Weight loss surgery boosts intimacy between partners

Washington: Weight loss surgery does more than just helping you to shed kilos, as a new study has found that it also helps boost intimacy between partners, adding a spark to their sex life.

Bariatric surgery is the most effective way to counter morbid obesity. It results in substantial weight loss and reduces other health-related conditions.

Led by Mary Lisa Pories of East Carolina University in the US, the research team interviewed ten couples about the effects of the weight loss surgery that one of the partners had undergone.

All the couples felt their post-operative success was due to a joint effort on the part of both members of the couple, said Pories.

For Pories, the importance placed on couples' shared experiences of the surgery raises questions about how patients without active support systems manage post-operatively.

Several other themes also emerged. Couples highlighted the adjustment that was needed to adapt to their partners' significant weight loss. The couples also had more energy, and needed to adjust to new eating habits. On an emotional level, the couples reported more positive moods and better self-esteem. They also reported sharing greater intimacy and affection, and being better able to resolve conflict. Their sexual relationships also improved and, in many cases, became more enjoyable.

Pories believes that a better understanding of how bariatric surgery impacts the dynamics of a couple's relationship could help physicians, nurses and social workers to support patients and their partners more effectively.

The findings are published in Springer's journal Obesity Surgery.