Envision yourself participating in the likes of this elegant, straightforward research project, the abstract of which I found stored away in the attic of my laptop (spring cleaning 2010 – in a sync with BP’s Gulf cleanup efforts – stuff just keeps pouring out and I can’t figure out where to put it, but I digress…) on the scientific measurement of female orgasm using pressure sensors inserted “in the appropriate areas”.  This study, published in 1982 in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, very likely contributed or was otherwise related to the study comparing Kegel muscle activity during male and female orgasm – http://www.theperfectphit.com/blog/2010/04/male-and-female-orgasm-not-so-different-by-alan-fogel/.

Does she Kegel? Only her research coordinator knows for sure...

Arch Sex Behav. 1982 Oct;11(5):367-86. Links

The female orgasm: pelvic contractions.

Bohlen JG, Held JP, Sanderson MO, Ahlgren A.

Eleven nulliparous women manually self-stimulated to orgasm, each on three separate occasions. Pelvic contraction pressure was measured by an anal probe and a vaginal probe simultaneously. Near the perceived start of orgasm, a series of regular contractions began in nine of the women. Anal and vaginal contraction waveforms were synchronized with each other, and the same number of orgasmic contractions occurred in each lumen. Anal pressure had a higher resting baseline and greater amplitude contractions than vaginal pressure. The perceived start of orgasm did not correspond precisely with the onset of regular contractions. Mean intercontraction intervals increased linearly at an increment of about 0.1 second through the series of regular contractions. Amplitudes of contraction pressure waveforms, representing pelvic muscular force, were initially low, increased through the first half of the regular series, and then decreased. Area and net area of the pressure waveforms, reflecting pelvic muscular exertion (force x time), increased during the regular orgasmic contractions. Three of the women’s orgasms consistently included only a series of regular contractions (orgasm type I). For six other women, orgasms consistently continued beyond the regular series with additional irregular contractions (orgasm type II). Types I and II had been identified previously in men. Two women had no regular contractions during reported orgasms. This pattern, type IV, had not been recorded in men. Women of different types showed marked differences in orgasm duration and number of contractions. Identification of these types in subjects is important for meaningful comparison of contraction parameters in different studies.

Getting paid to get off – legally.

Ancient Tantric texts somehow understood the role of Kegel muscles in orgasm, control of ejaculation, and the quality of erection, and yet even with sex, we continue to rediscover what “we” already know.  In this case, however, we can’t help but forgive ourselves for rediscovering the art of the orgasm again and again and again. Kegel exercise – the gift that just keeps giving.

glossary:

nulliparous = a woman who has never had a baby

amplitude = measure of the strength or intensity of the thing being measured, in this case pelvic muscle (Kegel) contractions

waveform = the shape of the graph measuring the strength and duration of the pelvic contractions during orgasm 

intercontraction intervals = the length of time in between pelvic contractions during orgasm

For the latest on vaginal dryness in your 40’s and beyond,  enjoy this guest-blogger interview with PHIT’s medical director from  Sweet Talk on the Spot. I’m talking user-friendly vaginal estrogens, over-the-counter lubricants, kitchen myths and the latest from Europe.

WD-40

Dr. Romanzi Talks Lubrication After 40Wednesday, April 21, 2010 by SweetTalk on the Spot 

Our resident Vaginal Phitness expert, Dr. Lauri Romanzi, educates the SweetTalk community with answers to your most pressing, personal questions.

Q: Dear Dr. Romanzi, Why do women experience pronounced vaginal dryness after 40, and what lubricants do you recommend for women over 40?

A: Aaaah, the Magic of Estrogen.

First, a little background: Before puberty, estrogen levels in girls circulate at a tiny fraction of normal adult levels. At puberty, the ovaries start cranking out estrogen to full – range, grown woman levels, and stay that way til about age 35, when the slippery slope toward menopause goes gently into first gear.

By age 40-45, fertility, skin integrity, bone density, cardiovascular resilience and even memory can be affected as the reduction in estrogen production accelerates into third gear.  For many women this “Change before the Change” is confusing, because they continue to menstruate, and may even become pregnant, as these menopausal symptoms cavort erratically around the edges of their lives. One month is “normal”, the next nutty with late menses, heavy flow or light spotting, hot flashes, night sweats, aches and pains, insomnia and mood swings in a rollercoaster of unpredictability that heralds the life cycle book-end mate to the process of puberty. My New York City colleague, Dr. Laura Corio, coined this phrase, “The Change Before The Change”, and used it as the title of her book on health in the decade before menopause.

