How Your Sex Drive is Affected by Low Libido and Stress

Medical Reasons You May Suffer From Low Libido and Treatments to Improve Sex Drive

The love is there, the attraction is there… but the sex drive is not.

Other than issues with intimacy and problems with a partner, there are a number of other reasons one could be struggling with a low libido.

Medical reasons a person’s sex life could be struggling range from low libido to stress and post-cancer conditions.  Outpatient procedures that could help rev up the sex drive are offered at our gynecological practice that focuses on these services in the Woodlands and Houston, Texas areas.

The Testosterone Connection

Oftentimes, people associate low libido in women to menopause because of the vaginal dryness and sexual pain that occurs during this life stage. While these are certainly sex drive killers, menopause is also linked to a decreased libido for the same reason men struggle with this issue — testosterone. Testosterone is the sex hormone that drives sexual desire and behavior, and its affecting menopausal women.

According to the study “Role of hormones in hypoactive sexual desire disorder and current treatment” published in Journal of the Turkish-German Gynecological Association, “Testosterone is essential in modulating clitoral and vaginal physiology to facilitate genital lubrication, sensation, and engorgement Therefore, a lack of testosterone has been reported to contribute to low libido and to reduced sexual pleasure and receptivity. Also, low levels of testosterone have been correlated with lack of sexual motivation, fatigue, distress, and overall reduce the sense of well-being. …There is a significant decline in the production of testosterone four years before menopause, during menopause, and two years into menopause.”

Post-Cancer Lack of Libido

According to the University of Rochester’s Medical Center’s “Life After Cancer: Changes in a Woman’s Sex Life”  “Many women have changes in their sex life after cancer treatment. You may have both physical and emotional side effects. You may not feel as good about your body. You may have changes in the way your body looks and works from surgery or radiation. You may have pain, or not really care about sex.”

Along with the body image issues radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery can cause for women and men, there are other reasons these cancer treatments can hinder sex drive. The paper went on to state that “[Radiation, surgery, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy] can cause damage to nerves and blood vessels, remove glands and organs, cause scar tissue to form, and change the balance of sex hormones in your body.”

The Link Between the Brain and the Body

Perhaps the most common medical causes of decreased sex drive are issues with mental health. As stated in Women’s Health’s study “Women’s sexual dysfunction associated with psychiatric disorders and their treatment (nih.gov),” “Impairment of mental health is the most important risk factor for female sexual dysfunction. … As with women experiencing depression and anxiety, women with schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders have a very high burden of sexual dysfunction, with 60%–80% of women being affected.”

While there is still much research being done to understand the connection between mental health and low libido, it is clear that stress, depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders are rampant sex drive killers.

Bringing Back the Sex Drive

No matter what is causing low libido, it is top of mind for most who are suffering from it to find a solution. While trying to determine if one of the above issues is the culprit is vital, it is also helpful to look into some new non-surgical therapies and procedures that have come out in the market that are known to bring back the sex drive after this discovery period.

If hormone imbalance is an issue, bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy could be a good option to improve libido. BioTE involves the insertion of natural, plant-based pellets that replicate the hormones that occur in the body.

ThermiVa, a radio-frequency procedure, involves applying heat to tissue to promote collagen production. This is a great sex driver reviver for women going through menopause because it has shown to restore moisture to dried vaginal tissues, a very common cause of low libido.

Lastly, if a patient is struggling with arousal or lubrication, a doctor may recommend the O Shot, or the Orgasm Shot. During this procedure the physician will inject platelets into the clitoris, labia, and G-spot to increase sexual sensation and orgasmic function.

About The Doctors

To most effectively to work together to address and treat client issues such as decreased sex drive, Dr. Richard and Natalie Drake now work together at Oncology Specialists of Texas, located at 17350 St. Lukes Way Suite 350, The Woodlands, Texas 77384. Both doctors have a seasoned background in gynecology, having been published in multiple peer review journals and having worked at the Cleveland Clinic prior to establishing their practice. Dr. Richard Drake specializes in gynecologic oncology, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, cervical cancer, laparoscopy, vulvar cancer, and gestational trophoblastic disease; and Dr. Natalie Drake is a trusted practitioner of ThermiVa, BioTE, and the O Shot.