Doctor's Advice: Should I use viagra?

Q. Doc, I am a guy of almost 17, and a fellow student has offered to sell me some Viagra pills. This is an attractive idea!

Should I buy them? He does not want a lot of money for them. He will not tell me where he got them from, but he says they are powerful.

A. Look, the first thing to realise is that these pills might not be what he says they are. This guy may have just stolen a few of his granny's heart tablets and decided to sell them around your school to make some money.

If you swallow these things, you might be ingesting all sorts of dangerous ingredients. You could even end up dead. That is a very good reason for not buying the pills from him.

The second point I must make is this: What good could Viagra possibly do for a 16- or 17-year-old guy?

All that Viagra does is to widen the blood vessels in various parts of the body, including the penis. The effect is simply that it is easier to achieve an erection.

But why would a teenage boy need help to get erect? Most male teenagers have erections all over the place, whether they want to or not. Indeed, very often, those erections are most inconvenient and embarrassing. If you took Viagra, you would have even more of them.

May I stress that Viagra does not make sex any better for a guy. It just makes erection more likely to occur. That is fine for middle-aged and elderly gentlemen who are having difficulty in getting hard. But for a young man of your age, it would be pointless.

Summing up, I doubt the tablets are Viagra and I advise strongly that you do not buy them.

 

Painful lump

Q. I am 19 and I have suddenly developed a painful lump just to the left of my vaginal opening. It seems like it is tightly full of liquid, Doc.

Help!

A. I suspect you have a problem with one of the two little Bartholin's glands. Each of them is around the size of a gungo pea. They lie on either side of the lower part of the vulva (the opening of the vagina). Experts often say that they are positioned at '4 o'clock' and '8 o'clock'.

They frequently get infected - sometimes during sex, but sometimes not. They have a tendency to swell and cause pain.

It is clear that you should go and see a doctor - urgently. She will have a look at your vulva and check whether you do have inflammation of a Bartholin's gland. If so, she will probably start by treating you with antibiotics.

I am not sure if you are having sex, but, if so, you should definitely stop until this problem has been cured.

 

Can I have reverse my circumcision?

Q. I deeply regret being circumcised as I believe this has destroyed my sex life.

Is there any way I could have the foreskin put back on, Doc?

A. Well, your foreskin has long been thrown away. The surgeon does not keep it in case you change your mind!

However, a skin graft could be taken from another part of your body (like your arm) to replace the missing foreskin. That would be a real difficult operation, which could only be done by a skilled plastic surgeon.

Are you really sure that your circumcision has really destroyed your sex life? I feel you should talk to a doctor or a youth counsellor about what has been going wrong in bed. It could well be that some simple advice will help you put everything right without the need to have an operation.

 

Postinor concerns

Q. I am a female, age 19. Because of a couple of unwise sexual entanglements, I took Postinor twice this month. Fortunately, my menses have arrived and I am not pregnant.

But please tell me, Doc, does Postinor have any side effects? I would not like to harm my health.

A. Well, Postinor (often known as the emergency contraceptive or the after-sex pill) is not supposed to be taken twice for the month. However, it is most unlikely that you have done yourself any harm healthwise.

Yes, this drug can have side effects, just like any other medication. They include:

- Tiredness;

- Feeling sick;

- Vomiting;

- Bellyache;

- Loose motions;

- Dizziness;

- Breast tenderness;

- Headache.

Also, Postinor can sometimes cause you to have an early, or unusually heavy, period.

Having said all that, I must stress that many young women use Postinor successfully and have no side effects at all.

 

Why hasn't she climaxed?

Q. I am a pretty highly sexed guy, Doc. What puzzles me is that when I thrust deep inside my girlfriend at the moment of orgasm, she does not immediately have an orgasm herself.

Why is this please? Has she some illness?

A. No, she hasn't. Like a lot of young guys, you think that your deep thrust inside a female should be enough to make her climax. Frankly, that is foolishness.

In reality, most young women cannot reach an orgasm unless someone intensively stimulates the clitoris. Clearly, you are not doing that.

 

Thick hymen?

Q. I am a 22-year-old woman, and I have never been able to put in a tampon or to have sex. I am sure that this is because I have a real thick hymen, Doc.

Now I am engaged to a wonderful guy and we plan to get married soon after Easter. So far, he has not been successful in getting inside me.

Do you think I should go to a gynaecologist and ask for my thick hymen to made thinner or maybe removed?

A. Sorry to hear about this problem. I am a little doubtful about whether you really have a 'thick hymen'. Technically, this is possible, but I suspect that what is really happening is that you have a sort of muscle contract whenever you try to put anything into the vagina.

I do agree that you should go and see a gynaecologist and let her sort out the problem for you. There may be some obstruction which she needs to remove, or perhaps she will just teach you to relax the vaginal muscles so that you can admit a tampon - or your fiance.

 

Pregnancy puzzle

Q. I am a little embarrassed to admit this, Doc. In our town, there is a pretty girl. Recently, she let me have sex with her without contraception. The following night, my friend also had intercourse with her.

Now she has told me that she is pregnant! Oddly, she has not told my pal. This is puzzling. How can I find out which of us is the father?

A. I bet you wish you had used contraception! But I wonder why she has not spoken to your friend. Maybe she thinks that you would make a better babyfather?

Alternatively, there is just a possibility that he didn't have sex with her at all and was just boasting to you. I think you should talk with him now to try and clarify things.

In nine months' time, when the baby is born, you should try and persuade the young lady - plus any possible fathers - to do a DNA test.

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