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Females feeling pain when having sex for the first time

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Females feeling pain when having sex for the first time

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When a woman has vaginal sex for the first time, it can be a little painful. There may also be a small amount of blood, but this isn't always the case and usually occurs because the hymen has been broken during sexual intercourse.

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Females being naturally and physically weaker than men

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Females being naturally and physically weaker than men

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By LOWRI TURNER

Last updated at 20:34 28 April 2008
Which is the weaker sex? It's a long-running argument - men point to women's weaker physical strength, while women are likely to mutter about 'man' flu. But who is better built to withstand disease? LOWRI TURNER asked a panel of medical experts to settle the matter once and for all .... CANCER
The two most common forms of cancer to affect both men and women are colo-rectal and lung cancer. More men than women suffer from both.

When it comes to colo-rectal cancer, diet and lifestyle play a role, but, says Lucy Boyd, an epidemiologist at Cancer Research UK, 'there could be a hormonal factor'.
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Oldest argument: A panel of medical experts try to determine whether women really are the weakest sex

Not only are women less likely to get colorectal cancer - around 55 men per 100,000 men are affected, compared with 35 women - but women who have taken the combined Pill or HRT are even less likely. The Pill and HRT both contain oestrogen.

'Oestrogen is protective against bowel cancer,' Boyd explains. The theory is that oestrogen has an effect on insulin. Being overweight puts you at greater risk of colorectal cancer, possibly because the body produces more insulin.

However, overweight women are not as at risk as overweight men, and that's possibly because the oestrogen 'cancels out some of the effect', says Boyd. As for lung cancer, men are at greater risk simply because they have tended to smoke more than women.
Weaker sex: MEN BONES
The male skeleton is bigger and gives them an inherent advantage - larger bones are generally stronger,' says endocrinologist Professor Ignac Fogelman, a consultant physician in nuclear medicine at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust. Stronger bones mean fewer breaks.

Men also benefit because they don't experience the menopause, which can cause sudden loss in bone density as a result of oestrogen levels dropping.

That is not to say men don't suffer bone loss as they age, but because they start with more bone, they can afford to lose a bit, says the National Osteoperosis Society.

Professor Fogelman adds: 'Men do get osteoporosis, but it is usually to do with genetic factors, long-term use of corticosteroids, alcoholism or unknown factors.'

Men also tend not to suffer from broken hips in old age. Breaking a hip is dangerous: one in ten patients dies within a month, a quarter within six months. 'The most common fracture in those over 80, the hip fracture, is relatively uncommon in men,' says Fogelman. 'Men don't live long enough.'

Women also lose out with osteoarthritis. According to the Arthritis Research Campaign, twice as many women as men get osteoarthritis in their hands and four times as many women as men get it in their knees. The genders are equal only when it comes to osteorarthritis in their hips.

Osteoarthritis is caused by wear and tear - again, men are at an advantage because they start out with bigger, stronger bones which can take more punishment.

Weaker sex: WOMEN
HEART
Coronary heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK. True, more men get it - but it also affects millions of women (1.5 million men, compared with 1.1 million women). 'The perception is that it's a male disease,' says Judy O'Sullivan, cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation. 'Some women think it doesn't matter if they are 38, smoke 20 a day and are five stone overweight. They think they won't get a heart attack, but they do.'

However, women have one advantage: it's that female hormone oestrogen again, which this time has a cardio-protective effect. 'The mechanism is not fully understood,' explains O'Sullivan. Pre-menopausal women do get heart attacks, but most female heart disease occurs after the menopause, when a woman's oestrogen level declines.
Weaker sex: MEN MUSCLES
There has been a lot of controversy in the sports world about whether men's apparent physical advantage is on the wane. A look at the bulging muscles sported by some female Wimbledon champions proves that female sportswomen aren't the delicate flowers they once were - some experts have argued that women will eventually equal men's speed and strength.

