Is orgasm gone after hysterectomy?
The Board Certified gynecologist that I went to says a hysterectomy is the answer. I have all my children and I am 39 years old. I would love not to have anymore pain and constant bleeding but I keep hearing about total hysterectomies causing orgasm problems and decreased desire.
Also, bladder problems and they call it being castrated. I am scared and don't know what is true! I have a wonderful sex life now when I am not in pain which is about 2 weeks out of every month!
I also have powerful and fulfilling orgasms and I am scared that this will change after hearing and reading about Hysterectomies. Please help me as I am really scared.
Some say, you will be so glad you did it and others say, DON'T DO IT NO MATTER WHAT! What is the truth?
There is no truth and no answer that applies to all situations. For every woman it is a trade-off of symptoms (i.e., pain in your case) versus possible change in orgasmic response.
The physiology of female orgasm is comprised of two events basically: release of blood vessel engorgement (which accumulated during arousal phase) and uterine, vaginal and some say, clitoral contractions.
After hysterectomy, there are no more uterine contractions with orgasm. There are still vaginal and possibly clitoral contractions. Some women perceive all of these while many only perceive some, it varies. As far as the vascular response there probably are less blood vessels to get engorged over time because they are not having to supply the uterus any more.
The most common thing physicians hear from women concerning orgasm after hysterectomy is that it is different but still present and pleasurable.
There are some women, however, who say that orgasm is gone. I suspect those women were very sensitive to the uterine contractions part of orgasm. Other women will also admit to problems with sex but it is really because of decreased libido (desire) or decreased arousal.
Removal of the ovaries can affect decreased desire but if estrogen is replaced and sometimes testosterone, that can account for most but, not all of the decrease.
Everything you hear is correct but the proportion is not equal, at least from a physician's view. The majority (let's say 75-85%) of women having a hysterectomy have a substantial net improvement in their daily lives. The rest don't and some feel worse off than before.
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