Taking Care of You: Understanding Sexual Dysfunction
This post is part of our Taking Care Of You series in partnership with HelloFlo and VProud’s Master Classes. Master Classes were born out of the belief that all women should have access to vetted health and parenting information via doctors and experts, rather than search engines. This post contains affiliate links.
Isn’t it funny how as teenagers, all we can think and talk about is SEX? Then we grow up and sex is the last topic we discuss with our friends, especially when we have a committed partner. Sex for a woman can be exciting, fun and enjoyable; but it can also be scary, a hassle and worst of all, painful. When it becomes the latter, VProud.tv’s HelloFlo Understanding Sexual Dysfunction online course provides you the tools to move sex from dysfunction back to fun.
I was a woman who loved sex, anytime, anywhere . . . until my partner and I struggled with infertility. I had to schedule sex, record temperatures, take oral medications, administer shots in the bottom and stomach, as well as endure many medical procedures exploring my lady parts. With all that monitoring, my libido went cold and never regained its heat again. For me, the anxiety of sex for the purpose of conception was so great that sometimes I failed to perform even when my partner and I were trying to have sex just for fun. Even after succeeding at conception and delivering a baby, fun sex was still a challenge for me. I found Dr. Jessica Shepard’s discussion intriguing because I knew I needed to address not only the anxieties I had from our infertility issues but also my post-baby physical changes.
What I loved about the five piece video series is that they are short and casual, a total of 35 minutes on her couch. Dr. Shepard, who was featured on Dr. Oz and Doctor Radio, creates a woman-to-woman conversation about sex that we might be having with our friends on how to have healthy sexual relationships. She talks about how sex can become uncomfortable, painful and stressful and provides suggestions on how to address each issue. I never realized that it can take up to one year postpartum before your physical body can feel the same sexually and that some women will not feel 100% the same after giving birth. I also didn’t realize that perimenopausal or menopausal women could take antidepressants to increase their sexual desires.
Even if my friends and I were discussing our sex lives like teenagers, I feel more confident listening to Dr. Shepard, who is a Board Certified OB/GYN, as she discusses the female anatomy and psychology and how that relates to my sexual prowess. Dr. Shepard shares the reasons behind sexual dysfunctions, the ways to identify them and how to fix the common areas of concerns. Her medically-based conversations are easy to follow and helpful for any partner struggling with female sexual dysfunction.This $20 educational couch-to-couch discussion provides so much detail to help you figure out why you might be missing the mark when it comes to lighting the fire down under and enjoying a healthy sex life. You can also share Dr. Shepard’s knowledge and advice with your partner so they, too, can understand why and how you might struggle under the sheets.
