Why women above 40 enjoy more satisfying sex

BY TUNDE AJAJA 

As couples approach the middle years, it is believed that their bodies, psychology, hormones, lifestyles and sexual responses change. This change, many opine could be gradual or subtle but could reduce or increase sex life.

However, a new study says none of these changes interferes with a full sex life of women. The study claims that women grow increasingly satisfied with their sex lives after they turn 40.

The study states that sex has simply become an act or another activity of fun like a game of basketball for women in such older age or 40 above, knowing that they may not be able to get pregnant again when above menopause age.

This, according to the study, removes the ruinous risk or life-changing blessing – procreation – that has accompanied sex since puberty. Read More...

Besides, it explains that as partners become older, more experienced and more trusting of each other, they may become less inhibited in their views of what constitutes satisfying sex.

“For women in such older age, sex may no longer be a risk-taking adventure because it becomes something that they do ‘now or never,’ hence, it seems only natural to try out new acts, positions and partners, if there is any reason to, and such couples are often forced to find new ways to give each other pleasure,” it states further.

In the research, carried out by Prof. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, who is the chief of epidemiology division in the Department of Family and Preventative Medicine, University of California, San Diego, United States, a group of women aged between 40 and 100 with a median age of 67, were surveyed.

In the study, published in the American Journal of Medicine, half of the respondents said they were sexually active, and most of the women said they were able to become aroused, maintain lubrication and achieve orgasm during sex, even after the age of 80.

Furthermore, among the sexually active women, those who were below age 55 or above 80 were found to report satisfaction with their ability to achieve orgasms.

“I was surprised by how many people were completely satisfied over the age of 80,” said Barrett-Connor.

More than any other group, men and women in their 40s considered themselves emotionally and physically satisfied by their lovemaking, and not because they lasted longer in bed or have more energy to go for more rounds, the study revealed.

However, it is noteworthy that in spite of the fact that sexual activity drops off in older women, it remains a significant part of the lives of many of them.

Still in the course of the study, the researchers mailed a questionnaire that asked very personal questions to 1,303 well-educated group of upper-middle class women, who live a healthy lifestyle, in a suburban California community, out of which 806 responded to the questions about sex.

Worthy of note is the fact that almost half of the women over age 80 said they were always or almost always sexually satisfied.

It is understandable that most women who have grown up to their ’40s and above invested some years in romantic myths, involving love, marriage and sex, thus, some of such women who are now on their own, whether through widowhood, divorce or never having married, may occasionally get lonely, look forward to a good time as often as they look forward to a long-term relationship. Hence, for such women, a good sex may be worth looking up to, more so that there is no more monthly cycle that could hamper their enjoyment.

Ever wondered why some older women ‘recruit’ young men, old enough to be their grandchildren, for such ‘work’, this probably explain why.

According to Laura Berman, relationship therapist and sex educator, “Getting older can sometimes cause changes in our bodies and our sexual response, or complicate our ability to enjoy sex, but the good news is that these changes do not need to impede the sex life.

The best way to deal with change is simply to talk about it and to adjust, which is the most important sex secret of all.

“Normal aging brings physical changes in both men and women and these changes sometimes affect one’s ability to have and enjoy sex but some women enjoy it more as they grow older and after menopause or a hysterectomy (surgical operation to remove the womb), they may no longer fear an unwanted pregnancy, hence, feel freer to enjoy sex.

A research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine reports that women between the ages of 40 and 65 who place greater importance on sex are more likely to stay sexually active as they age. In other words, if it is important to you, you would keep on doing it.

Dr. Jan Leslie Shifren, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School said many sexual problems can be reversed with appropriate therapy, especially if they are new and that the treatments are often successful.

“Some therapies are simple, such as using a lubricant or low-dose vaginal oestrogen for dryness and pain.

“Sex is important to women’s health. It revs up metabolism and may boost the immune system. Frequent sexual intercourse is associated with reduced heart attack risk. It can help the vagina stay lubricated, elastic, and healthy. And it is fun,” Shifren advised.

Reacting to the study, a consultant psychologist, Prof. Toba Elegbeleye, expressed his doubts about the findings of the study. He argued that women would have lost certain things that should make sex enjoyable when they are close to or reach menopause, which would have also reduced their sexual urge.

“When women attain menopause, production of oestrogen becomes far less, which would reduce their sexual urge, just as testosterone in men. However, we cannot remove the fact that some women, just like men, take to stimulants, which are drugs that can make them become sexually active after the bodily productions are getting reduced.

“If a woman at 40 has finished child bearing, which takes a lot away from her sexual urge, coupled with the menopausal effects, there is no level of dedication or commitment that would re-energise the urge to the level of that of a youngster because the more you age, the less energised you are for sex,” he explained.

Elegbeleye explained that age also influences orgasm because everything in the body system of a young person works optimally, adding that youths have a way of going beyond the ordinary to ensure that they attain a pleasurable satisfaction.

He, however, advised people to refrain from using stimulants. “Stimulants work, but study has shown that the more you use them the lesser the effectiveness, and that is why people who take cocaine may continue to increase its dosage until it becomes futile and kills them in the process.”