Regarding vaginal dryness and lubrication: The vulva, vagina, clitoris and lower urinary tract skin surfaces contain a high density of estrogen receptors, and as these receptors undergo peri-menopausal deprivation in the early to mid-40’s, many women report uro-genital symptoms.  In the vagina, these may include dryness, poor spontaneous sexual lubrication, reduced clitoral sensitivity, difficulty achieving orgasm, and muted orgasm intensity. And here’s the ironic truth – overweight women tend to fare better because body fat makes its own estrogen, called estrone, that, when present in high levels, minimizes the impact of reduced ovarian estrogen production, called estradiol. Skinny women make very little estrone, overweight women make a lot of estrone. Both skinny and overweight women’s ovaries run out of estradiol between age 35-ish and menopause.

A woman who is sensitive to reduced estrogen production in the 40’s and beyond, sex may be plagued by painful dryness that is often frustrating and confusing, both for her and her sexual partner. With reduced estrogen production, the exquisitely estrogen- sensitive skin of the vulva, vagina, and clitoris literally becomes thin, dry, and brittle. As a doctor, I’ve taken care of many women over the years in stable, happy, sexually active relationships who come in to the office utterly mystified by these symptoms, with partners convinced that the women don’t love them any more or accuse them of having an affair. so abrupt and intense can be the sexual impact of estrogen deprivation.

My favorite treatment option for hormone-related vaginal dryness is … hormones: Recoil not, as this does not mean total-body-dose (a.k.a. systemic) hormones. You can use ultra-low-dose vaginal estrogen therapy that rejuvenates the vaginal skin to youthful elasticity, sensitivity, and lubrication. It does this by making those poor, deprived estrogen receptors in the vagina, vulva and clitoris happy.  There is not enough estrogen in these local estrogen treatments to increase estrogen blood levels, and there is no evidence that they increase cancer risks, as some total-body hormone regimens might. Ultra-low-dose vaginal estrogen therapies come in cream (fingertip application), suppository (vaginal insertion) and ring (vaginal insertion 4 times per year) form.  I shared this low dose vaginal estrogen information on the Dr. Oz show a few weeks ago.

Lubricants help with dryness, but will not improve elasticity or sensitivity. The best lubricants are water soluble and paraben free. Glycerin-free lubricants are best for women who cannot tolerate this additive, and silicone based lubricants require less re-application. Lubricants contain no hormones.

Oils and herbs are purported to reduce vaginal dryness, however clinical trials thus far fail to demonstrate efficacy, and oils may throw off vaginal pH or turn rancid, ultimately causing vaginal irritation and possible increased risk of vaginitis.

Several of my European patients are using hyaluronic acid vaginal suppositories, which are not available in the U.S.  These novel vaginal ovules help maintain cellular hydration, and are marketed both for post-operation healing and menopausal dryness.  Given that these ovules contain no hormones, it is likely that this product will not improve sensitivity, but would restore lubrication and thereby improve elasticity.  Catch the red-eye to Paris and let us know if it works for you!

Back to lubricants before I finish: The shop shelves buckle under the voluminous assortment of 21^st century sexy lubricants with additives designed to improve blood flow, enhance sensitivity and super-charge orgasm intensity.  Marketing trials are not the same as scientific, clinical trials published in peer-reviewed medical journals, and it is not clear that the robust marketing claims are born out in the bedroom. That said, if these pumped-up lubricants rock your world, are paraben free and water soluble, have at it!

Courtesy Amy Wentz Photography, NYC

Summertime is high season for gardening.  Pregnant gardeners need to take extra precautions to avoid chloasma and melasma (dark blotches) on the face and neck, protect backs, knees and pelvic support, and be extra-careful with gardening aids that may be toxic if inhaled or coming in contact with skin.   For the full scoop on healthy gardening while pregnant read this piece from www.sheknows.com, including content from PHIT’s medical director, Dr. Lauri Romanzi:

PHIT tips for the Pregnant Gardener – your skin, your joints, you pelvis, your baby!

by Tracy B. McGinnis

If a fun day of shopping includes visiting your favorite home store and filling your cart with potting soil and flats of blooming plants and herbs, then chances are you’re one of the many people who enjoy gardening as a hobby. But if you’re pregnant or trying to get pregnant, does your green thumb need to go dormant until after baby arrives?

“When you’re pregnant, a little time spent working in the garden is a great way to get outdoors in the fresh air, get some light exercise and enjoy the beauty of your garden,” said Vinnie Drzewucki, CNLP of Hicks Nurseries Inc. “But remember to keep to the less strenuous activities like raking, light pruning, deadheading spent flowers and weeding.”

While you may not need to eliminate certain activities from your daily routine there are extra precautions and modifications you should make to some of your activities in order to keep yourself and baby healthy.

