Is that OK, Doc?

AIt is normal to feel a little sore after a night of vigorous love-making. However, if the soreness goes on for more than 24 hours, you should get a check-up from a doctor, just in case you have picked up an infection.

Similarly, if there is a vaginal discharge as well as soreness, you need to seek rapid medical advice and also have some 'swab tests' taken.

However, it may just be that your partner is a little too rough in his wooing, as many younger men are. In that case, the two of you should do two things:

Make sure that you are fully aroused and producing lots of lubricating fluid before he attempts entry. This really means having plenty of preliminary love play (foreplay), going on for up to half an hour or so. Vaginal flow will also be promoted by a relaxed and romantic atmosphere.

Consider buying a good sex lubricant and use lots of it.

QI am male and deeply worried that my masturbatory habits when I was in my mid-teens may have damaged my health. I am now 19 and sometimes I feel very tired.

AThere is no way that your masturbatory habits in your mid-teens could have harmed your health. Masturbation does not make people ill.

As you feel tired, you should check with a doctor to see if you have any general health problem, such as anaemia (weak blood) or perhaps worms.

QI am fretting about the possibility of sustaining a 'fractured penis', which I believe you once mentioned in The Gleaner. I am a rather nervous guy and I would not like it to happen to me!

Can it occur during intercourse?

A Fracture of the penis is almost unknown during sexual intercourse, because the penis is protected by the 'sheath' which is formed by the vagina.

However, it can sometimes occur just before intercourse, when a guy tries to 'charge inside' too violently and suddenly. American experts say that this is most likely to happen in the doggy position, if the man tries to force his organ into the woman but manages to drive the end of it against some fairly solid structure, such as her buttock.

In practice, you are most unlikely to have a penile fracture unless you encounter a woman who, for some reason, decides to twist you fiercely with her hand. That is certainly not a common situation.

Q Doc, I am engaged to a real nice guy but this month I have been real shocked to find that he is watching 'blue movies' every night.

I feel this is disrespectful to me. Also, from what little I have seen of these things, they seem to present a real crazy and unworthy picture of women!

Is there anything I can do?

A Well, I must say that I have a lot of sympathy with you. May I tell you that sex experts throughout the world are now finding that similar complaints are being voiced by large numbers of women!

Yes, again and again, females are saying: "My husband/fiance/boyfriend is more interested in blue DVDs or Internet porn than in me."

This is causing a lot of relationship problems. Personally, I have seen half a dozen couples who broke up because the guy would not stop watching porn videos and stuff.

I am not here to discuss morals but I must say that I am concerned about the sheer medical misinformation that these productions present!

For instance, a doctor in Europe recently did a study of blue movies and the like. He reported the following points:

The films generally give guys a completely wrong view of what women want in bed.

They portray females as simply wanting to be penetrated again and again.

They portray women as creatures who wish to be possessed by man after man in quick succession.

They suggest that all girls like to be 'taken' in all three orifices, including anally.

They do not reflect the fact that anal sex is generally painful.

They very rarely acknowledge that most women do actually like to 'discharge' when they are in bed with a guy!

They fail to indicate that women generally like romance, tenderness and affection.

They show grossly unhygienic sexual practices.

They ignore the fact that what is going on in these stories would be very likely to spread HIV and VD.

They scarcely ever indicate that contraception might be a good idea.

In addition, I personally would add that these movies often present a rather bizarre view of what the female body is like, thus making a lot of real-life women feel abnormal or inadequate!

Turning to your particular case, I would say that it is probable that your relationship may not survive unless your fiance can kick this foolish habit of watching all that porn stuff, in preference to taking an interest in you.

A trick which is sometimes worth trying is to persuade him to limit porn viewing to just one night a week, for the moment. Maybe he will agree.

If he is reluctant to change his habits, your best course would be to try to persuade him to go along with you to a marital or relationship counsellor. In any case, please do not agree to go ahead with your marriage until this problem has been fixed.

QI have issues with excessive armpit sweating. This has really affected my life, as I can only wear dresses that will hide the perspiration stains under my arms.

It's so embarrassing. As soon as I get out of the shower, my armpits start sweating again. It has caused me so much frustration.

Recently, I read about a new procedure called laser sweat ablation (LSA), where the perspiration glands are lasered away.

It is a very expensive operation, but I would pay it to end my embarrassment.

What do you think, doctor? Are there any permanent side effects from this procedure that I should be worried about?

A Many people have problems with underarm sweating so I will return to this subject soon.

The LSA procedure was developed recently in Argentina. It involves making a tiny cut in the upper part of the arm and pushing a laser pointer through it in order to poke the tip into the armpit area and then destroy the sweat glands there. The dead tissue is then sucked out.

Although the private surgeons who do this op in various parts of the world are making big claims, it is still pretty new and little is known about long-term effects. A professor at London University has just said that not enough scientific material has been published about it in medical journals.

So for the moment, my advice would be to go and see a surgeon and ask him whether a more traditional (and cheaper) procedure - like taking away some of the skin of the armpit - might help. Good luck.

Email questions for Doc to saturdaylife@gleanerjm.com or fax 922-6223.