HEART

Your heart is a pump and as within any piece of mechanical equipment it will lose its functional ability if not used.

Before your heart attack, exercise and a healthy and satisfactory love relationship were important part of your life It is now realised that sex and exercise after your heart attack can help towards recovery of general health and be of benefit to the heart itself.

A caring doctor, knowing the extent of your heart problems, is in a position to supervise your general exercise program as well as give advice on sexual activities after a recent heart attack.

In general the questions of going back to work, exercise programmes and sexual activity should all be considered four to six weeks after the heart attack. Unless there are severe complications, it is important that a return to normal activity should be encouraged.

A sensible physical fitness programme in association with a healthy sex life is more likely to benefit the heart rather than harm it.

Most heart attacks during sexual activity have been found to be associated particularly in the male with sexual activity outside of marriage or outside of a permanent caring relationship. Sexual activity with your wife in familiar surroundings or in a permanent and caring relationship with no feeling of guilt can be quite different from casual sex with its lack of love, guilt and its concentration of the physical.

Pre-intercourse love making or foreplay is very important. If signs of chest pain or distress appear during this period, then it is wise to slow down. These signs can include chest pain, palpitations and extreme breathlessness. Your doctor may see fit to prescribe coronary artery vasodilator tablets prior to love making and this will allow for gradual progression to full intercourse without physical distress. The key word is gradual.

Mutual petting may be all that is possible in the early stages. As the weeks go by it will become apparent as to just how exciting the love making can be in each individual case and whether heart distress is being produced.

The heart patient whether male or female should not adopt the aggressive role. A comfortable position such as side to side should be use in the early stages to lessen physical stress until full recovery is achieved.

In some couples, general sexual apathy and frustration before the heart attack may have been part of the general stress and tension which caused the heart catastrophe itself. In your new life together after your heart attack it may be that a satisfactory and healthy sexual relationship may blossom and if this is the case, it should be encouraged for both its physical and psychological benefits.