4 Ways to Treat Dyspareunia

1. Address Underlying Medical Conditions

Dyspareunia is the medical name for painful sexual intercourse. While men can experience painful intercourse, the term dyspareunia is usually reserved to describe this condition in women. Dyspareunia can be caused by a number of different things including genital surgery, injury, infection, allergic reaction, poor vaginal lubrication, vaginismus and various psychological issues. Identifying the root cause is an important step in treatment. If you do have an underlying medical condition such as a bacterial infection or latex allergy, treatment may be as simple as a round of antibiotics or choosing an alternate birth control method. Sometimes treating the physical cause is enough to completely cure dyspareunia.

2. Adjust Your Sexual Routine

When no underlying medical condition is present, painful intercourse can be treated by altering how you have sexual intercourse. For example, trying different foreplay techniques and increasing the length of foreplay before intercourse can help improve your vaginal lubrication and arousal. In addition, you can introduce water-based lubricants to reduce friction. This, in turn, can make penetration more comfortable. Likewise, trying different sexual positions can help you discover ones that may be less painful. This is particularly useful if your pain is located deep within the vaginal barrel. Choosing positions that prevent deep penetration or in which you can control the depth of penetration often makes a big difference.

3. Consider Estrogen Therapy Post-Menopause

Low estrogen levels after menopause can decrease vaginal lubrication and cause vaginal dryness. Without the necessary lubrication, penetration can be very painful. Besides using water-based lubricants during sexual intercourse, post-menopausal women can regain vaginal moisture using estrogen replacement therapy. Estrogen is available in pill form, as a cream and as a vaginal ring. While it can have some significant benefits, estrogen therapy is not for every woman. This option should be discussed carefully with your doctor.

4. See a Sex Therapist

Emotional or psychological factors can cause or contribute to dyspareunia. If you have experienced painful intercourse for a long time, fear that sex will always be painful can create a self-fulfilling prophecy even if the physical cause is treated. Vaginismus, an involuntary tightening of the pelvic floor muscles, can occur in response to fear of painful sex, unresolved issues with sexual abuse or negative feelings about sex in general. This condition also causes dyspareunia. Working with a sex therapist can help you address any emotional or psychological problems related to dyspareunia.

A sex therapist can also help you and your partner work on your sexual relationship. A hiatus from sexual intercourse because of dyspareunia can be harmful to your level of intimacy. Working with a sex therapist can help you improve your communication, resolve outstanding relationship issues and learn new sexual techniques to reinvigorate your sex life.