Love making is considered as the most magnificent celestial experience. People forget everything and have no worries during sex. Time freezes and we live in the very moment. But unfortunately, for many women love making do not excite them as they are not able to enjoy it. Few experience pain during and after sexual intercourse. Experiencing a certain amount of pain is very normal. The pain may be during penetration or after sex. But if you experience ongoing sharp pain than sex might no more be a pleasure to you. This ongoing pain in the genitals in women during or after sexual intercourse is medically termed as dyspareunia, which causes personal sufferings. Many women experiencing dyspareunia or painful sexual intercourse may not feel comfortable talking about it to anyone. Some might even worry, because sex is after all a pleasurable event, then why is it painful only to them. This is not true, every women experience a painful sex at some point of their life due to various normal reasons. But if during and after every sexual intercourse, you feel persistent pain, then it is high time that you leave your hesitations behind and talk to your doctor.
Causes
The cause of painful sex in women may be a combination of several factors. In many cases, the exact cause is unidentifiable. The cause of dyspareunia can be divided into two types – physical and psychological.
• Physical causes
- Vaginal skin may be affected due to inflammation or infection (yeast or urinary tract infection)
- Injury to vagina and its surrounding areas
- If diaphragm or cervical cap, used as contraceptive device, doesn’t fit properly
- Vaginismus, a spasm of the vaginal muscle that causes pain during penile penetration
- Vaginal dryness due to menopause and change in estrogen hormone level
- Some report that they feel like something is being dumped during intercourse, this may be due to the presence of fibroids in the uterus, or if the uterus is slanted to one side or if the uterus falls in the vaginal region
- Infection in the ovaries
- Any previous surgery can leave scar tissues that can cause pain
- Endometriosis (problem in the inner lining of the uterus)
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
- Irritation from soaps, detergents, and other feminine products
- Intercourse after surgery or child birth
• Psychological causes
- If you have experienced pain during your first intercourse, you start expecting pain during the second and subsequent intercourses also
- You may be tensed and are unable to arouse during sex
- Negative information about sex, which might make it seem hard and tough
Diagnosis
Once you approach your doctor with a complaint of painful sex, he might ask you to describe the pain, when exactly do you feel severe pain? What contraceptive device do you use? Does it pain every time you have sex? Any previous surgery and your previous child birth experience. These are little information that he might ask you for better diagnosis. Then he might recommend a pelvic examination, where your doctor will examine your genital area for any rashes, irritations, infection or any other physical problems. To identify the exact location of pain your doctor may palpate your genital and pelvic muscles. A detailed examination of the vaginal will also be done using speculum. If these examinations become painful than you may ask your doctor to stop anytime and continue with the test once the pain has subsided. If your doctor suspects some kind of abnormality he might recommend further tests like ultrasound or laparoscopy to have a detailed study about the pelvic organs.
Few tests might be needed if your physical examinations and symptoms point towards any infection. Your doctor might recommend test to know whether the infection is caused by bacteria or yeast. If no infection is suspected then your doctor might go for an allergy test or urine test.
Treatment
Depending on all these diagnostic findings your doctor will decide the appropriate treatment plan for you. You may have to try different treatments before finding the right one for you.
You may have to get treated for underlying conditions, if any. If the reason for your pain is infection or other medical condition, then treating that cause can resolve your pain. Antibiotics and antifungal drugs are prescribed for infections; and presence of cyst or fibroid may require surgical removal.
Medications may be prescribed if painful sex is due to lubrication issues. In many menopausal women pain is caused due to lack of lubrication, which is due to reduced estrogen level. This can be treated by estrogen therapy.
Another treatment is the desensitization therapy where vaginal relaxation exercise, pelvic floor exercise or other procedures are taught that helps to relax your muscles and have less pain.
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Counseling and sex therapy is helpful if you have been facing psychological problems. Sometime you may experience a negative response to sexual stimulation. This will be treated using counseling and sex therapy. The therapist may ask you to change your position during sex. As sometime you may experience a sharp pain during thrusting that might be due to the penis compressing your cervix or your pelvic floor muscles. Changing the position may sometime relieve you from pain.
Communication is another powerful tool that will help you. Do not hesitate to tell your partner about what hurts and what feels good.
Preventive measures
Few steps that you can follow to prevent or minimize your pain are
- Get proper treatment for infection
- Discuss your problem with your partner
- Avoid using contraceptive foams or devices
- Avoid tight clothes, wear cotton under-wears
- Follow good hygiene, never wear wet clothing to avoid infection
- Shower daily
- To avoid bladder infection wipe from front to back after using toilets and urinate after intercourse
- To avoid sexually transmitted disease practice safe and hygienic sex
- Use vaginal lubrications to avoid vaginal dryness
- If you have endometriosis, consult your doctor about when and how to practice sex
- Get professional counseling for psychological problems
Conclusion
Pain during sex is really very difficult, it abstains you from sex. This might result in serious conflicts between you and your partner. There are many causes for it, finding the right cause is important in treating dyspareunia. Nowadays the best treatment for dyspareunia is accomplished by a healthy life-style and proper medical follow-up.
