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Sexual for Life
Humans have sex for many purposes not related to reproduction. Sex is a way to express love and it also provides the feeling of security and reconfirms the feelings shared between people, regardless of age. Sex has also been shown to calm people in stressful periods. Sex has a symbolic value which is independent of age.
Sex between seniors is often considered taboo or is treated embarrassment and extra care. When we are younger, lust and procreation take top priority. Many people assume that sex diminishes once the primary reason for sex is no longer present.
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What is the Purpose of Sex as We Get Older?
As a senior, the two things that may have brought the greatest joy—children and career—are no longer as prevalent in everyday life. Personal relationships often become more important, and sex can be a significant way of connecting. Senior sex has the power to:
- Improve mental and physical health. Senior sex can burn fat, cause the brain to release endorphins, and drastically reduce anxiety.
- Increase lifespan. Through its health-improving benefits, a good senior sex life can add years to your life.
- Solidify relationships. Senior sex is a chance to express the closeness of your deepest relationship.
- Give refuge. Senior sex gives you a chance to escape from the sometimes-harsh realities of the world.
The Grey (and some former Blondes) May Have More Fun
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So let’s update our databases and rethink our biases about seniors and sex.
Humans are normally sexually active to the day they die. If you are not sexually active it is not the norm. In the past most of us thought it normal for sex to less important after the age of 50 or 60. That’s because no one asked the people who were over the ages of 50 or 60.
Really!! Most sex studies stopped at age 59. Now that more people are living to be 70, 80, 90, and 100, we are starting to pay attention.
Research with the elderly shows quite clearly that sex is as important as ever; and quite frequently and happily more fun than ever. We should all be delighted to find that out because it gives us much to look forward to.
Many older couples say that they enjoy sex more now than when they were younger.
- They have more privacy
- Life has fewer stresses
- There are no longer fears of unwanted pregnancies
- Older people know their own bodies
- Seniors have learned to communicate better with their partner
- We are better at sex when we have done it a lot.
- It’s quality not quantity.
- Seniors have more free time.
- Seniors are willing to spend the time that is required for a fully satisfactory orgasm
Use It or Lose It
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Walter M. Bortz, 70, geriatrics expert and author of three books on healthy aging as well as several studies on seniors’ sexuality says, “If you stay interested, stay healthy, stay off medications, and have a good mate, then you can have good sex all the way to the end of life.
Dr. Bortz, a professor at Stanford Medical School, is past president of the American Geriatrics Society and former co-chair of the American Medical Association’s Task Force on Aging reports Duke University study shows that some 20 percent of people over 65 have sex lives that are better than ever before.
And although not everyone wants or needs an active sex life, many people continue to be sexual all their lives. “There’s strong data all over: It’s a matter of survival,” says Dr. Bortz. “People that have sex live longer. Married people live longer. People need people. The more intimate the connection, the more powerful the effects…Use it or lose it. ”
