Painful sexual intercourse in women (dyspareunia) could be defined as a recurrent or persistent genital pain that occurs before, during and after sexual intercourse. Symptoms are usually accompanied with burning sensation, itching, cramps, irritation, soreness and low libido. Sex should be a pleasurable and fun experience as it plays a significant role in bonding between couples. However, women could experience painful sexual intercourse (dyspareunia) due to certain causes. Most causes of painful sexual intercourse in women (dyspareunia) are due to vaginal dryness.
Vaginal dryness is common in women who pass through the transitional stages of menopause. Drop in oestrogen levels is also a major cause of vaginal dryness as it plays a major role in keeping the vagina thick, elastic and lubricated. Lack of fore play before sex, exposing the vagina to harsh soaps, sprays, hot tub chemicals, swimming pools and wash powders which could irritate the vagina, medications such as: anti-histamines, anti-depressants and birth control pills and lastly auto-immune diseases such as Sjorgen’s syndrome which occurs when body mistakenly destroys its own moisture-producing glands affecting a woman’s vaginal lubrication could cause vaginal dryness as well. That said, a woman could experience dyspareunia if the following conditions are also present:
- Vaginismus: This condition occurs when the muscles at the entrance of the vagina painfully an involuntarily tighten which causes pain when penetration is attempted. This condition might be linked to trauma, past sexual abuse or previous sexual intercourse.
- Vulvodynia: Vulvodynia is a chronic pain which affects the vulva (external organs of the vagina). This includes the clitoris, labia and the vaginal opening. Vulvodynia could be linked specifically to hypersensitivity of the nerve endings in the skin. Activities which put pressure on the vagina such as bicycling could harm the nerve endings and tissue. Vulvodynia could also cause pain when wearing tight fitting pants, sitting, having sex and inserting a tampon
- Pelvic inflammatory diseases and infection: When the tissues of the pelvic organs get inflamed, the pressure of sexual intercourse causes pain. Vaginal infection, urinary tract infection and STDs can also cause pain during sexual intercourse.
- Endometriosis: This is a condition that causes the uterine lining to extend to other parts of the uterus. This can cause painful sexual intercourse. Penetration and sexual intercourse could pull and stretch the endometrial tissue if it has grown around the lower part of the uterus or behind the vagina.
- Ovarian Cysts: Cysts on the ovaries can cause dyspareunia. They could be very painful when they twist and bleed. Penetration and sex could cause the cysts to burst open and leak. Larger cysts are more likely to leak and cause pain.
- Fibroids: Large fibroids could put pressure in the uterus making sexual intercourse very painful. Also, when benign fibroid tumors grow around the cervix at the end the vaginal tract, they could make penetrative sex very uncomfortable for women.
- Female genital mutilation: Female genital mutilation also known as female circumcision involves mutilation surgery on the genitals of a girl. The vagina could be stitched shut in some extreme conditions. Female genital mutilation is usually accompanied with permanent scarring which could lead to damaged nerves and pain. These could cause pain on penetration and can make sex impossible.
- Intact Hymen: The hymen is the membrane which lines the opening of the vagina. It comes in different sizes in women. Each woman has a different hymen size. It could be small in some women and might not cause issues. However, they hymen could be thick and have a hole which is not large enough. This means that in the early sexual life of a woman, she might feel pain from the hymen as it is forced open at the first time, she has sexual intercourse.
- Womb Position Issues: The womb of some women is tilted backwards rather than forward. This could cause the ovaries to fall backwards too and can cause them to be knocked in positions during deep penetration. This could result in pains in pelvis.
10.Vaginal trauma: The vaginal is strong, flexible and recovers well from the stretch and small tears of childbirth at times. However, if there is more significant injury to the vagina like difficulties in childbirth or mutilation, it could lead to scarring, pain and difficulty during sexual intercourse.
If you are experiencing any of this conditions or symptoms, it is necessary you seek the appropriate help and solution depending on your condition. You can meet with your Doctor for advice and recommendations. If you are experiencing vaginal dryness, the use of fertility supplements like EVERGREEN CM would also be of great benefit to you as it is targeted at improving the production of fertile quality cervical mucus to create a suitable environment for the sperm as it swims to the point of fertilization. Sperm friendly vaginal lubricants like PRE-SEED VAGINAL LUBRICANT can also be very beneficial to you as it mimics fertile quality cervical mucus.
