Good spine for a healthy sex life

by Sandra Genest-Boudreau and Christophe O. Alves [email protected]

Sandra Genest-Boudreau is French-Canadian, who graduated from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in 1990 before coming to the Algarve in 2002. She spent 10 years in a house practice in Québec city and two years in Vancouver. She is passionate about adjusting all her patients, particularly children. Christophe Alves graduated from the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic (AECC) Uk, and has a special interest in Sport Chiropractic.

February is the month to celebrate love. For many couples, Valentine’s Day was a special occasion to tell and show their love to each other.

You can have a wonderful time as long as you are feeling good. After a lovely romantic dinner, most lovers may want to finish the evening sharing intimate moments. That is one of the occasions where back pain can be a real intruder in what otherwise would be an enjoyable experience.

Back pain and sex don’t go together very well. Sex is an important part of the intimacy between couples, and when it is disrupted because of back pain, it can become quite frustrating.

Up to 80% of people will suffer an acute episode of back pain in their life. That means that a lot of people have to deal with the effects pain may have on their intimate life.

Love making involves being flexible and comfortable in your body. Most back pain issues are the result of inflammation around the spine.

Pain can come from muscles, ligaments, discs, joint capsules or cartilage, and causes can range from tissues being pulled, strained, stretched or sprained.

Sexual activity can put a lot of strain on an injured spine.

Sexual trouble related to back pain is probably more common than you think. It can affect performance greatly because of pain itself but also because of the irritation to the nervous system that controls sexual functions. In some cases, it can lead to difficulty getting or maintaining an erection.

You can try to maintain a healthy sex life by adapting different positions and taking a different approach to lovemaking. During the recuperation phase, you will need to try different positions.

In general, the person with back pain should be the passive partner when it comes to sexual activity — if you have lower back pain, you might do better on your back.

The best recommendation is to find out the source of the back pain and correct it. Chiropractic care has helped thousands of people recover from nervous system interferences created by spinal misalignments leading to back or neck pain.

Why keep on suffering when you can improve even your love life with proper care?

Remember these few tips to stay healthy:

• Maintain your proper body weight. Being overweight puts a strain on your back muscles

• Avoid smoking

• Maintain a proper posture when standing and sitting; don’t slouch

• Drink water

• Eat a healthy diet

• Keep your spine well adjusted with regular chiropractic check-ups

Dr Sandra and Dr Christophe can be contacted at [email protected] or telephone 282 312 853, 969 397 375 or 913 696 370. Alternatively, visit the Algarve Quiroprática clinic at Quinta das Fontainhas along the EN125 in Pêra

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