Sex is still possible and even pleasurable after 65. In fact, sex and intimacy play a huge role in how seniors maintain a high quality of life and a healthy sense of well-being.
Despite their advanced years, people who have already celebrated their 65th year are not precluded from enjoying the pleasures of sex. Nevertheless, there are several factors that may affect how seniors engage in sex as well as how they perceive sex.
Take a look at these five factors that can affect your sexuality in your senior years.
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Marriage
Being married is a big advantage to elderly people who want to stay sexually active. For one, you won’t have to go far to find a willing partner. Plus, it can’t be denied that society frowns upon seniors having sex outside of their marriage.
However, this presents a problem for people who outlive their spouse. Widowers who want to continue being sexually active will need to go through the whole process of finding a sexual partner all over again.
That’s not something easy when you’re already in your 70s or even 80s. Fears of being rejected by a younger partner can prevent you from making the first move. And if you’re looking for someone your age, your choices may be limited already. Plus, it may be quite a challenge to find someone who’s sexual desires are compatible with yours.
This doesn’t mean though that unmarried seniors are already sexually inactive. It’s just that elderly married couples have the advantage of having a constant and socially sanctioned sexual partner.
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Remarriage
If you’re remarrying late in life, your grown-up children may oppose the idea. However, the truth is that remarriage can help you fight the loneliness that may creep up on you as you grow old alone.
For elderly people, attachment is sometimes more important than attraction. Remarrying can help seniors achieve their need for security, affection, and commitment. In addition, remarrying can also give them the opportunity to pursue their needs for sexual well-being.
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Families
Seniors who share their living space with other people tend to have less privacy. In a shared household, young married couples usually get to occupy the private space, whereas the elderly member of the family may be sharing the room with another family member or even a caregiver.
Even for those who are staying in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and residential care facilities, they don’t often get to have the privacy needed for engaging in sexual activities.
In addition, there are also instances wherein family members do not accept or acknowledge the sexual needs of their elderly family member. Such perceptions can prevent the elderly from engaging in sexual activities. In truth, older adults often face ridicule and stigma when they express their sexual concerns or desires.
If a family member scoffs at you for wanting to have some privacy as you engage in sexual activities, that may prevent you from further expressing your sexual needs or from enjoying your sexuality.
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Disparity In Desire
Disparity in desire for sex is one of the biggest stumbling blocks in the sex life of elderly couples. It’s normal for individuals to have varying degrees of sexual desire. However, as you age, the disparity in your sexual desire and that of your partner may increase too much.
When you’re no longer sexually in sync with your partner, it can negatively impact your relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and your sexuality in general. Difficulties and conflicts may arise when you want to have sex while your partner prefers only intimacy like holding hands, cuddling, or kissing.
Although it’s usual for seniors to lose their sexual desire, the rate at which your libido is dropping may be different from that of your partner’s. It’s also common for postmenopausal women to develop hypoactive sexual desire disorder wherein they no longer have any desire for or fantasies about sex.
Even if your libido is decreasing because your testosterone levels are going down, a reduced libido in a man with low testosterone is totally different from the low libido of a woman with hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Your partner may have no sexual desire to speak of whatsoever.
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Illness
When you or your partner are suffering from an illness, it could also prevent you from enjoying your sexuality. When seniors need to manage illness or need to take care of their partner, sex sometimes no longer becomes a priority.
Common diseases affecting the elderly such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, arthritis, depression, and lower urinary tract symptoms may also affect your sexual function, thereby contributing to the problem. If you have to deal with lower urinary tract symptoms and erectile dysfunction at the same time, you may end up losing your desire for sex.
If you’re already in your 60s or 70s and you have diabetes, your chances of developing erectile dysfunction are quite high. And if it’s your partner who has diabetes, her sexual functions may also be affected.
Enhancing Your Sexuality
As you grow older, you may start having problems boosting your testosterone levels and your libido. You may be battling with erectile problems. You may feel like you no longer have the strength nor the stamina to engage in sexual activities.
Herbal supplements can help you with these concerns. An effective and safe male sex enhancement supplement, this contains natural ingredients that can help you manage your sexual problems.
For increasing your testosterone levels, it contains Tribulus terrestris, horny goat weed, Butea superba, and Tongkat Ali. These are amazing herbal ingredients that have been shown to help promote testosterone production.
Plus, they’re also known to have aphrodisiac properties and can help you recover your libido. To better improve your libido, it also contains damiana and Xanthoparmelia scabrosa. Both herbs are well-known as potent aphrodisiacs.
In addition, the herbal ingredients of these supplements are also acknowledged as effective treatments for erectile dysfunction. The positive effects of Tongkat Ali, Tribulus terrestris, horny goat weed, maca, and Butea superba on erectile function are well-documented. To put it simply, these are some of the most effective herbal solutions for impotence.