Toxins

“Studies show an increased rate of congenital anomalies in the babies of men and women who are exposed to pesticides, and also an increased miscarriage rate in women exposed to pesticides,” said Dr. Lauri Romanzi, Clinical Associate Professor of Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medical Center/New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. “Women (and the men of women) who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant should minimize or totally avoid exposure to pesticides.”

In addition to avoiding any pesticide exposure throughout your pregnancy (including interior pesticides) Andrew Pratt, Grounds Manager at Cleveland Botanical Garden also suggests women research the active ingredients in all products including “organic” or “natural” products.

”Avoid lawn care fertilizers and pesticides and consider switching to an organic program your health and the environment,” says Pratt.

If pests are a problem in your garden Drzewucki adds that, “Many problems are easily handled using organic, biological or cultural controls such as insecticidal soaps, or releasing ladybugs to control insects like aphids or using herbicidal soaps or mulches for weed control.”

Infections

Toxoplasma gondi is a common infection that is spread from animals to humans and can be acquired by ingesting or direct contact with raw or undercooked meat as well as exposure to soil. Women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant have long been advised to avoid cleaning their cat’s litter boxes, as this also puts them at risk of getting the infection.

A fetus can get infected with the virus if the mother becomes infected both during or prior to getting pregnant. Romanzi explained that while adults who get infected usually don’t have symptoms babies with the infection are at risk of visual and neurological impairment and/or mental retardation.

Most people recover from the infection with treatment, although you’ll want to check with your healthcare provider on treatment options you may need. There are a number of things you can do to help prevent toxoplasma including: wearing solid gardening gloves, shoes with socks, practicing good hand washing habits, and fully cooking your meat.

Protect your back

“Gardening can be a relaxing and therapeutic hobby when done correctly. However, it also can lead to many types of back injuries if you are not cautious,” according to Stephen Ritter, M.D., of Methodist Sports Medicine / The Orthopedic Specialists, a Clarian Health partner.

“Yard work can be considered another great form of exercise. But, with any physical activity, it’s important to warm up and stretch your muscles. Take some time to walk around outside to prepare your muscles for any moving, lifting, digging or bending in the garden. “

Ritter suggests stretching your back muscles by leaning forward to carefully and touching
your toes. “For a seated back stretch, lean forward from your hips and reach for the floor and hold. A five to ten minute warm up for your back muscles will help prevent any strains or soreness later.”

Ritter adds that the most common mistake people make when working in the yard is lifting heavy objects inappropriately.

“You should bend your knees and use your legs to lift your body up. Instead of reaching forward to move a heavy object, walk over to the object and lift it straight up off the ground by bending your knees and keeping your spine in an upright position,” suggest Ritter. “This will help avoid placing strain on your spine and back muscles.”

Ritter also suggests kneeling instead of bending over for long periods of time when working in the yard. “By kneeling in the garden, you are putting much less strain on your back and spine. If necessary, use knee pads to protect your knees from dirt or soreness.”

Using long handed tools will help you maintain a proper postures and Ritter suggests placing a shovel directly in front of you and parallel to your hip bones if you are doing any digging.

“Don’t overdo it: Gardening can cause back pain and overuse injuries,” says Ritter. “For example, after 15 minutes of raking, change to pruning or mowing your lawn. You should also avoid all-day marathon gardening sessions. Space out your gardening tasks over the course of several days.”

Chiropractor Dr. Greg Werner, www.gregwerner.com, suggests limiting the time you spending gardening and standing up and walking around between plantings as well as using a gardening bucket or bench to sit on when planting or pulling weeds.

“Use proper gardening tools when planting: using only your arms will put undo pressure on your wrists,” adds Werner. “When you are pregnant you are more prone to overuse syndromes such as carpal tunnel or tennis elbow.”

“Do your gardening a little at a time instead of trying to knock it all out in one try, and if you’re just trying to spruce up your yard and you are far along in your pregnancy (third trimester) have your husband/partner do it.”

Meditate

Debbie Mandel, MA, author of “Addicted to Stress,” says there are things you can do to make gardening a “moving meditation, instead of a toxic experience.”

“Protect yourself from searing sun with sun block, a hat and loose clothing,” says Mandel. “Even better avoid gardening midday.”

“Melasma (aka Chloasma) is a hyper pigmentation condition that affects 50-70% of pregnant women, most commonly appearing on the forehead, cheeks and chin,” says Dr. Romanzi. “While it can be treated post-partum with bleaching agents, laser, chemical peels and topical agents such as tretionoin(Retin-A) it can also be prevented by the liberal and regular use of SPF-50 UVA-PF 28 sunscreen (2007 study University Teaching Hospital IbnRochd in Casablanca, Morocco) . Pregnant women who want to prevent hypermelanotic changes in their skin should regularly use adequate sunscreen and sunhats outdoors.”

