Radiation to the pelvic area often affects a woman’s sex life. If the ovaries get a lot of radiation, they may stop working. Sometimes this is just for a short time, but it can be lifelong.
If a woman has gone through menopause, she may not notice a change in her sex life. If she has not, radiation may cause it to happen. No matter what the radiation dose, women younger than 50 should talk with their doctors about birth control. Some women can still get pregnant after radiation.
Fertility (ability to have children)
Young women who get smaller doses of pelvic radiation might start to have periods again as their ovaries heal. With larger doses of radiation, such as those used for cervical cancer, the damage doesn’t go away. Many women who get radiation to the pelvis can’t have any more children. If you think you might want to have children later, talk to your doctor before you start radiation.
Radiation effects on the vagina
During radiation, the treatment area may get pink and look sunburned. A woman’s vagina may feel tender during radiation and for a few weeks after. As it heals, scars may form, causing the walls of the vagina to be thick and tough. Radiation scars can also make the vagina short or narrow. It may not stretch as much during sex.
A woman can often keep tight scar tissue from forming by stretching the walls of her vagina. She can do this by having sex at least 3 or 4 times a week or using a special rod to stretch the vagina. The rod is called a vaginal dilator. It is usually plastic or rubber, and feels like putting in a large tampon for a few minutes. Even if a woman doesn’t want to keep having sex, keeping her vagina a normal size helps her gynecologist do pelvic exams. These doctor visits are important after cancer treatment.
Radiation damage to the vagina can also make its lining thin and easy to tear. Many women notice a little bleeding after sex, even though they felt no pain. A few women get open sores in their vaginas. These may take months to heal after radiation treatment ends.
Sex during radiation therapy
As long as a woman is not bleeding a lot from a tumor in her bladder, rectum, uterus, cervix, or vagina, she may be able to have sex during pelvic radiation therapy. Unless sex or touching is painful, a woman should still be able to reach orgasm.
Radiation from a machine outside the body does not leave any radiation in your body. This means you won’t expose your partner to radiation during sex.
Some women are treated with a radioactive implant. This is a radiation source that’s put inside the bladder, uterus, or vagina for a few days. A women’s partner can be exposed to radiation while the implant is in place, so they might need to hold off having sex. After the implant is removed, there is no more radiation.
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