The devastation of breast cancer runs deep within women long after remission is reached. Find out ways to deal with the physical and psychological effects that can leave you feeling like you've lost your looks and love life.

Treatment for breast cancer can leave a woman feeling as though she has lost some of her "sex appeal." The most obvious change to a woman's sex life would no doubt come from any great change in the size or shape of either breast. Yet that is not the only way in which breast cancer can affect a woman's sexuality.

Sometimes chemotherapy can cause a woman to experience vaginal dryness. Vaginal dryness has also been known to impair the sexuality of women receiving hormone treatments. Both of these problems represent the existence of certain biochemical conditions; conditions that the proper medication would appear to alleviate or banish completely.

Still, no simple medication can help women with one important result of breast cancer treatment. That is the feeling experienced by many women, that they are no longer attractive to their spouse or partner. Often women who undergo chemotherapy for breast cancer gain an average of ten pounds. The hormones in certain biochemical pathways are responsible for waist thickening. Similar pathways appear to lead to a flattening of the buttocks.

These physical changes could compound the unhappiness of a woman who has had to undergo a breast removal or breast reconstruction. Other disconcerting changes could take place in a woman's arm. The surgery might lead to arm swelling, causing a woman to need new and/or different clothing. On occasion a woman who has been treated for breast cancer might even experience a change in her body odor. Such a change can cause a woman to have definite concerns about her sexuality.

Other effects of chemotherapy do noticeable damage to a woman's ability to see herself as sexually appealing. The issue of fatigue brought on by chemotherapy is one such effect. Sometimes, too, chemotherapy can cause a woman to become temporarily or even permanently in a condition of menopause. In that case, a woman could suddenly need to deal with hot flashes.

Both chemotherapy and radiation treatments can affect a woman's sexuality. Chemo can cause a woman to lose her hair while radiation has been known to make some women feel as though their breasts have become numb. Both radiation and surgery can leave a woman feeling self-conscious about her scars.

Any of the physical changes that follow up surgery for breast cancer, and the necessary post-surgical treatment, could diminish a woman's ability to display intimacy. However such physical changes do not have to destroy the sex life of a recovering breast cancer patient.

Such a woman needs to realize that she has retained her emotional health. She has and is determined to be healthy, she has maintained control of her mind and body and she has the ability to make health-enhancing choices; all of which display emotional health. Obviously, a woman who has recently undergone surgery for breast cancer has not lost her emotional health.

Fueled by those emotions, such a woman should seek out new ways to make herself appear more "sexy." She might want to get lingerie that helps her show-off another sexy feature of her body (one other than her breasts). She might want to encourage her husband or partner to take a second look at her legs or her body curves. Drawing attention to her positive features will rebuild her confidence in bed and make her feel sexier.

A woman who is recovering from surgery for breast cancer could, as mentioned, become self-conscious in bed. One way to counter such feelings is to invite creativity during foreplay, or during the act of love-making. Be creative and try new positions and new techniques. Don't be afraid to experiment!

I, myself, have experienced the emotions that come with the loss of hair due to breast cancer treatment. After undergoing neurosurgery, I found it necessary to seek ways to make myself and my husband happier, while in bed with a bald woman. We discovered new ways to make love.

So although the physical affects of breast cancer treatment can leave a woman feeling less than feminine, they can be overcome. A recovering patient must remember that she has retained her emotional health throughout treatment while recognizing that this same determination will help her and her partner find new techniques between the sheets.

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