When the pelvic floor muscles are tight they can cause several symptoms including: muscle spasms, tightness, difficulty sitting, difficulty starting the urine stream, pain with penetration, pain that worsens during the day. If you have any of the symptoms above, it's time to have a pelvic floor assessment. Pelvic floor dysfunction responds beautifully to physical therapy.
From vulvodynia to lichen sclerosis, millions of women can share their struggle with pain on the skin of their nether region. Symptoms may include: burning, itching, irritation, pain with touch, pain on the labia, clitoris, perineum, rectum and vulva. Some skin disorders may causing bleeding. Urine burn, pain from urine touching the skin, is common. Please share your symptoms with your ob-gyn. There are a wide variety of self-help tips and therapies available. Always, ALWAYS avoid using any harsh chemicals or douches on your skin "down there."
There are two forms of vestibulodynia: primary and secondary. Symptoms can include: burning, stinging, itching, throbbing, numbness, swelling, tearing or a cutting sensation, persistent urethral burning. Primary vestibulodynia may be present from birth and be the result of overabundance of nerves. Secondary vestibulodynia can occur later in life if there has been an injury to the vaginal area. If you have difficulty using a tampon, having a pelvic examination or have always strugglied with pain upon touch or intimacy, you may have vestibulodynia. Some patients feel better after stopping birth control pills. Allergies and/or sensitivity to chemicals may cause symptoms. Infections, particularly yeast infections, can also trigger discomfort.
If your skin looks normal and/or there are no obvious signs for the burning, irritation and itching, you may have nerve pain. The pudendal nerve can cause pain of the vulva, anus, label or clitoris. Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder (PGAD) may also occur. In many cases, touch can cause pain, as well as clothing that has seams that can rub, sustained sitting and bike riding. Compression of the pudendal nerve is common, often from injury, sitting for long periods of time and/or long-term pelvic floor dysfunction. Spinal cord compression can also trigger symptoms.
If you struggle with bladder pain during intimacy, urgency during and after sex, prolonged periods of urinary frequency and/or urgency, you may have interstitial cystitis. If you struggle with bloating, gas, rectal pain, you may have some bowel issues. If you struggle with severe pain during your period, stabbing pain during intercourse, you may have endometriosis. Uterine fibroids can trigger a sense of heaviness and fullness in the pelvis as well as irregular and heaving menstrual bleeding and deep pain with intimacy. Pelvic congestion syndrome can cause heaviness and discomfort especially as the day goes on, as well as deep discomfort during intimacy and/or during your period. Please track your symptoms carefully and then bring that information your doctor for a proper diagnostic evaluation. Bladder sensitivity may be from something as simply as drinking soda or coffee.
Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM) has been the bane of millions of women as they age. With the reduction in estrogen, tissues become thinner, dryer and more vulnerable to injury or infection. Symptoms may include: burning and tearing at the vaginal opening, touch sensitivity, change is discharge, stinging of the urethra, burning as urine crosses the vulva, weakness of the pelvic floor muscles, a tight sensation and/or vaginal spasms. This can also occur after pregnancy when estrogen levels drop until breastfeeding is over or as a result of hysterectomy, in response to cancer treatment or systemic autoimmune conditions. The use of a topical estrogen cream can be remarkably effective for some patients.
By Sandi Smith
For countless women worldwide, the pain and difficulty of intercourse remains a silent burden, an unspoken agony. If you’ve ever felt broken or wondered if a solution exists, you're not alone. Vaginismus, a hidden affliction, has trapped many in a cycle of despair and solitude.
As a seasoned pelvic health physical therapist, Sandi Smith has aided numerous women in their quest for answers, and now, she's bringing that expertise directly to you. This isn't just another resource—it fills a massive information void through her years of practice.
"Painful Sex No More" is a comprehensive guide enriched with self-care routines designed not only to pave your way to pain-free intimacy but also to ignite a deeper love of self. It’s time to demystify and reclaim this vital aspect of your being. Through thoughtful practices like mindful breathing, strategic stretches, and curated tools, you'll unlock a newfound understanding of your body.
Every element of this book—every image, link, and questionnaire—has been meticulously selected, ensuring you're equipped with unparalleled insights. Supported by extensive research and partnerships with leading organizations, "Painful Sex No More" is your definitive guide to healing and empowerment. Ready for a transformative journey? Let’s embark together.
191 Pages
Global BookPublishing
By Peter T. Pacik MD FACS
Have fear and pain stopped you from having intercourse? Are you unable to use tampons, or feel like they won't fit? Do you physically withdraw or panic during gynecological exams? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you may be suffering from vaginismus, a condition that affects millions of women worldwide. This book offers important medical information and first-person stories, including a new treatment option that has helped over ninety percent of my patients with severe vaginismus overcome this condition to go on to have pain-free, intimate relationships.
