February 03, 2023
Treatment for a tumor can disrupt intimate and sexual life. Let’s take stock on the occasion of World Cancer Day, organized this February 4.
Cancer impacts intimate, emotional and sexual life. Important topic in terms of quality of life as cancer today affects 1 in 5 men and 1 in 6 women worldwide.
Stress, treatment, pain
Different factors come into play:
– “The stress, apprehensions and uncertainties caused by the announcement of cancer and the daily experience of the disease, lead to a drop in libido”, underlines Sébastien Landry, sex therapist specialized in oncology in Le Mans, and author of the book “Cancer and sexuality, if we spoke regarding it! », ;
– Body modifications such as “Muscle wasting, reconstruction of a breast, scars, hair loss, and their psychological repercussions, also hinder self-confidence and the ability to seduce” ;
– “Pain or fatigue” remove our propensity to relax, to do ourselves good and to provide pleasure to others;
– The effects of treatments such as “chemotherapy, radiotherapy or hormone therapy known to decrease libido”. In men, these therapies reduce muscle tone and blood flow to the penis. “Erectile function is impacted. » In women, successive chemotherapy sessions lower the concentration of estrogen, hormones particularly involved in the mechanism of vaginal lubrication. Intercourse with penetration can therefore “become complicated and painful”.
Supportive care and sexology
Taking care of your libido is not as ridiculous as it seems. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sexual health is indeed described as “fundamental for the health and general well-being of individuals and couples”. So what solutions are available to patients and their spouses? “Supportive care is good support for the patient and the couple”, replies Sébastien Landry. Sexology sessions are thus integrated into this non-drug treatment.
Oils, vaginal dilators, vacuum
These consultations allow you to put words, alone or as a couple, on the impact of cancer on sex life. “ In consultation, I see as many men as women.describes Sébastien Landry. “Many suffer from gynecological and urogenital cancers”, affecting the sexual organs (breast, prostate, testicle, vagina, uterus, etc.), in their functioning and/or their appearance. This follow-up is also a good way to access information on sex life and cancer. “By being more aware, patients feel less deprived, more prepared for changes in their routine and consequently have a lower tendency to devalue themselves”testifies Sébastien Landry.
These sexology sessions are accessible as soon as the diagnosis is announced, and during the follow-up. Nevertheless “Most of my patients come in the post-cancer phase, when the impact on their intimate life is already well established. With the end of the protocols, they indeed often expect their libido to return to how it was before, but that’s often when all the fatigue can come out, and we often see buried emotions go back up “. Without counting “the anxiety of performance, the fear of resuming a sexual life but also the fear of the recurrence of cancer” which largely occupy the minds “thus generating blockages of a sexual nature”.
In sexology sessions, in addition to speaking, concrete applications are given: “advice on masturbation to stimulate sexual function, the use of specific oils to facilitate lubrication, vaginal dilators for women to help relax vaginal tissues, and a vacuum* for men”supports Sébastien Landry. “The objective is to re-educate the musculature of the perineum in both men and women. »
*the vacuum is a pump that is placed on the penis to create an air vacuum and increase the blood flow to the penis
-
Source : National League once morest Cancer., site consulted in January 2023. Cancer and sexuality, if we talked regarding it!, Sébastien Landry, La Ligue contre le Cancer, Editions in press, 135 pages, 17.50 euros
-
Written by : Laura Bourgault – Edited by: Emmanuel Ducreuzet
