Arthritis symptoms may interfere with a healthy, satisfying sex life - but they don't have to.

Arthritis symptoms may interfere with a healthy, satisfying sex life - but they don't have to. In this article, we'll look at some common problems people living with arthritis encounter in attempting to create and maintain intimacy with their partners, and we'll also look at possible solutions.

Feeling undesirable

Living with arthritis pain could make you feel like sex is the last thing you want. You may feel less than desirable because you may not be able to keep up your personal appearance as much as you would like. Also, some arthritis medications may have side effects that change your appearance, like prednisone's notorious weight gain effects. If you're not feeling particularly at home in your body and you also feel you look differently than you used to, no longer feeling interested in intimacy is understandable.

One way to get past this may be to discuss it with your partner. Does he or she share your perceptions? It's likely your partner would still like to be intimate with you, and sees your body as much more than just the location of your condition and its impacts. Learning this may be enough for you to want to give intimacy a try - but you may also consider a few sessions with a relationship therapist to devise strategies to increase intimacy.

Troublesome symptoms

Some symptoms of arthritis, including pain, stiffness and fatigue, may be a barrier to intimacy. It can seem difficult to find something to do in the bedroom that is not painful or too difficult to manage. It's not impossible, though. Dr. Annette Owens, co-founder of the Sexual Health Network and a sex counselor, suggests people living with arthritis experiment with positions that put less pressure on the joints or other areas that have arthritis pain, according to HealthDay. She also suggests pillows and cushions as useful aids to more comfortable intimacy. Finally, she says planning can go a long way. If you have times of day when you're more pain-free, see whether you can schedule intimacy for those hours.

"People complain about wanting to be spontaneous," Owens told HealthDay, but she noted that making plans can actually be fun in itself. "The planning alone can be enough to get you excited."

However, it's important to note that there may be times when no amount of gentle positioning and advance planning will make intimacy possible. In these instances, couples should rediscover the value of kissing, cuddling and other types of intimacy.

For more on arthritis and relationships:

Dating with Arthritis
Coping with Chronic Illness in Marriage
Chronic Communication at Home: Talking about Sex