If you want to have a sizzling sex life, take a good look at how healthy the other aspects of your life are, experts say.
And remember, you're never too young to make changes in your lifestyle that will promote health and vigor, says Maria Ordonez, MD, urological surgeon at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Medical Center in New York City.
"Taking care of yourself in your 20s, 30s and 40s can benefit your sex life for years to come," she explains.
Here are some good health practices that can promote a satisfying sex life.
1. Keep track of your sexual partners. You need to know if you might have acquired a sexually transmitted disease (STD) so you can get treatment and also alert any partners who you could have potentially infected. "A sexual history is an important part of a person's medical history," says Franklin Lowe, MD, of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. If you're a man who's contracted an STD at some point, it can cause problems with erection. Some STDs can be asymptomatic for awhile but cause issues later on, so keep track.
2. Practice safe sex by using condoms. This is your best protection - besides having a monogamous relationship with someone you know who does not have an STD.
3. Avoid tobacco, excessive alcohol, and recreational drugs. All can lead to erectile dysfunction in a man, a condition that grows increasingly common as men age. Up to 40% of men have ED to some degree after the age of 40, Lowe says. Smoking, taking drugs and drinking too much all can lead to both short-term and long-term ED.
4. Schedule regular checkups at the doctor. Men don't need to be running to a urologist annually for a check of his testosterone level, but they should see their health care provider for an annual physical. And women should definitely be seen annually by a gynecologist for appropriate screening tests, Dabney says.
5. Women should pay close attention to undergarments, and this means wearing cotton underwear and avoiding thongs, Dabney says. Scented panty liners are a no-no, too. "Some clothing that women wear is really quite irritating to the vaginal area," she says. "When a woman comes into my office and complains about pain during sex, the first question I ask is what kind of underwear she has on." Another potential irritant: soaps. Wash the area with a very mild soap and avoid washing clothes with harsh detergents.
6. To prevent vaginal dryness, consider vaginal lubricants when you are breastfeeding and once you reach menopause. Women generally are much more complicated than men when it comes to intimacy, Dabney says, and there's really no female equivalent of Viagra. "There tend to not be simple fixes for women who complain of low libido," she says. "But if dryness is causing significant pain during intercourse, this is easy to fix." There is a tremendous variety of vaginal creams and jellies on the market, as well as estrogen rings that can be inserted into the vagina. Worried that they could have an adverse effect on health? Don't be, Dabney says.
"The dose of estrogen in an estrogen ring is much lower than you would get from oral hormone replacement therapy and it is absorbed directly into the vagina," she says. "These are very effective at treating vaginal dryness." Once intercourse is pain-free, it's more likely that a woman will enjoy sex much more, Dabney explains.