Mandel adds that women should, “Drink plenty of water as gardeners tend to get immersed in what they are doing and forget about hydrating.” And suggests avoiding gardening during the times mosquitoes in your area fee – generally 6-8am and pm.”

Breathe your way to better sex

Our dear friends at Betty Dodson central command (www.dodsonandross.com) continue to delight, the latest being their posting on an awesome (truly) anthropologic find – a stone-age dildo replete with carved rib rings and obligatory mushroom cap, lest future generations doubt its purpose.

stone age sex toy found in german cave

Why do women have orgasms?  According to behavioral biologists, it may promote sperm competition by encouraging females to “sample” multiple males. Hmmmm.

To access this review from Psychology Today click: 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-dawn/201005/why-do-women-have-orgasms

The PHIT perspective:
Why do women have orgasms?    Because we can, silly.

(insert eye-roll here)

multi-tasking aplomb

For all those mothers and daughters on this fine Sunday, here’s the latest on feminine ferocity from Serena and her gal pal extraordinaire, Mother Nature:

 Serena loves Mother Nature

Brought to you intentionally on a Sunday as a gift to your Monday…

Boot Camp Basics for Tantric Training

For those of you who decline the invitation to Soukous your way to core phitness rapture, (http://www.theperfectphit.com/blog/2010/04/who-said-kegels-arent-fun-wind-your-way-to-kegel-glory/) grab a self-lit, hand held mirror, get comfy on the bed, and start your first Kegel lesson as follows:

-PHIT WHY NOTS AND HOW TO’S-

 Do I really need to  Kegel? In a word, yes! Kegels strengthen your pelvic muscles, which wrap around the vagina in women and urethra and rectum in both men and women, contribute to pelvic organ support in women, reduce premature ejaculation in men, and enhance sexual pleasure on both sides of the equation. Do you do crunches for your abs? Same thing, hotter rewards.

What to do: To double-check yourself when Kegeling for the first time, lie in bed with a mirror and look at your perineum (skin between anus and vagina in women, anus and scrotum in men). When you Kegel (named after the California doctor who rediscovered this ancient Tantric exercise and it’s benefits for women), the perineum will appear to retract, or pull into, your body.

How often: Let me begin by stating clearly and repeatedly that there is NO EXACT NUMBER OR BEST WAY TO KEGEL, any more than there is one best way or optimal number of repetitions for ripping your six pack, firming thighs and buttocks, pumping up your “guns” , or any other method of exercising your body to optimal fitness.

What’s the physiology? That said, muscle physiology plays a role.  Every muscle that you can move contains two basic fibers, those being fast twitch and slow twitch.  They develop in response to demands placed upon the muscle group, and were we to biopsy the quadricep muscle of a sprinter, we’d see a preponderance of fast twitch, and in a marathon runner, a predominance of slow twitch muscle fibers.  In the core muscles, the slow twitch contribute a lot to support and body control during sustained activity, like standing, sitting, walking, carrying and running. Fast twitch reacts reflexively with coughing and sneezing or any abrupt motion, in addition to being center stage during orgasm. http://www.theperfectphit.com/blog/2010/04/male-and-female-orgasm-not-so-different-by-alan-fogel/

Make it happen: Experts who do lots of research on the utility of Kegel exercises recommend doing two kinds of “sets” a day, to strengthen the 2 types of muscle fibers. For your slow-twitch, do a set of 10 contractions in which you hold each for a count of 5 seconds twice a day and a set of 30, one-second quick squeezes twice a day. With both exercises, there is no need to take a big break in between, just go smoothly from one to the next, exactly as you do crunches, push ups and curls. Once you have it down in the mirror on your bed, you have my permission to change up your game and do them anywhere, any time.

Well, if you are a reluctant Kegel-er due to errors of perception; “It’s sooo inconvenient!, It’s not fun. I don’t like the way it feels.”, or suffer some other form of Kegel Squeamishness, consider loading some Soukous into your IPod and having at it anywhere at all – on your 15 minute work break in your cubicle, at the busstop, online at the bank, waiting on the subway platform, next to your car in parking-lot style commuter traffic hell… 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90xRDYruyN8&NR=1

Kegels are a TOOL, people!  Use it!  Want your man to look up from the paper?  Your kids to pay attention?  Your co-workers to give props? 

Your Secret Weapon of Personal Power

Never mind them – how about fixing that kink in your sacro-iliac while rocking your core to its greatest potential?  What better multi-tasking than that, hmmm? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsnKowy_zc0

Posted intentionally on a Sunday as a gift to your Monday