Thursday, May 22, 2008

Can People in Wheelchairs Still Have Sex?


If an aroused male is unfortunately the victim of a spinal cord injury, the ability to have sexual intercourse depends on the level of injury.

 

In men there are normally two types of erections, psychogenic erections, which result from sexual thoughts, and reflex erections, which result from direct physical contact.


Psychogenic erections develop from the nerves of the spinal cord that exit toward the bottom of the spine at the T10-L2 levels. Generally, men with an incomplete injury at a low level are more likely to have psychogenic erections than men with high-level incomplete injury. Men with complete injuries are less likely to experience psychogenic erections.


Reflex erections arise in the sacral area of the spinal cord. Many men with a spinal cord injury are able to have a reflex erection with physical stimulation if this pathway is not damaged.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am a 20 year old female with a beautiful child and Partner. I use a wheelchair and have done since I was 6.

I have been sexually active since the age of 14 (not something I am proud of) which was the same as a lot of my able bodied peers.
I have a healthy sex life.

Not all people in wheelchairs are paralised. People who have no feeling from the waist down can still have sex. There are always ways of doing things.

pauline26 said...

Thank you very much for your insight. I too have a friend who's handicapped from the waist down when she fell from a ladder and I felt her pain knowing how active she was and now she's a pale shadow of herself. I do my best in helping her whenever I can.

Thanks again for your kind input.

Anonymous said...

The stories I see in the internet are so touching my heart as I have the same problem I was knocked by a car at the age of 5 in 1996 I have no feeling in my legs and private part. Some times I get so fustrated the is just a lot to tell