Vaginismus - Things You Should Be Aware of

Vaginismus is a condition characterized by significant pain in the vagina generally during sexual intercourse. This pain occurs on penetration due to the contraction of the vaginal muscles.

Causes

The exact cause of Vaginismus is not exactly known to the doctors. But some researchers suggests that the pain might result from severe anxiety or illogical fears before sex.

Vaginismus can be primary or secondary depending on the concerned woman’s previous sexual experiences. Vaginismus can be linked to an earlier sexually painful experience, sexual trauma or psychological factors. In some cases, the pain tends to exist without any direct physical cause. The causes of the pain might vary from women to women and might occur in some cases with only one specific partner and not with others.

Sometimes the pain might stem from underlying infections or any other underlying complications.

The symptoms of Vaginismus are as follows:

1. Severe pain during intercourse.

2. Severe pain during insertion of tampons or during any medical check-ups.

The following treatments can be useful to treat Vaginismus:

1. If the pain arises due to anxiety or fear, counselling sessions can help you to a remedy.

2. If the pain arises whenever something penetrates the vaginal walls, progressive desensitization can be useful to treat the pain. The process aims to loosen the vaginal muscles so that you don’t experience any pain during sexual intercourse.

Kegel exercises (at least 20 of them) can help in the initial stage to relax the vaginal muscles. After you exercise for a few days, you should try inserting one finger inside your vagina while doing the exercises. Try doing it gently and if it still hurts, try doing it with a lubricating jelly. This continuous procedure will help in the contraction of the vaginal muscles which eventually relax.