But the fact is that men generally have bigger, stronger muscles. As Harry Brennan, an exercise physiologist at the Institute of Sport, says: 'There was a period in the Seventies when women equalled or broke more world records than men, but that was before the fall of the Berlin Wall.'

In other words, this was the era when Eastern Bloc coaches were feeding female athletes steroids like sweets.

'It now looks as if the gap is widening,' Brennan says. 'At a hormonal level, men have 10 per cent more testosterone.' Testosterone helps the body lay down more muscle. 'This is why men tend to be more muscly,' explains Brennan.

Still, if men are stronger, aren't women - with their smaller, lighter bodies - more agile? Apparently not. 'Agility depends upon the ability to decelerate and accelerate fast, and men - because of their larger muscles - will always have an advantage,' says Brennan.

But if men are stronger, faster and more agile, women are more flexible. 'Women's smaller muscle mass and joint geometry, and the difference in ligament structure, allows for more flexibility,' says Brennan. So, a woman could pick a dirty sock off the floor, no problem, while a man would have to bend. That's if he noticed the sock in the first place.
Weaker sex: WOMEN EYE & EAR PROBLEMS
Neither hearing nor sight loss is gender related, although as both tend to worsen with age, women report more of both because they live longer.
Weaker sex: NEITHER BRAIN
Mental health is an area where men appear not to fare well. For a start, men are more than twice as likely to be affected by schizophrenia. 'Up to 40 per cent more men are diagnosed with schizophrenia than women - and their symptoms tend to be more severe and treatment less effective,' explains Jane Harris of the charity Rethink.

'There are lots of competing theories about what causes schizophrenia, but most experts think it is down to a combination of nature and nurture.'

There is evidence for a genetic link to schizophrenia, and it's thought certain behaviours may 'switch on' this gene or genes. As Harris says: 'Men are more likely to do things that put them at risk of developing schizophrenia - such as smoking cannabis. Medical research shows that heavy cannabis users are up to four times more likely to develop psychosis.'

Boys are also more likely to be diagnosed with the developmental conditions autism and Asperger's syndrome. The Autism Society says boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with the condition than girls.

This may be because they are exposed to higher levels of testosterone before birth, affecting their brain development, according to research by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen from the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge.

But not all conditions affecting the brain are more concentrated in the male section of the population. 'Women get postnatal depression, and the menopause can be a trigger for depression,' says Marjorie Wallace, founder of mental health charity Sane. Depression is more common in women - one in four (three million) women will require treatment for depression at some time, compared with one in ten men.

This higher rate of depression means that, when it comes to mental health, more women are affected overall.

Weaker sex: WOMEN
IMMUNE SYSTEM
Another intriguing difference between the sexes is in immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and hypothyroidism.

'Women are three times as likely to get rheumatoid arthritis as men,' says Dr Annabel Bentley, Bupa's assistant medical director (around 375,000 women have the disease, compared with 125,000 men).

One theory is that there is a hormonal link. 'Rheumatoid arthritis tends to improve during pregnancy, although the mechanism is unknown,' says Bentley.
Weaker sex: WOMEN CONCLUSION
Overall, when you add up the number of individuals affected by all these conditions, women are the weaker sex.

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Are women really the weaker sex? The intriguing medical facts that settle the oldest argument of all

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Which is the weaker sex? It's a long-running argument - men point to women's weaker physical strength, while women are likely to mutter about 'man' flu. But who is better built to withstand disease? LOWRI TURNER asked a panel of medical experts to settle the matter once and for all

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Females getting back pain from big breasts

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Females getting back pain from big breasts

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Can You Blame a Poorly Fitted Bra for Your Back Pain?

4 myths and simple solutions

Most women would agree that the right bra can provide more than a few benefits. However, there are enduring myths about the power of the right bra, says Deborah Venesy, MD, a physical medicine & rehabilitation specialist and medical spine specialist at Cleveland Clinic.

She gives expert insight on four misplaced brassiere beliefs ― and offers some simple solutions to women with back pain.

