Anytime and anywhere the word sex is mentioned, the kind of attention that greets it is usually unprecedented.
No doubt, sex is good for the body.
Beyond the unequalled pleasure derivable from it, it has been found to
have enormous health benefits. And according to a sex therapist, Dr. Ian
Kerner, sexual attraction and sexual compatibility are the basis of
many successful relationships.
Previous studies have shown that sex
boosts immune system, ensures better sleep, boosts libido, improves
women’s bladder control, lowers blood pressure and reduces the
likelihood of prostate cancer in men. It was also found to be a good
form of exercise, lower the risk of having heart attack, reduce stress
and calm the mind or reduce anxiety.
Apart from the increasing rate of sex-related issues, a report released by a website that sells hotel room per hour, Dayuse.com,
says it has recorded a rise in bookings for its rooms. The rooms are
given up for up to 80 per cent lesser than the actual cost of the rooms.
The identified benefits among many
others could compel willing persons to have sex as much as possible.
However, beyond the advantages, some experts have revealed that too much
sex is not good for the body.
It might sound weird that such a
pleasurable act that has enormous health benefits could also have side
effects, but that is the reality, according to some experts. They
identified the side effects to include dehydration, lower back pain,
bruises and soreness, injured nerves, strained muscles, increased body
exhaustion, fracture and heart attack for those who have heart-related
problems.
According to New Health Advisor, while
sex is most pleasurable when the session has just begun (first round),
there could be feelings of pains in the genitals when the sexual
activity is sustained because the persistent rubbing in the course of
the subsequent ‘rounds’ could make the exercise painful.
It added that while men are more likely
to have slight pain on their organ, and in extreme cases, fracture of
the penis due to sustained thrusting in the absence of sufficient
erection, women tend to feel a bit sore in their private part due to the
brushing of the vaginal walls by the penis during penetration. Thus,
these could lead to pains in the genitals, strained muscles and injured
nerves due to direct overstimulation of the same spot in the genital
area.
Also, it was found that due to the fact
that sex is a strenuous exercise, of which one round of sex has been
equated to 30 minutes of jogging, having sex repeatedly without adequate
hydration could lead to dehydration and exhaustion.
Meanwhile, the National Health Service
in the United Kingdom has advised that drinking plenty of water after
sex is a good way to avoid dehydration and that emptying the bladder
after sex helps to prevent urinary tract infections as it clears
bacteria from the urinary tract.
Being a physiological act, it was also
found that too much sex could lead to lower back pain due to the heavy
and consistent thrusting, which can also lead to prolonged ejaculation
due to the depletion of the semen levels.
It was also gathered that while sex is a
form of exercise, it can be very tiring, and having it continuously
leads to exhaustion, more so that men are wont to fall asleep after
ejaculation due to the release of some hormones into their system.
“During sexual activity, the body releases norepinephrine, epinephrine
and cortisol which increase the heart rate and trigger the release of
glucose in the blood. All these activities are tiring, especially when
done frequently. Thus, indulging in sex several times a day will drain
all your energy and leave you feeling exhausted most of the time,” it
added.
Of more importance is that too much sex
can worsen the health situations of people with heart problems. In other
words, even though sex is good for the heart as it keeps increasing
blood flow, it can lead to complications for people who have heart
problems.
According to a consultant
endocrinologist, Dr. Michael Olamoyegun, people who have cardiovascular
(heart) problem are often encouraged not to have frequent sex, saying it
might not be good for their health and that the degree of the heart
problem could be mild or severe.
He added, “The same thing for people who
have heart attack or stroke, and the reason why it is not encouraged
for them is that sex consumes energy. And one round of sex is equivalent
to running for about some minutes. So, if someone whose heart is on a
borderline begins to have sex regularly, it can affect the health.”
Given the above mentioned effects of too much sex, thus the question; how much sex is too much?
According to Olamoyegun, there is no
exact definition of what quantity of sex is too much or adequate, saying
it varies among individuals and age groups.
Impliedly, sex is deemed to be too much
when people out of convenience or the need to satisfy a partner go for
more ‘rounds.’ However, as long as they are doing it for fun, regardless
of the quantity and quality, even if it is ten times a week, it does
not qualify as too much.
A study by Kinsey Institute at Indiana
University, United States, found that frequency of sex varies by age
range, saying on the average, people that are aged between 18 and 29
have sex an average of 112 times per year, while people aged between 30
and 39 do it on average of 86 times per year.
Meanwhile, Kerner argued that once or
twice a week makes for a healthy sex life. He however added that having
sex on a daily basis does not imply too much sex, as long as both
partners enjoy it, but that if partners have it frequently and one
person enjoys it more than the other, in which case the other person
sees sex as a chore or an obligation rather than something that should
be enjoyed, it becomes too much for that person.
He added, “As funny and un-sexy as it
sounds, it may even be smart to schedule sex so the lower libido partner
doesn’t feel pressured, and the higher libido partner doesn’t feel
rejected. That said, if you ever feel overwhelmed, either physically or
emotionally, by the kind or amount of sex you are having, let your
partner know you need a break. Sex can be dangerous if there is any sort
of pressure or force to do something with which either party isn’t
comfortable.”
Even though couples who are trying to
conceive are often advised to have sex regularly, a 2005 study found
that sperm count tends to increase if someone does not ejaculate for
days while it decreases with frequent ejaculation, thus, such men are
advised to have like two to three days interval before they have sex for
the secretion of the sperm to take place and to help their chance of
releasing sperm that can find its way to the eggs.
On the psychological effect of having
too much sex, a consultant psychologist, Prof. Oni Fagboungbe, said like
anything else, too much sex tends to have negative effect on the body.
He continued, “One thing that is
psychological about it is that individuals have perceptual threshold;
the level at which they perform optimally, and it varies from person to
person. So, it becomes dangerous when you go beyond your physiological
limit. It varies and no two human beings have equal physiological
limit.”
He said it is in a bid to enhance their
sexual performance and delay ejaculation or orgasm that people resort
into drugs. “But when you use drugs, you discover that at a stage, you
would not be able to perform unless you are assisted by a drug; whether a
man or woman. And one thing is that people, men or women, enjoy sex
when it is prolonged.”
He advised that people should not go beyond their threshold so as to avoid the effects of too much sex.
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