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A healthy lifestyle can go a long way toward preventing chronic illnesses and diseases that can contribute to sexual dysfunction. Eating a balanced diet, getting plenty of exercise, stopping smoking, limiting alcohol consumption and controlling stress will help you feel well, build a healthy self-image, boost your energy and help you maintain confidence in your sexuality. Visit your health care professional regularly to avoid medical problems that may affect your sexual responses.

Other things you can do to enhance your sexual desire and pleasure include:

• Communicate with your partner.

  Emotional intimacy is the essential beginning for sexual intimacy for many women. Talk frankly and honestly about your feelings with your partner to help build your relationship. Silence can result in repressed feelings, anger and alienation that can harm your well-being, and even your long-term mental and physical health.

• Express your desires.

  Tell your partner what you want sexually, what "turns you on" and guide your partner to do those things that please you.

• Be less predictable, and more spontaneous in your sexual experiences.

  Partners who have been together for years can get into patterns in which sex is always the same. Try new ways to be intimate and prolong your sexual experience by being more creative with touching, positions and timing and location of sexual activities.

• Examine your priorities.

  Don't let work or family responsibilities take time away from your relationship with your partner. Spending time together is part of building intimacy, and helps both partners feel connected to each other.

• Stay sexually active after menopause.

  Regular sexual activity, with a partner or through self-stimulation, can improve vaginal lubrication and elasticity as estrogen levels decline.

Sexuality is highly personal and varies from woman to woman. A woman's sexual responses can vary from one time to another, and no one pattern is more "normal" than another. Nearly everyone has a problem with sex at some time in their lives, and often the problem can be worked out with patience and talking with your partner. When the problem is life-disrupting, causes trouble in your relationships or involves physical pain, it's time to talk with your health care professional. In many cases, your sexual problem can be treated with medical treatments, psychological therapy or both.