Myth 1: The right bra can improve your posture

One of the most common myths is the idea that the right bra can actually improve your posture or prevent back pain.

"In my clinical experience, wearing a bra does not prevent back pain or improve a woman's posture," Dr. Venesy says. "The benefits of wearing a bra are largely cosmetic," she adds.

Myth 2: An improperly fitted bra causes back pain

Many women who are well-endowed - or who have what clinicians call breast hypertrophy-suffer back and neck pain because of the weight of their breast tissue. Some women also find painful indentations and even scarring along their shoulders where their bra straps dig into their skin.

Compression of the nerves along the shoulders can even cause numbness and tingling in the fingers. Arguments for going "bra-less" for these reasons have caused a stir.

But despite the pain that bra straps can cause for large-breasted women, Dr. Venesy doesn't believe bras in themselves - even improperly fitted ones - can actually cause back pain any more than they can prevent it.

"I don't think a poorly fitting bra actually causes back pain," she says, "although some of our patients with breast hypertrophy elect to have breast reduction to manage upper and lower back pain if they have tried physical therapy with no success."

Myth 3: Exercise can't help pain caused by breast size

To manage back pain, including pain caused by large breasts, Dr. Venesy recommends working to strengthen the core muscles in the abdomen and back.

"We emphasize core strength, cardio exercise and stretching," she says. "Especially for upper back pain, work on improving core strength and the strength of the muscles between the shoulder blades."

Dr. Venesy recommends the following to build these muscle groups and ease pain:

Take a yoga or Pilates class.

Do stretching and back-strengthening exercises several times each week.

Practice good posture.

Make sure you get enough calcium and vitamin D.

Talk to your doctor about the issue.

Avoid sitting for long periods of time at a desk, get up and move.

Use a lumbar roll in desk chair.

Try a standing desk at work.

Myth 4: Smoking has no relationship to back pain

Another way to ease back pain might be unexpected: Quit smoking. There are so many other health reasons to quit smoking, including that it may ease an aching back. Researchers at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki, Finland, conducted an analysis of 121 studies and found a modest connection between low back pain and smoking.

Smokers also are more likely to have intervertebral disc degeneration, where the spinal discs become less effective at absorbing shock, causing pain along the spinal column.

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Can You Blame a Poorly Fitted Bra for Your Back Pain?

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Most women would agree that the right bra can provide more than a few benefits. However, there are enduring myths about the power of the right bra, says Deborah Venesy, MD, a physical medicine & rehabilitation specialist and medical spine specialist at Cleveland Clinic.

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Alloy Photography/Veer

Not What I Expected

When we asked new moms to describe what labor felt like, we received almost 500 responses. In the course of describing labor pain, your answers hit on many similar themes -- how the experience compared with your expectations, what pushing was like, and whether you'd recommend an epidural. We culled through the responses to pick some of the most common themes.

As a first-time mom, I had a difficult time deciding if I was in labor or if I was having Braxton Hicks contractions. My symptoms did not fit into either category. I had a lot of cramping under my belly, not radiating from the top down or in my back like the books said. When I finally went in to the hospital to be checked, sure I would be sent home, I was told that I was actually in labor.
Tamara, St. Louis Park, MN

With both my babies I didn't experience normal contractions. Instead I felt like I was having one long contraction that felt like the worst menstrual cramps I had ever had.
Rebecca, Layton, UT

I was told it would feel like very bad menstrual cramps but that's not what it felt like to me. It was much more intense and it was almost all in my lower back. Every time a contraction would come, my lower back would slowly begin to seize up. It was kind of like the muscles inside were slowly twisting harder and harder until it became almost unbearable, and then it would slowly subside. It was still much more painful than I had imagined it would be.
Angelina, Ellicott City, MD

A Tug of War

Over and over again, many of our respondents used similar images to describe labor pain: intense menstrual cramps combined with internal twisting.

