If you think you have to tone down your love life after suffering a cardiovascular event, think again, says U.K. doc Miriam Stoppard, MD. She says sex is not only perfectly fine to engage in after a heart attack, but encourages it.
Unless you have very severe heart problems, sex can actually help heart patients both psychologically, as a mood-lifter, and physically, since lovemaking qualifies as moderate exercise, she says.
If you still feel the need to modify, here are her suggestions:
• Try making love in the morning after a good night’s sleep, when both of you are feeling rested. Or at the weekend when you can lie in.
• A change in sex positions can also help people with heart conditions. Lying next to each other on your sides, face to face, is more restful than the missionary position. Alternatively, find positions that avoid muscle cramps and tension, perhaps with the fit partner on top so that they can do most of the moving, which will avoid the person underneath from getting too tired.
As we’ve reported before, only 2.2 percent of heart attacks are triggered by sex — and Stoppard says fewer than 1 percent of coronary deaths are caused by sex. So despite any superstition you might have, the odds really are in your favor. So have at it!
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