For women who suffer from dyspareunia or painful intercourse, they may find lovemaking more troubling than pleasurable. While there are physical causes for painful intercourse, emotional factors may come into play as well. When dyspareunia occurs, women can find themselves more worried about the pain that is occurring rather than feeling the pleasure that comes with sex.
When it comes to diagnosing dyspareunia, it’s best to always go to a physician to be certain. You don’t want to self-diagnose or misidentify what you truly have. Sometimes dyspareunia can have the same symptoms has sexual diseases so you want to be doubly sure that is not what you have. In the age of internet, it’s easy for people to self-diagnose but as with all concerns about your health, self-diagnosing can do more harm than good.
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The symptoms for dyspareunia can and will vary from woman to woman. For some women they experience burning or a tearing sensation upon penetration, which is known as superficial dyspareunia. Others can feel a deeper pain in the pelvic area during intercourse making these symptoms recognized as deep dyspareunia.
Once you have figured out that you do have dyspareunia, you’ll need to identify what is causing it. This condition is usually not the diagnosis itself and is the effect of other causes. For some women, insufficient lubrication could be a factor, for others inflammation or an infection such as UTI can be the culprit. Vaginismus, past genital surgery, vaginal thinning, ovarian cysts, or STD’s may all be causes for the condition. For these reasons alone, you must make an appointment with your physician to eliminate any of these concerns. Women who suffer from emotional dyspareunia may find their emotions coming to play during sex. Factors such as psychological problems (depression and anxiety), stress, or even sexual abuse can cause painful intercourse.
If you find yourself suffering from dyspareunia and it has been making sex uncomfortable for you, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Speak with your partner about the issue you are experiencing and find a way to work with it together. During a time like this, you want to keep communication with your partner open just so he knows that it isn’t something he’s doing. For physical causes of painful intercourse, you can speak with your OB-GYN and discuss what options you have to alleviate the pain and making sex more enjoyable. For emotional reasons of dyspareunia, it may be best to speak with a therapist to resolve any fears or psychological factors that may distress you and cause the symptoms to occur.
By keeping on top of your mental and physical health, you can overcome this condition. If you have to, take the extra step to reduce and eliminate the pain. If you do everything in your power, you can overcome this condition. Don’t despair and think that you have to endure this for all of your sexual life. When the causes are treated and properly taken care of, physical or emotional, you will find sex more pleasurable and fun once again.
