Sex for Women after a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

For many women, the occurrence of a spinal cord injury (SCI), whether it results from trauma or disease, is considered to be the end of life as she knew it. She may see herself as forever wheelchair-bound, or at least so immobilized that sex will never again be an activity in which she will engage.

That need not be true, unless the individual allows or wants it to be true. Let’s see why, and how NeuLife in Mount Dora, Florida can help change that paradigm through its innovative post-acute care that includes:

• spinal cord rehabilitation
• neurorehabilitation
• cognitive therapy
• other assessments and therapies by NeuLife Rehab’s multidisciplinary team.

At the most basic and physical level, it may be easier for females to resume sexual activity after a spinal cord injury than it is for males. This is due in large part to the differences in which a female’s body is constructed.  However, the following factors should be considered when discussing females resuming sexual activity:

• transitioning from a wheelchair into a bed in order to have sex
• positioning one’s body in bed in order to have sex; alternative positioning from what the woman is accustomed to may have to be explored
• reduced spontaneity
• in some cases, reduced lubrication which can usually be overcome by the use of a lubricant
• issues of body image. This is perhaps the biggest area of concern for women who have sustained spinal cord injuries.

Although not uniformly true, some of the following changes related to sex may also occur to a woman who has sustained a spinal cord injury (SCI) or a disease that affected her spinal cord:

• a temporary or longer term change in surface tension or ability to contract muscles. The upside of this is that it may, and likely should, prompt conversations with her partner about finding alternatives that are more suitable to the changes that the spinal cord injury has brought about
• orgasms may take longer to achieve and may feel differently
• there is ordinarily a pause in menstrual cycles following some spinal cord injuries, but they are usually not permanent. Therefore, there are usually not an ongoing fertility problem for women who have had a spinal cord injury (SCI) once their period resumes1.

While it is sometimes jocularly said that “sex is all in the head,” there may be some truth to the statement. That is, acute and sub-acute care can and usually do only attend to the immediate and mid-term physical needs of an individual. By and large, they approach care from a “stop the bleeding” standpoint.

But what only a post-acute rehabilitation facility like NeuLife in Mount Dora, Florida does is prepare its Clients for long-term independence after a spinal cord injury (SCI) and for independence to the fullest extent that his or her physical and mental abilities allow.

There are both physical and psychological elements of rehabilitation that are involved in resuming sex and, through its multidisciplinary team, NeuLife addresses them. The multidisciplinary team that is assembled for the Client’s post-acute rehabilitation at NeuLife Rehab is uniquely equipped to help the Client with spinal cord rehabilitation, the sexual effects of a spinal cord injury (SCI) and many other aspects of a Client’s post-acute care. Among the professionals available to NeuLife Rehab Clients include:

• Board Certified Neurologist
• Board Certified Behavior Analyst
• Board Certified Physiatrist
• Neuropsychologist
• Psychologist
• Board Certified Psychiatrist
• Speech Language Pathologist/Cognitive Therapist
• Physical Therapist
• Occupational Therapist
• Nurses
• Certified Rehab Counselor

Proper and timely post-acute rehabilitation that may determine the difference between disability and independence is what NeuLife refers to as the “platinum post-acute period” —  the crucial window following acute care that is needed to nurture the whole person to health with specialized, clinically relevant services.

NeuLife’s philosophy is that healing, wellness and personal fulfillment are best achieved in a positive and uplifting therapeutic environment where caring staff encourages, assists and supports each client so he or she may achieve specific goals. NeuLife believes personal fulfillment is equally as important as goals to achieve function and independence.

NeuLife, in Mount Dora, Florida, is an accessible residential post-acute program providing specialized rehabilitation to individuals diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Amputations, Burns and other Catastrophic Injuries and Challenging Diagnoses.

2725 Robie Avenue

Mount Dora, Florida 32757

[1] http://www.spinalcord.org/resource-center/askus/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=1579