Doctor's Advice - Is anal sex OK?

• Is anal sex OK?

Q. Doctor, I am a female university student, aged 20. My boyfriend is the same age as me. We are both virgins. At least I am, and he says he is. We do not want to have sexual intercourse, because an unexpected pregnancy would be disastrous for my academic career. So he has suggested to me that we try something we have both seen in a 'blue movie' that we watched together. In that film, the actress let the guy have sex with her via her anus. It seemed quite simple and straightforward. And I am assuming that there would be no risk of pregnancy. Am I right about that? My boyfriend, who loves me dearly, is very keen to try this. But I am not so sure. I feel that there must be a catch somewhere, or some health problem that I do not know about. What is your medical opinion?

A: My medical opinion is that you shouldn't do this. Admittedly, quite a lot of couples sometimes go in for that type of sex, but they are mainly middle-aged and older people. For a young woman, the colossal drawback of rectal sex is that it hurts really, really badly!

The reason for this is quite simple. The diameter of your rectal opening is much less than the diameter of a guy's penis. Therefore, if your boyfriend tries to insert it into your anus, it will be pretty agonising for you. You may wonder why the girls in the porn movies are able to have 'bottom sex' without apparent difficulty. The reason is simple. These actresses have practised it over a period of several years, during which they gradually become more and more dilated.

So their anal openings, which were doubtless tight when they first started, have gradually become more loose, until they are in most cases actually gaping. This is not very good for them, since it means that they will probably leak faecal matter at inconvenient moments, throughout their lives.

Doubtless, your boyfriend could force his way in if you wanted to let him. But it would be an unpleasant sensation for you, rather than a pleasurable one. Also, in early attempts at anal penetration, the young woman usually suffers small cuts, plus bleeding and bruising. That is not too nice for her.

Another disadvantage is that rectal sex is a fairly good way of passing on certain infections, notably gonorrhoea (the clap), chlamydia and HIV. Admittedly, it is unlikely that your boyfriend has any of these, assuming that he really is a virgin, as he claims.

You may be asking yourself why I say that it is younger women who suffer a lot of pain if someone tries to penetrate them anally. The reason is this. Women who are in their 30s and 40s have often had children. And the process of childbirth makes the muscles and ligaments considerably looser in that area of the body. Therefore, it is often much easier to push things into the rectum. So it is an undeniable fact that middle-aged couples can often have rectal sex reasonably comfortably.

Finally, you enquire whether 'bottom sex' can lead to pregnancy. No, it can't, because sperm deposited inside the rectum cannot find a route to the woman's womb. There is just a remote chance that they could make their way across the skin between the anus and the vulva, and thus enter the vagina. But that is most unlikely. Summing up, I really do not think that it would be a good idea for you and the young man to experiment with this type of activity.

• Can I catch VD?

Q. I am a guy, and I forgot to wash my hands after using a public toilet. Later that day, I masturbated. Is there any chance that this could give mevenereal disease Doc?

A: None whatsoever, so quit fretting.

• Bigger testicle

Q. Doc, is there any medicine which would make my testicles bigger?

A: No - unless you are suffering from a deficiency of male hormone. A physical examination and a blood test would soon give the answer to that point.

• Irregular period after birth

Q. Hi, Doc. I gave birth to a beautiful baby around four months ago, but have been getting irregular periods ever since then. Please tell me what you think could be wrong.

A: Sorry to hear about this. I suspect that you may have a little bit of placenta (afterbirth) still in the womb. To find out whether this is so, you need to have an internal examination by an expert doctor, plus probably an ultrasound scan. If there is some placenta still left in the womb, it will not be too difficult to remove it. I wish you and your baby well.

• Am I infertile?

Q. My sperm fluid seems strangely thin to me, compared with that of other guys. So I greatly fear that I am infertile. How could I find out, Doc?

A: Well, I'm not quite sure how you have managed to see other guys' seminal fluid. But on the basis of what you say, it is most unlikely that you are infertile. If you really want to find out, you could ask a doctor to send a sperm test to the hospital lab.

• Is colloidal silver a cure-all?

Q. Good afternoon. Is colloidal silver a cure-all, as I have heard? Would it help the sex life? And where can I buy it?

A: Colloidal silver has had a lot of publicity recently. By the way, the word colloidal just means that the silver is suspended in fine particles in a liquid.

This medication was used a lot by doctors around 70 to 100 years ago, because it had some mild germ-killing ability. But when antibiotics were invented, it fell out of use. No, it certainly isn't a 'cure-all'. The best I can say for it is that it may kill some germs.

I believe there is a guy down in Brown's Town, St Ann, who is marketing it. But before you try it, I suggest you read the Wikipedia article on 'Medical uses of silver'.  Finally, there is no way it could help your sex life. Sorry.

Email questions to Doc at saturdaylife@gleanerjm.com and read more in the Outlook Magazine tomorrow.