‘I don’t get a climax any more at all’: Pleasure and non-traumatic spinal cord damage (original) (raw)
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Spinal Cord, 2022
STUDY DESIGN: A qualitative, semi-structured interview design. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify, from the perspective of people living with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), the primary psychosocial barriers and facilitators that impact on their sexual function and sexual satisfaction post-injury. SETTING: Community-dwelling sample of people with SCI in England, United Kingdom METHODS: Semi-structured interviews with twenty people with SCI (15 males; 5 females) were conducted using an 8-item interview schedule. Inductive thematic analysis was undertaken of verbatim transcripts coded using Braun and Clarke's (2021) six phases of thematic analysis. RESULTS: Six inductive themes were generated, collectively describing the psychosocial barriers and facilitators impacting on sexual function and satisfaction post-SCI: (1) Internalising societal views and stigmatisation; (2) Diminished sexual confidence; (3) Navigating communication; (4) Managing relationship dynamics; (5) Lack of sexual support provision; and (6) Intervention development recommendations. CONCLUSION: Sexual function and satisfaction are highly challenging areas of rehabilitation for males and females living with SCI. Increased efforts are needed to educate others in society to overcome the negative stereotypical attitudes obstructing acceptance of sex despite disability. Countering sexual stigmatisation for people with SCI would facilitate growth in sexual confidence. Techniques to enhance interpersonal sexual communication and involve the partner/spouse in regaining mutual sexual satisfaction are foundational. The current study highlighted key outpatient-based recommendations for intervention development, clarifying primary targets for future SCI-focused sexual therapeutic work.
Sexuality and Disability, 2017
Sexuality is an important priority for people following spinal cord damage (SCD), due to the impact on sensory and motor function, including paralysis and associated mobility restrictions. Men living with SCD report difficulty in achieving and maintaining erection, impaired capacity for orgasm (with or without ejaculation), and increased likelihood of retrograde ejaculation as significant challenges for sexuality. The implications of these issues for men following non-traumatic SCD (spinal cord dysfunction or SCDys) has not been examined. Drawing on interviews with eight heterosexual men following SCDys, this paper seeks to examine the factors that impact sexual satisfaction. Due to a focus on coitus and the significance of erectile function in this, most participants reported dissatisfaction with their sexuality post-SCD. However, this could be overcome through expanding their sexual repertoires. Through providing information and education about non-coitus focused expressions of sexuality, there is scope for sexual rehabilitation services to significantly increase the quality of life of men after SCDys.
Spinal Cord, 1990
Changes in different aspects of sexuality were investigated and related to overall quality of life and physical, psychological and social adjustment in 73 SCI subjects, who were sexually active both before and after injury. Items on sexual interest and satisfaction were treated as one composite variable, the SIS scale, measuring sexual adjustment after injury. Despite severe genital dysfunction, more than half of the subjects (57%) rated their sexual relations after injury as satisfying or at least rather satisfying. The majority continued having intercourse, although many of them more seldom than before, and about half experienced orgasm. Sexual adjustment after injury was closely and positively correlated to frequency of intercourse, willingness to experiment with alternative sexual expressions and young age at injury. Physical and social independence and a high mood level were further positive determinants of sexual adaptation after injury, whereas the neurological level and completeness of injury showed no significant correlation with sexuality. It is suggested that sexual information and counselling should be integrated in the total care of the SCI patient to reduce the negative effects on sexuality, caused by the lnJury.
| (2020) Examining the psychological and emotional experience of sexuality for men after spinal cord injury, Cogent Psychology, 7:1, 1722355 To link to this article: https://doi. Abstract: Sexual rehabilitation for men after spinal cord injury (SCI) has focused on physical challenges and has neglected psychosocial factors. Utilizing a descriptive phenomenological approach, the lived psychological experience of sexuality was described for six men (age 24-49) with complete or incomplete SCI (C4-T12; <1 year to 29 years post-injury) who participated in one in-depth, standardized, open-ended interview (68-101 minutes). Participants described the emergence of a new perspective of sexuality placing less emphasis on any one physical act and more importance on emotional factors. Understanding the evolving meaning of sexuality for men after SCI is imperative for delivering effective sexual health information.
