Dr. Ramani Sivakumar

A healthy libido is as important as any other function within your body. However, as much as it is a physical function, a lot of it has to do with the most important sexual organ, the brain. If you or your partner is both physically and emotionally not in the right place, your sex drive suffers. This can create physical and emotional problems in your life. Some of the tips to help increase your sex drive are mentioned as follows.

1. Getting the right amount of sleep: One of the major causes of low sex drive among men and women is the lack of sleep. Between household chores as well as office work and family commitments, the first thing that gets compromised on is sleep. Low sleep results in the drop in testosterone in both men and women thus, drastically lowering sex drive. This is the hormone primarily responsible for sex drive in both men and women. Ensure that you get at least 8 hours of sleep daily to maintain a healthy sex drive.
2. Think and talk sex: Mostly women and men to some extent as well tend to put talking about sex in the no go zone. This along with the mundane discussions about household life tends to lower libido as well. Ensure that you put in some sex talk to keep the spark alive as this would keep your libido levels and the physical attraction levels high.
3. Overweight and obesity is toxic for your sex drive: Excess fat and being overweight is a big libido killer in both men and women. Obesity and high body fat percentage inhibits testosterone production, thus, denting your sex drive. It is very important that you try to lose a few pounds and set goals to become fit as this will work wonders for your libido.
4. Meditate and relax: When you are stressed, cortisol levels in your blood are increased as the adrenaline glands go into overdrive. This is one of the most common and major sex drive killers. It is thus, very important that you practice mediation and other relaxation techniques to ensure that stress levels are down which will help in boosting libido.
5. A healthy diet: This is possibly one of the most important components in your life which determines how the physical side of libido is managed. Certain foods may kill your libido such as cheese and other dairy products, fried fatty foods, carbonated sodas among others. Some of the foods that are good for your libido would be ginger, watermelon, lettuce, and eggs.

If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a doctor and ask a free question.

What to do to Relieve Back Aches  during Pregnancy?

Back pain is a common symptom seen during pregnancy. The pain mostly occurs in the lumbar region, the lower region of the spine. About half of the women who are pregnant may suffer from back pain during pregnancy.

Your provider may suggest you various methods and techniques to relieve your back pain. The treatment mainly includes medicines and physiotherapy.

Relieving Back Pain:

Many techniques used to manage back pain are accepted across the world. Treating the cause of pain is considered to be the best method. There are classes that focus on the basic anatomy, biomechanics, correct posture and relaxation methods. If they fail to give the desired results, then you may contact your provider and physical therapist for instructions on the same. Back pain cannot be prevented fully, but you can decrease the frequency and severity of the pain by:

1. Practicing good posture: As the trimester advances the centre of gravity shifts forward. This may cause forward falling. Women usually compromise this falling by leaning back. This strains the back muscles. To correct this posture you should stand straight and tall, hold your chest high with shoulders relaxed. Avoid locking of your knees and widen your feet while standing. This prevents forward falling. Always choose a good comfortable chair with pillow while sitting.
2. Heat and Cold: Using heat and cold is an effective way to relieve back pain. Start by placing a cold pack (pack of frozen peas) to the pain area for 15 to 20 minutes during the first few days. After 2 or 3 days apply hot packs for the same time. DO NOT apply heat to the abdomen.
3. Exercises: Regular exercises not only strengthen the muscles but also boost healing of the strained muscles. The intensity  of exercise depends upon your life style before and during pregnancy. Walking, Swimming, and Static Cycling are considered to be the best exercises to relieve back pain during pregnancy.
4. Lifting: A proper lifting technique is very important to take care of. Always take care to bend your knees, keeping your back straight to pick up things. Always talk to your provider before lifting any heavy object.
5. Counselling: Stress related back pain can always be relieved by talking to a counsellor.
6. Acupuncture: Acupuncture not only relieves pain during pregnancy but also helps in curing nausea.  It is the safest method of managing back pain during the first two trimesters. Take care about certain points, which may induce labour. Researchers have also shown that acupuncture works far much better than heat, massage or any other form of exercise.

Ideally, you should always talk to your provider before you start any of the treatments.

When to call your Health Care Provider

Back pain usually relieves by itself in the first few days if the above treatment methods are followed with care. Contact your provider in case you suffer from:

• Osteoporosis
• Obesity
• Pain that gets worse in spite of the treatment
• Cramps
• Numbness or tingling in the upper or lower limbs

The concept of egg quality of a woman is derived from the belief that the embryo implantation probability is powerfully related to the age and ovarian reserve of the woman. Thus, it is regarded that the quality of the egg is almost synonymous with the chances of embryo implantation. Its quality cannot be assessed merely by looking at the egg or measuring its ability to receive the fertilization by sperm or simply observing the initial embryo division.

There are a few important factors that contribute to the success or failure of the embryo implantation and some of them are:

1. Diminished ovarian reserve: A woman with an increased FSH level on the third day of the menses is regarded as having diminished reserve of ovary. This implies that her ovary is not competent in sending feedback signals to the pituitary gland and the body responds by producing an increased amount of FSH for stimulating the ovary. For more than 10 years, it has been found that in over thousands of fertility treatment cycles, women with an increased FSH level have a lower egg quality.
2. Advanced age of maternity: Even though the FSH level is normal, the age of the mother who provides the eggs plays an important role to determine the quality of the egg. Quite like women with increased FSH levels, eggs obtained from women aged more than 40 years can have some problems at a later stage of fertilization. Normal FSH levels are not considered a reassuring factor, owing to the lower implantation rate in females aged over 45 years.
3. Diminished quality of egg: With an increase in age, the capacity of the mitochondria in producing energy slowly decreases. The egg is linked to the circulation before ovulation, and it is linked again after the embryo implantation. But during the one week time ranging from ovulation to implantation, the egg and the resulting embryo are contained in the zona pellucida and function on the basis of mitochondrial energy supply. The older age of the woman doesn’t cause any problem at the initial stage of ovulation. Its fertilization and embryonic development are also normal. But soon, it runs out of energy and stops dividing before reaching the stage of implantation.

Therefore, it is important to have the eggs tested to find out any sort of chromosomal abnormality. In case the mother is deficient of producing high quality eggs, the best option is to have donor eggs. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult an IVF Specialist.