Vaginal Problems That Affect Your Sex Life

Vaginal disorders ranging from chronic infections to vaginitis, fibroids, and stress incontinence can damage your sexual health and general well-being. 

I’m 20 years old. My knees are apart, and my feet are anchored in cold metal stirrups. A doctor is shining a bright, hot light between my legs, prodding me gently with a Q-tip, peppering me with questions. I’m here, in a place where no woman wants to be, because the incessant  pain, and burning that plagued me for two years has gotten so severe I can barely tolerate underwear, let alone the “luxuries” -- tampons, intercourse, and tight jeans -- that my college roommates take for granted.

As it would turn out, I was in luck on that tepid spring day back in 1998. For this amazingly compassionate Cleveland doctor -- the 11th gynecologist I would see in my quest for answers -- was able to finally give me something nobody else could: A diagnosis of vulvar vestibulitis and a treatment plan.

 My story isn’t unique. At some point in their lives, millions of women will suffer from a range of common and less common gynecological or urological conditions, including chronic infections, vulvodynia dry vagina,fibroids, andstresswith intercourse.

Following are the most commonly diagnosed health problems “down there

Vaginitis

The itching, burning, and pain associated with vaginitis results from a disruption in the natural balance of bacteria that live in every healthy vagina. There’s no single cause. Common culprits include hormonal changes due to birth controll pills, menopause, or pregnancy as well as chronic medical conditions, such as HIV and diabetes, which weaken the immune system. Frequent sexual intercourse and sex with multiple partners can be to blame as well. Of the many types of infectious and noninfectious vaginitis, the following four are the most common.

Vulvodynia

Imagine  burning of vagina and pain so severe you can’t sit comfortably, wear fitted clothing, or have intercourse. That’s the reality women with vulvodynia face -- and there’s no quick fix. Some suffer for years before finding the right treatment (or even any relief).

That’s why Phyllis Mate, executive director of the National Vulvodynia Association, was incensed by a recent episode of ABC’s Private Practice, in which Dr. Addison Montgomery (played by Kate Walsh) diagnosed and cured a patient’s vulvodynia in a single episode. “While the producers deserve credit for trying to depict the symptoms of vulvodynia, 13 million women in the real world would painfully disagree with the show’s fairy-tale ending,” Mate says.

Vaginismus

If you have vaginismus -- a rare condition that fewer than 2% of women in the United States develop -- the muscles surrounding the vagina involuntarily spasm so tightly that you can’t have sexual intercourse or even insert a tampon.

The specific cause of vaginismus is unknown, but, as with vulvar vestibulitis and stress incontinence, physical therapy can be an invaluable “first line of treatment,” according to Erica Fletcher, PT, MTC, founder of Fletcher Physical Therapy in Narberth, Pa.

Fletcher and other physical therapists who specialize in pelvic floor disorders can correct structural abnormalities and design a manual therapy and  that will retrain pelvic muscles that are too tight or too weak, depending on the condition. Their efforts can dramatically reduce symptoms-without the side effects of medication.

 

 

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