An evaluation of the factors that affect the sexual satisfaction of people with spinal cord injuries
The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2019
Objective: To evaluate the relationships between the variables that affect the sexual satisfaction of patients with spinal cord injuries. Design: Descriptive and cross-sectional survey. Setting: The physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Turkey. Participants: This study was performed from July to December2018. It included 103 patients with spinal cord injuries. Outcome Measures: The data were collected using an introductory information form, the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale and the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction. Data were evaluated using the chi-square test, the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis test and linear regression. Results: The total mean scores on the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction were 40.2 ± 21.6 for males and 44.9 ± 18.1 for females. According to the linear regression analysis, model VII presented the best results of the relationship between physiological and psychological determinants that affect the sexual satisfaction of patients with spinal cord injuries. Model VII consisted of the variables of ASIA A and B scores, age, injury due to falling from height, being a housewife, and thinking of being unable to reach future goals. These explained 75.4% of the variation in sexual satisfaction scores. Conclusion: The participants' mean scores on the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction were found to be affected by various variables. A significant relationship between their mean scores on the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale and the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction was determined.
If not the Disability, then what? Barriers to Reclaiming Sexuality Following Spinal Cord Injury
Sexuality and Disability, 2006
Human sexuality has been medicalized and largely reduced to its physical components. This has led to a focus on the performative part of sexuality, and to a lack of interest in its social component. Men with spinal cord injury often report an unsatisfying sexual life, with limited chances to express their sexuality. This study shows that sociocultural barriers may be as disabling as physical impairment. The participants of this qualitative study felt that several barriers compromised their right to a satisfying sexual life, including certain social beliefs and attitudes (e.g. social disapproval and exclusive notion of sexuality), lack of employment, inappropriate personal assistance and inaccessibility among others. Impairment per se was not viewed as a barrier, since the new situation assumed status of normality. It is suggested that changes in education as well as the removal of physical barriers may positively influence societal attitudes and make sexuality more “accessible” to disabled people.
"Don't Think Paralysis Takes Away Your Womanhood": Sexual Intimacy After Spinal Cord Injury
The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association
Sexuality and intimacy are important components of health and well-being. Issues surrounding sexuality and intimacy are equally important for men and women living with physical disabilities, including spinal cord injury (SCI). Yet, women's sexuality after SCI remains largely unexamined. This article presents the findings from an in-depth qualitative investigation of the sexual and reproductive health experiences of 20 women with SCI in or around Detroit, MI. Findings echo existing literature documenting the sexual consequences of life after SCI and suggest new areas of inquiry important for better addressing sexual concerns across the lifespan. Specifically, findings suggest a need to consider the variable effects of SCI on sexual intimacy in relation to a person's developmental trajectory, the appropriate timing of sexual education, the need to expand conceptualizations of sexual intimacy, and the ways SCI may affect sexuality in later life.
Sexual Health and Women Living With Spinal Cord Injury: The Unheard Voice
Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences
Women's sexual health within the context of sexual function and psychosocial dimensions while living with a spinal cord injury (SCI) has rarely been discussed separately from men living with a SCI or from a collective with other chronic conditions. To date, over 64,000 women in the U.S. are currently living with SCI, with total numbers increasing each year, as well as the demographics shifting to include more diversity in race and incidences occurring later in life. On average, SCI tends to be acquired during the childbearing years (~30–50 years old), as well as when women experience other health concerns associated with aging, including perimenopause and menopause. Additionally, women's sexual health is often conceptualized from the position of the absence of disease and dysfunction. However, consistent with definitions furthered by the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Association of Sexual Health (WAS), we believe women's sexual health is multifaceted, moving ...