When Sex Seems Impossible: Stories of Vaginismus and How You Can Achieve Intimacy provides medical information about this condition and how it can be overcome. Equally important, the book shares the personal experiences of several of my vaginismus patients. These women volunteered to tell their stories in an effort to let their sister sufferers know that they are not alone, and do not need to suffer in silence. I admire them more than I can say.
160 Pages
Odyne Publishing
Susie Gronski
Men with pelvic pain, suffer no more. In Pelvic Pain: The Ultimate Cock Block, Dr. Susie Gronski blends cutting edge research with practical advice that you can put into practice right away wherever you are on your journey through pelvic pain. In addition to the biological underpinnings of pain, this edition is more psychologically informed for a well-rounded picture of health that empowers you toward self-guided healing. In this updated version, you’ll find more on:- why some common assumptions about pain are completely false- how the nerves, the gut and the immune system come into play- why reframing your pain perspective is key to feeling better- how simple mindful practices and breathing can modulate pain- how to use movement and non-painful touch to turn down pain sensitivityPerhaps your current experience sounds something like this…You woke up one morning expecting a hard on, but instead all you felt was dick pain. You were sure it would go away eventually. Now you’re not so sure.You’ve seen specialist after specialist, done every test known to man, scoured Google MD searching for the 'cure', spent a don’t-dare-look amount of cash on medications, supplements and diets. But here you are years later, still dealing with it.With well over a decade in physical therapy specializing in men's sexual and pelvic health, Dr. Susie Gronski has written the essential guide to chronic pelvic pain, incorporating the latest in pain research, so that you can address your experience of pelvic pain without the fear, confusion and hopelessness you may have come to know. Don’t wait for the pain to go away to start doing the things you love. Embrace where you are and get back to doing all those things you may have given up for fear it will hurt. There is hope for your pain to change. This book will show you how.
228 pages
Andrew Goldstein MD, Caroline Pukall PhD, Irwin Goldstein, Dr. Jill Krapf
For the 20 million people who suffer from pelvic pain: the completely revised and updated guide for making sex feel good again.
Pelvic pain can lead to embarrassment, silence, and misdiagnosis. It can hurt your relationship as well as your sense of self. Tackling the stereotypes, myths, and realities of pelvic pain, this easy‑to‑understand, accessible guide will help readers get the help they need and deserve, offering key information on:
Featuring groundbreaking research and stories from people who've lived it, When Sex Hurts provides the tools you need to stop hurting and start healing.
401 pages
Balance
By Susan Bilheimer & Robert J. Echenberg, MD
When one of every five women between ages 18 and 50 in the United States have sex, it hurts, often badly. Until now, very few patients ever talked about their experience until a new IC hero, Susan Bilheimer, arrived on the scene. A chronic pelvic pain patient, Susan has been a driving force in creating this book and, partnered with Dr. Robert Echenberg, now offers hope and encouragement to the millions of women struggling with this condition.
Secret Suffering: Understanding Women's Sexual Pain and How That Affects Relationships has it all. Patient stories, a husbands point of view, a same sex couples experience with pelvic pain, the dilemma confronting single women with chronic pain, faith and the poignant story of two men who experience sexual pain. They talk about the difficulties working with the medical community but the great hope promised by a new, far more accepting medical paradigm of chronic pelvic and sexual pain. The appendix offers 64 tips to relieve sexual and pelvic pain!
224 pages
Millions of women suffer from sexual and pelvic pain in America today, yet it is frequently misdiagnosed—or not diagnosed at all. In Healing Painful Sex, Deborah Coady, MD and Nancy Fish use their combined professional expertise as a doctor and therapist who specialize in sexual pain to provide readers with an understanding of its many causes and how to treat them, from both a physical and psychological standpoint.
Organized into three parts—naming the problem, getting a diagnosis, and overcoming pain—Healing Painful Sex includes medical checklists, illustrations, vignettes based on interviews with women and their healthcare professionals, treatment options, and guidance for moving forward after healing. Coady and Fish speak honestly and directly to sexual pain sufferers' experiences, helping them address the problem of chronic pain, understand and prevent misdiagnoses, define medical terms and conditions, and regain sexual joy.
Comprehensive, multi-dimensional, and deeply insightful, Healing Painful Sex offers women the tools to successfully take on the many challenges of sexual pain and move toward a healthy, happy future.
382 Pages
Healing Painful Sex
Vulva Balm (V-Magic) is an all organic intimate skin cream ideal for dryness and for patients who are uncomfortable with using estrogen.
Keep your intimate areas properly moisturized with Velvet Rose Water Based Personal Lubricant.
Velvet Rose is a safe and effective solution to vaginal dryness during intercourse, and for maximum comfort when using Intimate Rose products. This formula is silky smooth, fragrance-free, non-sticky, and FDA Cleared. A little goes a long way, so this 8 oz bottle will last a long time.
Experiencing dry or irritated vaginal tissue? Enchanted Rose is a vaginal balm for daily use, which can reduce general irritation and soothe dry skin down there.