folklore of what it means to be a “real man.” A destructive myth that continues to exert a powerful negative influence in spite of scientifically established fact concerns pen!s size. Pen!s size differences (or, more precisely, perceived differences) are the basis of an enormous amount of male anxiety. It is true that there are differences in the flaccid size of the pen!s, but that has little to do with pen!s size or sexual functioning in the erect state. The average pen!s is from two and a half to four inches in the flaccid state and from five and a half to six and a half inches when erect. The diameter is about one inch flaccid and one and a half inches when erect. It is more meaningful to say a normal pen!s is of proper size to function during intercourse. This definition includes almost all men.
Interestingly, three out of four men believe that their pen!ses are smaller than average, which illustrates how the performance machine model dominates male sexuality, leaving men to feel anxious and insecure. Psychological and relational health is promoted by adopting a positive body image, which includes accepting your pen!s. Remember, solid scientific evidence demonstrates that there is no relationship between pen!s size and sexual desire or response for either the man or the woman. Most women say it is not the size but how you make love that is important.
A related myth is that a large pen!s results in the woman being orgasmic during intercourse. This is based on the mistaken belief that the vagina is the woman’s major sex organ. In truth, the woman’s most sensitive genital organ is her clitoris—a small, cylindrical organ located at the top of the vaginal opening where it joins with the labia (“lips” of the vagina). The clitoris has a multitude of nerve endings—like the glans of your pen!s, only concentrated in a much smaller area. It is the focal point of her physical sexual pleasure. Most women prefer indirect clitoral stimulation, whether with your hand, tongue, or pen!s.
During intercourse, the clitoris is stimulated by the pulling and rubbing action caused by pelvic thrusting—stimulation that is independent of pen!s size. The vagina, which is in contact with the pen!s, has fewer nerve endings, most of which are in the outer third. Moreover, the vagina is an active rather than a passive organ, which means that the vagina swells and expands with a woman’s arousal to engage the pen!s and can adjust to the pen!s whatever its size. It usually takes 10 to 20 minutes of pleasuring (foreplay) for the vagina to fully expand. If a couple is rushing to intercourse, the man mistakenly thinks that his pen!s is too small because the vagina does not feel snug. The remedy is enjoying pleasurable touch and genital stimulation before intercourse to allow her body and vagina to reach the plateau stage of arousal. Sexual incompatibility based on the couple’s genitals is, with extremely rare exceptions, a myth.
Categories : Sexual Health (General)
Society’s Understanding of Sex
Posted by
admin 1 August, 2008
(0) Comment
A society’s understanding of sex is influenced by its level of logical and scientific thinking. There has been a fascinating mix of superstitions, ignorance, and sloppy science surrounding sexuality throughout the centuries. For example, Greeks worshiped the male penis as an icon for protection, fertility, and power and even built a 15-foot erect phallus out of stone on a fancy pedestal on the Isle of Delos. To protect their property, Romans marked it with statues of the Trickster, a devious little charm with a major erection. In the Spring, young nubile girls would dance around a maypole to invoke nature’s fertility. And how to explain women’s sexual attractiveness to men? During the Inquisition in Europe, attractive women were viewed as possessed by the devil, given their power over men. A scientific, legal evaluation of the time was to weigh the suspected woman’s breasts in the evening and then in the morning, and if they weighed less, she was thought to have had sex during the night with the devil.
When mentally ill people were hospitalized in Europe in the mid-1850s, the frequency of boys and young men masturbating was misinterpreted by the doctors as the cause of mental illness or mental retardation. Devices were invented in the mistaken effort to prevent what we now know to be healthy nocturnal erections and wet dreams. One device placed electrical wires around the penis to ring a bell in case of erection. The wires made contact in order to awaken him and thereby prevent erection or wet dreams. A less humane device involved a leather strap with needles embedded that would prick the penis when it swelled. One can only imagine the harm caused to young boys by these misguided, unhealthy practices. Yet we should be humble in our judgments of those cultures and professionals. Some of our current sloppy sexual science likely will not stand the test of time.
Categories : Sexual Health (General)
Variations in Sexual Behaviors
Posted by
admin 1 August, 2008
(0) Comment
Throughout history, there is evidence of a variety of sexual behaviors but with a wide range of societal acceptance or condemnation. For example, monogamy was often the norm, yet in other phases, polygamy was not uncommon. Similarly, same-sex relationships have long been condemned, but at times have been tolerated, and in some societies were considered important for male bonding. Societies and periods fluctuate in acceptance of fidelity and condemnation of affairs. Prostitution is consistently part of societies, varying in acceptance or condemnation. Multiple-partner sex has occurred in most eras. Sex between adult and child is almost always condemned, although there are periods where it was common. Until relatively recently, children’s sex education occurred by living life in the family, observing animals, and sleeping in a one-room house with parents and siblings. From the earliest records of humanity, there are cave drawings of humans and animals having sex (zoophilia). Other variant sexual behaviors are also evident in different cultures—exhibitionism, voyeurism, sadomasochism.
The message from human history is that (a) sexual behaviors are prevalent, extensive, and variable; (b) amidst this variety is evidence that societies struggled to make sense of and regulate sexual behaviors; (c) many periods idealized the male and female body (Greek statuary, Hindu mystics, Roman gods, medieval paintings, contemporary models); (d) gender differences ranged from romantic idealization to resentful conflict; and (e) there are fluctuating periods of sexual repression and sexual openness (for example, the openness of the 1960s–1980s in the United States compared with current conservative trends). One consistent societal theme is that sex is a fundamental and powerful human energy, at times viewed as dangerous or even demonic (the medieval Inquisition) and at other times as joyful and spiritual energy (the Christian mystics; the Bible’s Song of Songs, and Hindu mysticism [Kama Sutra]).
Throughout human history, there has been an indisputable association of sex with life’s meaning. For example, the Egyptian mythology of Nut and Ged (earth and sky) have sex to create the firmament. Sexuality permeates man’s cosmology and spirituality—fertility cults, the deities seducing and progenating new gods, the sexual imbued with sacred meaning.
Categories : Sexual Health (General)
Young Adult Sexual Practices
Posted by
admin 31 July, 2008
(0) Comment
The sexual behaviors and experiences of young men are quite varied. Studies of young adult sex practices provide yet another reference point for what men and women do, but be careful to not use these data as a standard for your sexual health. Data give averages, including healthy and unhealthy men, healthy and unhealthy motivations. Nevertheless, the numbers can give you a reference point for understanding your own sexual experiences.
Men have an average of 6 sexual partners in their lifetime; the range is zero to hundreds of partners. What do you think is healthy? Do you think it is healthy to have one sex partner in a lifetime? 6? 20? Is it healthy to have hundreds?
Sexual frequency for men is about 1–2 times a week. Again, this is an average with a range from rare (less than monthly is considered a sexless relationship) to three times a day (among new young couples). About one third have partner sex at least twice a week, a third have partner sex several times a month, and the other third have partner sex a few times a year or have no sex partner. Remember, sexual satisfaction is a function of sharing pleasure and being an intimate team rather than sexual frequency.
Experiencing a sexual dysfunction (like premature ejaculation) is statistically normal—most young men will begin as premature ejaculators or on occasion do not get an erection. Th e issue is how you deal with a sexual problem. If you panic and overreact, you will unintentionally set up subsequent performance pressures that will make the sexual problem more severe and chronic.
Physically healthy men will enjoy lifelong sexual function.
Categories : Sexual Health (General)