To me, labor felt like the worst menstrual cramp or gas pain that you've ever had, combined with someone stabbing you in the stomach! It would subside and come back until the beautiful epidural lady came to save me.
Rebecca, Indianapolis, IN

The pain is like having your insides twisted, pulled, and squeezed. If I fought it, the pain became worse. Once I surrendered to and accepted the pain, it was more bearable. It is like getting caught in the undertow of a wave. Being trapped under water is scary -- you can fight it and get more scared or you can just let go and wait until the wave releases you. Also, there was an intense searing pain in my lower back, which was helped when my husband applied pressure to it.
Tommasina, Canton, GA

I would consider labor pains as menstrual cramps multiplied by a million. It feels like your abdomen is trying to squeeze out all its contents, not just the baby. They come in waves and varying intensity throughout the laboring process. I would go from a pretty tolerable one to an extremely intense one the next time. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain and it is definitely the hardest thing I have ever done.
Amanda, Reading, MA

The best description I can offer of how the pain actually felt was like a deep internal "pulling" -- like someone kept reaching up deep inside me, grabbing hold of whatever internal organs they could, and trying to tug them out.
Jennifer, Olympia, WA

My labor pain felt like my hips were being pulled apart!
Nancy, Pico Rivera, CA

It's Not That Bad

While the vast majority of our respondents found labor extremely painful, some women were pleasantly surprised to find it easier than they had imagined.

My labor was wonderful. I went in for my 36th week visit and the midwife was checking to see if I was dilated. She got a funny look on her face and told me I was five centimeters dilated and 90 percent effaced! I went to the hospital, got an epidural, and four hours later had a baby girl virtually pain free.
Jamie, Canton, GA

Labor wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. I was in labor for 16 hours, and it seemed to fly by. And it all got much easier once the epidural kicked in.
Carmen, Hendersonville, NC

There is pain and labor does hurt, but it was not as bad as television shows or family and friends made it out to be. To me, it felt like a menstrual pain that was more painful than normal but not excruciating. Actually, the worst part was how a contraction would kick in whenever the nurse put the baby monitor on my stomach!
Beth, Georgetown, MA

Labor pain was not that bad. It feels like cramping when you get your period, just a little more intense. And the pushing is a relief. Once you hold the baby you forget all about the pain you were in.
Shannon, Corfu, NY

Once My Water Broke...

A handful of women mentioned that that the pain didn't escalate until their water broke.

After my water broke is when the real pain started. It was more of a tightening that got worse and worse until it peaked, then dropped off. If I could have had this particular pain once an hour or even once every 15 minutes, I'd have been able to tolerate it. But the fact that just as soon as you get through one contraction another is coming, that's what wears you down.
Valerie, Clawson, MI

I didn't have much pain until my water broke. The pain was so bad that in the middle of one contraction I imagined that I walked away from my body. I tried to picture myself walking on the beach. Of course, that didn't work and my next thought was of the epidural.
Andrea, Trenton, NJ

At first it was not so bad but after my water broke, the contractions were horrible. It felt like someone had taken hold of my insides and were wringing them out like a wet dishrag.
Theresa, Youngstown, OH

Thank God for Epidurals!

It appears that the majority of moms who participated in our survey opted for an epidural -- and were happy they did.

Labor pains were worse than anything my imagination could have drummed up! After eight hours of labor pains I opted for the epidural. I had immediate relief.
Michele, Chesapeake, VA

Labor pain for me was like really bad menstrual cramps. The breathing I learned in class helped, but it was hard to concentrate because of the pain. Thank God for the epidural -- from someone who was not sure if she was going to get it when she first went to the hospital!
Barbara, Fort Walton Beach, FL

It's definitely one of the worst pains I have ever felt! The best way I can think to describe it is to say that it felt like my stomach was getting an extremely bad cramp -- like a charley horse, but in my stomach! The pain was really bad, but I'm not afraid to go through labor again.
Karen, Shelby Township, MI

Epidural-Free Delivery

Some moms went with unmedicated childbirth and managed their pain in other ways.

