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s u m m a h e a L t h s Y s t e m
INFORMATION FOR YOUR DOCTOR
Some of the factors contributing to patients’ the important parameters in the evaluation the following concerns about their partner’s • Length of time the couple was asexual before conditions, and it may be an important tool • Decrease in foreplay and an excessive focus in determining the urgency of the need for • Male partner’s approach to resuming sexual therapeutic intervention for erectile dysfunction • Less emotional connection with their partner (ED). It is important to evaluate QoL of the
• Unwanted change in habits, duration, • Male partner’s expectations of how PDE-5s couple, because men and women alike will
suffer because of male erectile disability.
• Offended by their partner’s reliance on a • Each partner’s physical and emotional Future drug trials, as well as studies of
sexological intervention programs, should
• The meaning for each partner of using a involve both partners.1
• Pain caused by increased sexual activity medical intervention to restore lovemaking • Lack of consultation/negotiation as to the “Many men view erectile dysfunction as a male initiation and frequency of sexual activity • The quality of the couple’s non-sexual problem and it may not occur to them to include • “Sex on demand” (i.e., overt and subtle their wife or partner in the discussion with their doctor,” said Kimberly Resnick-Anderson, • Side effects from medication taken by their Sexual disabilities and problems cannot be LISW. Resnick-Anderson is an AASECT-certified seen as isolated sexual phenomena that only sex therapist and director of Summa Health • Worries about infidelity after starting to take involve one symptom-bearer with one symptom. System’s Center for Sexual Health. “Women tend to view ED as a couple’s problem since • Coercion to have sex in order to “not waste a importance of involving the couple, both in drug it impacts both people in a relationship. pill” and to “get their money’s worth” trials and in sexological intervention programs – Encouraging the patient to include his wife or be they psychotherapeutic or pharmacological.4 partner in discussions about treatment can lead According to one study, almost 35 percent
of patients discontinued the use of
Please consider including a referral to a sexual Viagra – even after successful restoration of
health therapist as part of the treatment plan Recent studies have shown medication
sexual function. Why? The reasons reported to assist patients and their partners in making in conjunction with couples counseling is
were primarily emotional or relationship
a successful transition to a better quality of life more effective than just medication alone.
oriented.3
A referral to a sexual health therapist helps couples deal with the physical, emotional and Call (800) 237-8662 to
psychological issues which can arise when resuming lovemaking after a long hiatus. therapist at Summa Center for Sexual
Health or call (888) 720-5318
to schedule an appointment with a urologist.
summahealth.org
1 International Journal of Impotence Research (2000) 12, Suppl 4, S144±S146. 2 Potts, A. The downside of Viagra: women’s experiences and concerns. Soc of Health & Illness 20033 Son, H Asian J Androl 2006. 4 Wagner G, Fugl-Meyer KS and Fugl-Meyer AR. Impact of erectile dysfunction on quality of life: patient and partner perspectives, International Journal of Impotence Research (2000) 12, Suppl 4, S144-S146

Source: http://www.summahealth.org/~/media/Files/pdfs/MedicalServices/WomensHealth/BEH_13_18851_For_Your_Doctor_ED_Treatment_Flyer2.pdf