How to have a good sex life with breast cancer?

  After the diagnosis of breast cancer, a significant proportion of patients will encounter difficulties in their sexual life, mainly seen in the following aspects.  1. Not clear about the effect of sex life on the disease. They are always worried that sex will affect the treatment effect, will cause harm to the patient’s body, and will lead to cancer metastasis and recurrence. Thus, they dare not have sex life.  2. Worries about side effects of treatment, worries about metastasis recurrence, inferiority complex due to changes in physical appearance after surgery, etc. make patients depressed and have lower libido.  3, surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy will damage the patient’s body, so that patients appear different degrees of weakness and fatigue; certain chemotherapy and endocrine therapy drugs will damage ovarian function, reduce the body’s estrogen level, so that patients have irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, vaginal dryness, painful intercourse and other symptoms, patients do not want to have sex.  In fact, sex does not induce breast cancer, nor does it increase the chance of distant metastasis of breast cancer, so it is safe for breast cancer patients to have sex. However, to have a good sex life requires the joint efforts of both husband and wife, the following are some suggestions for your reference.  1. Patients should have the courage to put down the burden of thought. Don’t let fear and low self-esteem become a shadow in life. Among malignant tumors, the treatment effect of breast cancer is considered good, and most patients can get a complete recovery through treatment. Changes in physical appearance can either be made less conspicuous by proper masking or can be repaired by plastic surgery. In fact, in most cases, it is not the disease or the change in physical appearance that affects the sex life, but the change in the patient’s state of mind after the disease. If one becomes suspicious, sensitive, irritable and immersed in sadness all day after the disease, then a harmonious sex life is very difficult to obtain. If you can get rid of this unhealthy state of mind as soon as possible, life will be able to return to normal sooner. Sexual life will also be as natural as before the disease.  2, the partner should give the patient the necessary care and attention. Choose the right position, and avoid sex as much as possible when the patient is tired, weak, unwell, or has low white blood cell level.  3. If there are symptoms such as vaginal dryness and painful intercourse, you can use some water-soluble human lubricants with simple ingredients, colorless and tasteless, whose main components are composed of pure water, fiber, and glycerin, propylene glycol, sucralose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, etc., which are harmless to the body.  4. If you plan to get pregnant, please consult with your doctor as soon as possible and make a good plan. Otherwise, be sure to do a good job of contraception (menopausal patients can not contraception. But menopause is not equal to menopause, whether menopause needs to be judged by the doctor). Because less than one month of pregnancy and abortion can have adverse effects on the disease. Condoms are preferred for contraceptive devices. Although drug-free contraceptive rings can be considered, they are not recommended because of the possibility of pregnancy with the ring. All hormone-containing devices, whether contraceptive implants, the IUD or oral contraceptives, should be avoided.