What is sexual health?
Many people assume that sexual health means avoiding disease and making wise family planning choices. In reality, however, sexual health encompasses many other topics.
Sexual health begins with an understanding that sexuality is a healthy and natural part of human life. It includes having access to accurate and unbiased sexual education and information. It also involves the ability to enjoy intimacy, sexual satisfaction, and pleasure in a healthy way. It also includes the ability to enjoy sex free from coercion, violence, guilt, and shame.
What topics do sexual health visits cover?
One way to define sexual health is a state of mental, physical, emotional, and social well-being regarding sexuality. This broad view of the topic means that there are various subjects you might like to approach with a trusted medical professional.
Some of the issues you may want to broach with Dr. Khamvongsa, at The Miami Institute for Women's Health, regarding sexual health, include:
- Finding a new birth control option
- Regaining intimacy with a partner after a sexual assault
- Finding ways to enjoy sex under pressure to conceive
- How to avoid sexually transmitted diseases
- Treating an existing sexually transmitted disease
- Painful intercourse
- Determining boundaries when a partner wants to explore new
- LGBTQ issues
You can discuss any topic that applies to your sexual health or sexual education during your appointments.
What can be done to address low libido?
As you move through the phases of life, you may find your sex drive goes up and down. A certain degree of fluctuation is average, but when low libido decreases your sexual satisfaction, it’s time to seek treatment.
Several things can cause low libido in women. The aging process is the primary culprit and involves reduced hormone production. Pregnancy can also reduce your desire for sex, as can certain medications, fatigue, low self-esteem, and a range of medical conditions.
A few treatments can help. In some cases, counseling is the best way to improve your sex drive. For other women, hormone replacement therapy is the right path and works to restore optimal hormonal balance. Lifestyle modifications or changing your medications can also help.
Dr. Khamvongsa is the only Fellow in the South Florida area of the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health and can help evaluate issues of sexual dysfunction, decreased libido, vaginal dryness, painful intercourse.
To learn more about sexual health care, schedule an appointment online or by phone with Dr. Khamvongsa at The Miami Institute for Women's Health. He is the only physician in the South Florida area who is a fellow of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health.
