While sex is a normal healthy part of life, talking about it can
sometimes be a little awkward. Still, if you have medical concerns about
sex, you should talk to your doctor. One of the questions frequently
asked by patients is whether it’s safe to have sex at certain times.
Medically, there are only a few instances where sex should be avoided.
Before a Pap smear
The
Pap smear has improved over the years, but the basic technology still
involves the analysis of individual cells under the microscope. Semen
can make the Pap smear less sensitive, so sex should be avoided the
night before your annual pap smear examination. Honestly, your
gynecologist probably prefers not to encounter semen during an exam, so
it would be courteous to abstain before any pelvic exam.
Unexplained vaginal bleeding or pain
Most
women will experience occasional spotting or twinges of pain with
ovulation, but if you are experiencing persistent pain or bleeding, then
you should avoid from intercourse. Pain during intercourse or bleeding
after intercourse can be signs of abnormalities of the cervix and should
prompt a visit to your provider.
Pregnancy complications
If
your pregnancy is uncomplicated, you can have sex from conception until
your water breaks. If you are having unexplained pain or bleeding, you
should put a halt to bedroom activity until you see your doctor.
Pregnancy complications like placenta previa and preterm labor can be
exacerbated by sex, so intercourse should be avoided in those situations
also.
Postpartum
After both a cesarean
section and vaginal delivery you should abstain from intercourse until
you have seen your provider at your six week postpartum visit and
confirmed that everything has healed normally. Most women will
experience some amount of tearing after a vaginal delivery, and even
patients that are lucky enough to avoid stitches will often have
abrasions on their labia that can be very sensitive. Having intercourse
before the vaginal is completely healed can cause wounds to reopen and
increase the risk of infection, not to mention it hurt like heck.
When you have an infection
If
you are experiencing symptoms of pelvic or vaginal infection such as
foul-smelling discharge, severe vaginal itching, burning, or pelvic
pain, you should avoid sex until you see a doctor. Having sex with a
vaginal infection is not only painful, but can cause the infection to
spread to your pelvic organs and become more severe – and obviously, if
it is a contagious infection you wouldn’t want your partner exposed.
After surgery
Surgical
advances have enabled patients to recover quicker and feel back to
normal much faster than before. However, sometimes even though someone
feels fine, their insides are continuing to heal. With all surgery you
should check with your surgeon on when it would be appropriate to resume
sex.
For the average healthy woman, there aren’t too many
occasions where sex is ill-advised from a medical standpoint. If you are
experiencing pain, bleeding, or have recently had a baby or surgery,
then please abstain. If you have other medical concerns, then please ask
your doctor. While discussing sex might be uncomfortable for some
patients, your gynecologist has likely already had several sexual
discussions that day, maybe even at breakfast, so feel free and discuss
make it fun not embarrassment you are going to like it.
