11/23/2009: Is there sex after SCI? Hell yes and it's GREAT! I can only speak for myself of course but sex should be a part of rehabilitation therapy. It is not always included from one facility to another. I attended Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center in Gonzales, Texas and it was great for care and professionalism but did not cover sex therapy. I'm told T.I.R.R. (Texas Institute for Rehab and Rehabilitation) in Houston does cover the subject and is also a great place to do your rehab if you have that choice. I chose Warm Springs because it was closer to my parents who could visit more often.

On to my story: I became disabled 7/21/1993 due to a car accident and after a few months at my dad's place went into Rehabilitation. It was great but I never got the courage to ask them if there was sex after rehabilitation and SCI. Being re-born is the perfect way to describe what it's like after becoming disabled. You have to learn almost everything over like a newborn child. You have to learn to balance yourself, to dress yourself, to go to the bathroom in your own way, feeding yourself for some people, etc, etc. While all this is going on you question yourself if you will ever get to live independently, if you will ever find another companion and if you will ever have sex again. To begin, there are several ways to have sex as you well know. There's oral, and penetration. The oral is usually the same as before if you can only get access to .....! The penetration is more of a mental aspect now because most paraplegics do not have sensation in this area, speaking from a man's point of view. This is not always the case because each individual has different sensation areas depending on the level of paralysis. Some can feel and get an erection and others like myself can't. For those of you who do not have sensation in the penis area then there is still the penile implant option which Medicare will pay for by the way. I got the implant myself to be able to have normal sex and penetration for my companion's benefit as well as my self esteem factor.