I have three kids and each experience was different, as it is from woman to woman. I've had IV drugs, an epidural, and nothing. I honestly preferred nothing.
Jennifer, Hatfield, AK

My first child was born while I was under the influence of a walking epidural. I did not find that this really relieved my pain but rather made my labor feel like a nasty stomach virus. I swore I would never have anesthesia again because of how awful I felt afterwards. My second baby was born naturally. I found this labor to be much easier to cope with. The pain was very intense, but it was a clean pain almost like a sports injury. Pushing was more difficult. It felt like my whole pelvis was made of breaking glass, but this passed very quickly and I felt terrific almost immediately after delivery. Jessica, Danby, VT

Labor pain was the most excruciating pain I ever felt. The good news is that in between contractions there is no pain, and the contractions only last about a minute. I had four children with no pain medication.
Cindy, Vestal, NY

I didn't use an epidural or any pain medication. I kept my eyes closed and concentrated on my husband's voice and hummed through the contractions. It was the most empowering thing I've ever done. I would do labor over again in a heartbeat; the nine months preceding it is the hard part.
Meredith, Bradenton, FL

Oh, the Pushing

Most moms said that by the time they got to the pushing stage the worst was over. Some, though, really didn't like to push and initially had a hard time figuring out how to push effectively.

The pain was intense and horrible for two hours while I pushed. It was mostly vaginal pressure that was so painful.
Cristina, Atlanta, GA

Labor was by far the hardest physical activity I have ever participated in. But once you get to the pushing stage and have that feeling that is similar to having a bowel movement, you are almost done. And you know that if you can just make it through the last little part, you will meet this wonderful little person you have dreamed about for so long!
Kari, Onalaska, WI

Of the pushing contractions, all I can say is that I knew I had to push. And it felt good to push! The only real pain I remember was when my son's head crowned. That burned!
Rachel, Avon, IN

Pushing was really easy, not painful at all.
Eileen, Glendale, CA

When I started active labor, I struggled to push correctly. I didn't understand what to do until my nurse told me to push like I was pooping. I thought she was crazy but once I recognized the right push, and where it felt like it was coming from, I delivered my daughter within a few minutes!
Tracy Fives, Lake Worth, FL

I hate to be so graphic, but it felt like I had to have a bowel movement in the worst way! That's the only way I can describe it! It also felt as if something was going to burst through my back; I had excruciating back pain. I think I felt everything in my back rather than in my pelvis.
Anna, Austin, TX

I'd Do It All Again

Even though most of the moms felt that giving birth was the hardest thing they'd ever done, they'd still do it all over again. That's what keeps the human race going!

Pushing was the worst. I could feel every stretch, pull, and tear. The burning was like no other. I remember feeling there was no way I could push the baby out, it won't fit. But once all was done, I was so happy to hold our precious baby. It was all worth it.
Sharon, Danbury, CT

The pain of my labor came in waves, where I could feel it begin, crest, and subside. During the crests, it was hard to remember to breathe, as it felt like my body was one big leg cramp, kind of like I was a towel being twisted and curled in half. But when it's all said and done and you're looking at your little joy, you know you'd go through it all again.
Kathy, Appleton, WI

Whenever I hear Johnny Cash's booming drawl singing "Burning Ring of Fire," I remember labor and delivery. The miracle of what it means to be a woman is that all that agony is worth the 8 pounds, 1 ounce of pure beauty and joy that you hold in your arms for the first moment.
Kate, New York, NY

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New Moms Describe What Labor Is Really Like

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Not What I Expected When we asked new moms to describe what labor felt like, we received almost 500 responses. In the course of describing labor pain, your answers hit on many similar themes -- how the experience compared with your expectations, what pushing was like, and whether you'd recommend an epidural.

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Learn about the menstrual cycle. Find out what's normal for period problems and when you should go to your doctor.

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Having long hair and need to wash it all

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Having long hair and need to wash it all

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Being naturally and physically weaker than men

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Being naturally and physically weaker than men

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Life is harder for females