women’s health
Pain with Sexual Intercourse
Pain associated with sexual intercourse is now called genito-pelvic pain/penetration. However; most would commonly know this condition as dyspareunia or vaginismus, which is extremely common in women across the lifespan.
Dyspareunia…
is PAIN associated with penetration during sexual intercourse. This may occur at the vaginal opening, deep in pelvis, or throughout the entire pelvic area and sexual organs.
Vaginismus…
is recurrent or persistent spasm of the vaginal musculature that interferes with sexual intercourse.
Up to 62% of women experience pain with sex from 6-12 weeks postnatal and around 33% still experience pain AT 12 months post-partum.
The cause of onset of dyspareunia is different for everyone. A traumatic vaginal delivery is a common cause of painful penetration, however other causes include hormonal changes, surgical intervention, emotional experience or imaginative event or fear. Dyspareunia affects women of all ages, with young women the most likely to be affected.
Sexual intercourse should be pleasurable not painful!
A Women’s Health Physiotherapist with a special interest in this area can help you to manage your symptoms and provide tailored advice and management plan for you. We can also discuss other strategies which may be contributing such as the female sexual response, levels of arousal and desire.
Management:
Pelvic floor downtraining
Desensitising techniques
Myofascial pelvic floor release
Deep breathing exercises
Bladder/bowel management
Vaginal oestrogen
Dilator or wand therapy.