Do abdominal diseases affect your sex life?
Almost all of the diseases located in the lower abdomen, including the lower urinary system and lower part of the intestines, can affect a couple's sex life. Symptoms such as pain, soreness, burning, discharge and bleeding may cause discomfort during sexual intercourse.

The very thought of having such a disease can also psychologically affect your sex life and reduce your sex drive. When trying to make love, you may find it difficult to switch off and relax.

After suffering disorders in the lower abdomen you might experience after-effects that make you uncomfortable.

For instance, following an operation on your lower abdomen, that area may feel strange and painful for several months. So even if the rest of your body is healthy and working normally, your desire for sex may be low. This means that at first you may not be able to have sexual intercourse or feel the kind of pleasure you used to.

It is important to realise that in major abdominal operations the nerve supply to the genital area may be cut through. If you are going to have lower abdominal surgery, do discuss this possibility beforehand with the surgeon.

How do you recommence your sex life?
It is important that you talk to your partner about your low sex drive and also let them know when desire returns. They have no way of knowing how you feel or what you are capable of doing if you don't tell them.

If you say nothing, your partner may initiate sex before you feel ready. In such a case, it's likely you'll either refuse or agree through a sense of duty. Either way, sex is bound to be a failure. Certainly for you and possibly for both of you.

On the other hand, your partner may be overly hesitant about initiating sex through consideration for your feelings. They may assume you don't feel like it and you, in turn may conclude that your partner has lost interest in you. Consequently, nothing happens and neither of you knows how the other is really feeling.

What to do after pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
It can be difficult for women to resume their sex life after being treated for such a disease. They may feel discomfort for months or believe that the infection has returned. During this time, any attempt to have sexual intercourse is likely to fail. However, most women will eventually feel like returning to sex.

Talk to your partner about it. Find a time when you are both in the mood and begin by kissing and caressing.

Don't move on to sexual intercourse before you are completely ready. This means that in addition to your own desire to make love, your vagina should also feel moist enough for your partner to enter you easily.

If there is pain or discomfort, do not attempt further penetration but continue your lovemaking with sexual stimulation that does not involve intercourse.

What do you do after childbirth?
After giving birth, it may be difficult to resume your sex life. Couples are now faced with the responsibility of looking after a baby and all the extra hard work this involves. The new mother, in particular, might feel that sex comes quite low on her list of priorities because she has so many things to do during the day.

In such a case, the woman has to let her partner know when she is ready to make love again. Until that time, kisses and cuddles are a perfect way of showing affection and do not necessarily have to be followed by sex. Though many couples are able to enjoy loveplay to the point of orgasm for both of them even though the woman is not yet ready for intercourse.

It is important for couples to talk the situation through honestly. Remember that reduced desire does not mean that your love and affection for each other has changed in any way - and it's vital that this love is warmly expressed, especially when sex is off the menu. If the perineum (the area between the vagina and the anus) is very sore, resuming intercourse may be difficult. This is particularly likely to happen after stitches. Use a lubricant when making love.

If discomfort persists, tell your obstetrician or your GP. In general, it is not a good idea to have intercourse before the routine postnatal examination.

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