Sensation
Adjusting to sexual changes after a spinal cord injury takes time and with experience you will learn more about how your body responds and become more comfortable with your new sexuality.
It is important to explore your body and use multiple senses to discover areas that are most sensual and pleasing. After spinal cord injury, different parts of the body, especially at the level of your injury can become sexually pleasurable. For example, stimulation to the nipples, earlobes, or inner thighs may be perceived as erogenous and even promote genital awareness in the absence of genital sensation.
This is a website created by Spinal Cord Injury BC. They cover a lot of information regarding sexuality and spinal cord injuries. On this page, they go over sensory information and strategies that may be useful. To view the full website, click here: Sensation and Touch and Spinal Cord Injury - SCI Sexual Health Site
Sensory mapping or body mapping is a way that you and/or your partner can learn and understand what areas you have no sensation, what have some (or even high) arousal potential (i.e., often a zone around the area of injury), and what areas are to be avoided due to hypersensitivity. The use of sexual aids such as feathers, massage oils, vibrators for genital and non genital use, and the use of fantasy are all part of remapping the brain to recognize new or different stimuli as sexual, even if this has not been tried before your injury. This exploration assists with acceptance of and positive feelings about your new post-injury sexual body.
The mind’s ability to focus and appreciate remaining sensation to its fullest is important. Techniques such as mindfulness and fantasy can be used, and sensation in other erogenous areas (i.e. anus, rectum, ears, nipples, or other areas found to be sensitive) can be incorporated. Using mindfulness and awareness of sexual signals, even from non genital sources, is an important tool you can utilize.
For information on sensory mapping with a partner, click here: XPartner Sensate Focus (scisexualhealth.ca)
For information on sensory mapping alone, click here: XSelf Sensate Focus gender neutral (scisexualhealth.ca)
For a body mapping exercise you can do alone or with a partner, click here: Body Mapping female (scisexualhealth.ca)
Click below to watch a video that goes over mindfulness and connecting with a partner: Accessible Tantra: Stop, Focus, and Connect (youtube.com)
If you have any questions regarding sensation, don't hesitate to talk with your doctor, occupational therapist, physical therapist, nurse, etc. We are all here to help you!