Having sex after COVID, what to pay attention to?

1. Sex as a stroke trigger

A stroke is a sudden and serious life-threatening event that is usually caused by a number of health problems such as high blood pressure, bleeding disorders, cardiovascular disease, and other stroke risk factors.

It is quite unusual for someone to have a stroke during sex. In fact, it’s rare for a stroke to be caused by any immediate trigger. Most strokes are the result of a buildup of long-term health problems such as smoking, high blood pressure, high blood fats and cholesterol, poorly controlled diabetes or blood clotting abnormalities. and heart disease…

However, there have also been cases of strokes occurring during or shortly after sexual activity. It has also been noted that sexual activity outside of marriage increases the risk of dying from a stroke. This is due to increased stroke rates related to emotional or psychological factors related to extramarital sexual activity, or to reluctance to call medical facilities when there is a health problem. …

2. How often does a stroke happen during sex?

There are also no completely accurate data on how often strokes occur during sex. But in general, a stroke occurs less frequently during sexual activity than during other activities such as driving or jogging.

A scientific article published in the American Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease evaluated 290 patients with a diagnosed stroke and reported that only 5 of them were involved in sexual activity. sex. This relatively low number is consistent with previous research on stroke-related onset events.

3. Warning signs and stroke risk factors

3.1 Severe headache

People who have a stroke during or within hours of sexual activity often experience some warning signs weeks or even months in advance. One of the most common warning signs is a sudden, explosive, and intense headache.

If you ever experience severe headaches or any variant of severe headaches during sexual activity, contact a specialist for a thorough medical evaluation. Some people have severe headaches when relationship Sex doesn’t go on to have a stroke, but about 30-50% of people are at risk for an ischemic stroke.

3.2 Brain aneurysm

Sexual activity is also a risk factor for people with brain aneurysms, which are an irregularly shaped blood vessel in the brain. Brain aneurysms can leak or burst, causing a hemorrhagic stroke.

Brain aneurysms can cause a stroke during sex.

3.3 Age

It seems that age is not a risk factor for stroke caused by sex. It has been reported that young people without typical stroke risk factors have been among those who have had a stroke during sex.

Blood clotting disorders, serious congenital heart defects, brain aneurysms, oral contraceptive use, and a history of smoking appear to play a role in these rare situations.

3.4 Drug use

Drug or substance use has been linked to stroke during or after sexual activity. In addition, the use of herbal substances to enhance sexual function has also been linked to stroke.

4. What to do if you have symptoms of a stroke?

If you ever experience headaches, dizziness or any other neurological symptoms during or after sexual activity, you should seek medical attention. If a partner/partner has symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, vision changes, slurred speech, weakness or confusion during or after sexual activity, it is most important to get medical attention. immediate emergency.

Ischemic strokes and hemorrhagic strokes are not common during sex but are more likely to occur if you or your partner experience these neurological warning signs.

PGS.TS.BS. Bui Khac Hau: “Some people have a stroke or heart attack within a few weeks or months of recovering from COVID-19 due to blood clot sequelae, even though they did not have chronic heart disease or other underlying health conditions before. risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as diabetes, overweight-obesity, high blood pressure. It is clear that blood clots play a major role in post-COVID-19 stroke.”

5. Sex after COVID-19

In COVID-19 patients, strokes are not frequent. The rate of COVID-19-associated ischemic stroke in hospitalized patients ranged from 0.4-2.7%, while the rate of intracerebral hemorrhage ranged from 0.3-0.9%.

The risk of stroke can vary depending on the severity of COVID-19. Mild patients have a <1% risk of stroke, but in intensive care patients the risk can be as high as 6%.

A stroke can occur one to three weeks after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. However, stroke may also be the primary cause of hospitalization for some COVID-19 patients.

After contracting COVID-19, if you have abnormal symptoms, you should go to a medical facility.

Post-COVID-19 patients are considered a high-risk group for stroke when there are many other risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, lipid metabolism disorders, atrial fibrillation, smoking, obesity. enlarged…

If a patient has a mild case of COVID-19 and no other stroke risk factors, the risk of stroke will be very low. Therefore, there is no need for routine stroke screening.

If the patient has other concomitant risk factors, stroke screening should also focus on the goal of tightly controlling these risk factors.

At this time, sexual relations also need to be very cautious. Experts recommend that it is safest to have sex after 14 days after contracting COVID-19 if your health is stable, there are no signs of fatigue and exertion in some normal activities. However, it is still necessary to use preventive measures such as using condoms …

Men after contracting COVID-19 should pay attention to their bodies, especially in sexual matters. If there are abnormal signs of health, you should go to a medical facility to be examined. Specialist doctors will, depending on the case, perform a number of evaluation tests such as testosterone hormone, Doppler ultrasound of penile vessels, blood sugar, blood fat, kidney function … to have appropriate treatment.

Besides, lifestyle changes are also an effective measure to improve health and sexual function.

Do not smoke, do not drink alcohol, beer, do not use stimulants, addictive substances. Exercise at least 15-20 minutes/day, do exercises to improve lung ventilation. Eat lots of fruit and fiber. Limit foods high in fat, fast food, fried food, fat, animal organs.