Sex After Surgery

So your doctor has recommended that you undergo gynecologic surgery: maybe a hysterectomy to get rid of fibroids; maybe surgery to lessen incontinence by "tightening up" prolapsed, or fallen, organs resulting from pregnancy and childbirth. The doctor answered all your questions about the surgery itself. But, what you want to know now is how it will affect your sex life.

Let's take a look.

Hysterectomy. How a hysterectomy affects your sex life depends, in part, on the type of hysterectomy you have. On the other hand, a hysterectomy may relieve symptoms that were affecting your sex life prior to surgery, such as fibroids. In one survey of 678 women, 24 percent of women whose ovaries were removed as part of the hysterectomy said their sex lives were worse after the surgery, compared to just 11 percent of those whose ovaries were preserved. Plus, 74 percent of women who kept their ovaries said their post-surgical sex lives were better compared to 55 percent of women whose ovaries were removed (the remainder of the women said their sex lives hadn't changed).

The difference may be due to the loss of androgens, which are produced in the ovaries and play a role in sexual desire.