No, your sex life will not be over after cancer treatment. It’s a real concern for many women, and it’s completely normal, says Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering and an advisor to SurvivorNet. “It takes time after breast cancer [treatment] for some women to feel sexy again, to feel good in their skin again,” Dr. Comen says. She’s had so many young patients go on to find love after cancer and get happily married. As for married women going through treatment, Dr. Comen says it’s important to communicate openly with your partner and seek help, if needed, so you can fully address all of the issues around body image and sexuality.
Body Image, Sex, and Adjusting to a New Normal After Cancer Treatment
Fact Checked
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Updated May 28th, 2019
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The SurvivorNet News Team creates high quality medical information that complies with our industry leading standards for factual accuracy and sourcing from leading experts at academic medical institutions. Every news article is thoroughly fact-checked by our physician collaborators. We vet each piece of work for factual integrity, impartiality, and clearly label any professional conflicts.
All SurvivorNet articles adhere to the following standards:
- All studies and research papers cited are from reputable academic medical institutions or peer-reviewed journals.
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- All content related to new treatments, drugs, procedures, and so on must clearly describe availability, side effects, treatment target (such as triple negative breast cancer)
- All medical information on SurvivorNet is sourced from respected medical professionals with verified medical credentials and links are provided to these sources.
- We strive to give the reader relevant background information and include, clearly-sourced contextual health information in all articles. Readers are clearly alerted to any conflicts of interest from a medical source or the authors of a cited study.
Body Image, Sex, and Adjusting to a New Normal After Cancer Treatment
No, your sex life will not be over after cancer treatment. It’s a real concern for many women, and it’s completely normal, says Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering and an advisor to SurvivorNet. “It takes time after breast cancer [treatment] for some women to feel sexy again, to feel good in their skin again,” Dr. Comen says. She’s had so many young patients go on to find love after cancer and get happily married. As for married women going through treatment, Dr. Comen says it’s important to communicate openly with your partner and seek help, if needed, so you can fully address all of the issues around body image and sexuality.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
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