Vaginismus is a kind of penetration disorder affecting women where vaginal penetration for the purpose of intercourse, or gynaecological examination, or Pap smear or any other such activity is either extremely painful or impossible.
Vaginismus Symptoms may vary from person to person. Woman with vaginismus may experience mild to severe coital pain and may include:
There are some other conditions which can result in very painful sex, like endometriosis and this must be differentiated from those conditions. Whereas endometriosis would result in pain during deep penetration.
Vaginismus can be Primary vaginismus or Secondary Vaginismus wherein the woman has developed this
problem after maybe a vaginal infection or menopause or injury or irradiation for cancer.
Primary vaginismus: where in the woman has never been able to have penetrative sex throughout her
life.
Secondary vaginismus: May occur in women with normal sexual function later in life, wherein the
woman has developed this problem after maybe a vaginal infection or menopause or injury or
irradiation for cancer.
Severe vaginismus: is present during all situations with any object
Situational vaginismus: Situational pain, where in women experience coital pain (Pain during sex) only
but not during gynecological exams or tampon insertion.
Vaginismus results from involuntary spasm of specific muscles around the vagina which is not under the control of the woman. The woman does not however contract these muscles voluntarily.
One is not very sure why vaginismus occurs in …% of women. Vaginismus causes may be due to a
combination of following:
Psychological: A sense of hyper responsiveness to touch maybe as a general nature or because of
increased anxious personality. Fear, guilt, negativity regarding sex, emotional trauma can all produce a
fear psychology making it difficult for women.
Muscle Dysfunction: Some researchers believe that Vaginismus maybe a result of abnormal contraction of the muscles surrounding the vagina probably by child birth. The woman cannot differentiate between relaxed and tight vaginal muscles. Medical conditions like Urinary Tract Infections, Pelvic tumors, STDs can also cause vaginismus.
Your doctor will ask for a complete history and try and understand the exact nature of your problem. You would then be examined and during the course of this examination he or she would be able to understand the spasm of the muscles and also gauge the severity of it.
A complex problem like Vaginismus cannot have a simple, one point approach. The treatment is a combination of Psychological counseling, Behavioral therapy, Use of Vaginal Dilators and use of Vaginismus medications like Botulinum Toxin (BTX) - a purified neurotoxin protein that can be used therapeutically - to relax the muscles around the vaginal area. Treatment for vaginismus involved visiting Vaginismus Specialist who will provide Vaginismus Therapy. To know more about Vagisnis medication for Vaginismus offered by us. click here
Vaginismus success depends on the involvement of the couple as a pair rather than the woman as an individual. It depends on the pro-activeness of the woman to accept and embrace treatment and come for the counseling sessions and also follow instructions as given from the clinic. By and large success of Vaginismus medication is almost 100% in most cases. However long term follow up is definitely required to ensure relapses don’t happen.
