Jamaica Gleaner
Published: Saturday | March 14, 2009
Home : Let's Talk Life
Doctor's advice - Are threesomes risky

  • Q. I am a female graduate, aged 25, and am involved in a threesome. In other words, I live with two of my friends who were at university with me - one male and one female. If you are wondering, the three of us share a bedroom, and indeed a large bed. And we regard each other as equal sexual partners. We have sex together on several nights of the week.

    We all like each other and there is no arguing or jealousy among us. I suppose you could say that each of us is highly sexed.

    Although we have a happy life, I wonder if you think there are any dangers? My mother knows roughly what is going on and she told me that it's very risky.

    A. Threesomes are not uncommon, though in my experience such relationships are often short-lived. That is because human nature usually drives persons, sooner or later, to become jealous.

    However, I once meet a trio of youngsters who lived together quite happily for about four years. Eventually, they split up when the two women decided that they preferred to be together in a lesbian relationship. The guy was left on his own - and was rather unhappy.

    There are no particular health dangers from 'three-way sex', provided that all of you remain faithful.

    However, if one of you decided to play around with other persons, there would obviously be a risk that he or she might bring home an infection.

    If the young man in your threesome gets one or both of you pregnant, that would cause considerable difficulties, would it not? I sincerely hope that you and the other woman are taking the Pill or using some other form of safe contraception.

  • Q. I am 19 and in my first-ever relationship with my boyfriend. What is making me fret is that again and again I wake up in the night and find that he has an erection in his sleep.

    I am quite angry about this because I feel it is an indication that he is thinking about other women, and not about me.

    A. No, I am afraid that you are quite wrong here. What you have not realised is that all virile guys get erections in their sleep, especially when they are dreaming. Sleep researchers have found that many young males will have five or six such erections during the night.

    These nocturnal erections are purely physiological. In other words, the guy does not actually intend to get erect; it is just that his body produces an erection. Very frequently, he is not even having a sexy dream at the time.

    Your boyfriend has no control over this phenomenon. It does NOT mean that he is thinking unfaithful thoughts. Pay these erections no mind.

  • Q. I am a guy who travels a lot between Kingston and Miami. I have noticed that in Florida, it is possible to get a vasectomy quite cheaply. I am thinking of having one. So, Doc, I have two questions: Does it hurt? And does it work?

    A. Vasectomy - or male sterilisation - is becoming increasingly common across the world. The 'snip', as it is often known, is carried out by a surgeon who makes either one or two little cuts in the scrotum.

    Working through these incisions, he then cuts through the Vas - which is the tiny tube that carries sperms upwards from the testicles towards the penis.

    The operation itself really doesn't hurt at all. But during the next week or so, you would get quite a lot of aching round the testicles. Most guys take aspirin or some other mild painkiller. It is also a good idea to wear athletic support for a fortnight or so, as that makes everything more comfortable.

    The operation is very nearly 100 per cent successful. However, around one man in every 1,000 fathers a child after having it, because the tube (the vas) has managed to reconnect again.

    You are not sterile immediately after a vasectomy! It takes a couple of months for all the sperm to be cleared from the system. Therefore, some weeks after the op, the surgeon will ask you to do a few sperm-count examinations to make sure that all of them have gone.

  • Q. I am 17 and my menses are lasting 10 or 12 days a month. Is this OK, Doc?

    A. No, it is far too long! See a doctor who will determine why your periods are so long, and then give you medication to make them much shorter.

  • Q. I am an 18-year-old guy and I have noticed that I have little white spots on my penis. Could this be some form of venereal disease (VD)? I have never had sex.

    A. Then you cannot have VD. Many young men get tiny white spots, rather like grains of salt. These are called 'milia'. They mean nothing. Nevertheless, I think that you should have a doc check out your organ, just to make sure that the spots are harmless.

  • Q. My husband and I do not have sex often but we did so on Valentine's Day. Now, I am pleased to say that I am pregnant. When will the baby be born?

    A You need to work out what the date of the FIRST day of your last menses was, and then add nine months and one week. So, if your last period began on, say, February 1, the baby would be due about November 8.

  • Q. I recently went on the Pill. Suddenly I have a severe pain in the back of my lower leg. It is swollen. Is this OK?

    A. No. It is quite alarming. You may have a deep-vein thrombosis (a clot) in your calf. That is one of the rare, but very dangerous side effects of the Pill. Try to see a doc immediately. Do not take any the Pill again until you have consulted her.

    For advice on medical issues, email your questions to saturdaylife@gleanerjm.com.

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