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Viagra: A Woman's Perspective
Viagra for Him, Viagra for Her
Sounds like a new perfume ad, doesn't it? There are two ways
Viagra could affect your sex life: if he takes it and if someday you
take it.
If He Takes It
Most people know that Viagra (also called Sildenafil) is the new
drug to cure impotency. This can only improve a woman's sex life
right? Not always. Many couples in the age group most affected
(the 50s or older) grew up with the idea of the missionary position
and thrusting as defining sex. As has been mentioned in previous
articles (see CAT position and G-spot) this is far from ideal for
women's orgasm. Impotency caused some couples to stop
physical intimacy all together. They didn't know there are other
ways to have sex. But, others discovered what the AIDS/Safe Sex
Generation takes for granted. More specifically, many of these
couples discovered the clitoris. Some of the women had an
orgasm for the first time. Viagra may take women backwards.
Whatever communication got you to sexual activity in spite of
impotency needs to be used again to express your desire to keep
doing what you have been doing. If you are someone who stopped
everything and aren't looking forward to going back because it
wasn't that good for you anyway, then you need to find the words to
talk about this and learn what you want.
If You Take It
Viagra works by increasing blood flow to the genital area. The
penis and the clitoris are analogous organs. If the penis can
become erect through Viagra, why cant the clitoris? An erect
clitoris is necessary for female orgasm, as it is for males. Thus,
Viagra could conceivably work for women who are anorgasmic.
There have been a few studies done recently on the use of Viagra
in women, but most of them have been performed with too few
subjects to make any definite conclusions. The most useful study
involved treating 33 postmenopausal women, who complained of
sexual dysfunction, with Viagra for a time period of three months.
These women were then assessed using the self-administered
Index of Female Sexual Function (IFSF) and the global efficacy
question (GEQ) Did treatment improve your sexual function? Mean
scores showed that lubrication improved by 23.2%, orgasm by
7.4%, and clitoral sensation by 31.3%. 21% of the women noted
improvement on the GEQ. However, overall only 18.1% of the
women had a significant therapeutic response (more than 60%
improvement in IFSF score). Negative side effects included clitoral
discomfort and hypersensitivity in 21% of the women, headache
and dizziness. This study shows that overall sexual function did not
improve significantly. However, since there have been relatively
few studies done on this subject, at this point no definite
conclusions can be made regarding the role of Viagra in women.
Precautions
Should any normal human being take Viagra to be better than
before? Nooooo! This could be like filling up a water balloon that is
already full. In men, the term is priapism, which is a very painful
prolonged erection. In women, the analogous problem could be
pelvic congestion, which is also painful. Viagra is only for people
who are already experiencing difficulty with sex.
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