Painful sexual intercourse: when pain is stronger than ecstasy

Most healthy women who love their partners do not experience pain during intercourse, but it can become painful due to physical causes, even if the relationship is fine. If your sex life is uncomfortable, there are several possible explanations.

There are several violations in the structure of the vagina , which a woman may not know and that cause pain in sexual intercourse. They range from a tiny (poorly developed) vagina to a double vagina (but each half is small!). Since pediatricians generally do not perform vaginal examinations of girls, it is important that every girl undergoes a gynecologist examination before she starts an active sex life.

In women before menopause, the most common causes of painful intercourse are infections: local vaginal infection - like abscesses in the area of ​​the sexual fissure; Inflammation of the urethra as a result of sexual frictions; Cystitis (the so-called "honeymoon disease") and chronic infection in the pelvis. Large hemorrhoids can also lead to painful intercourse in some positions. And tumors of the genital tract, although they are rare. Endometriosis (located elsewhere in the uterine mucosa) is also often the culprit of pain.

After pregnancy , during which the couple abstained from sexual intercourse, overly rapid resumption of sexual activity can cause pain. This is especially true if an operation, even a small one, was required at delivery, if labor was difficult and the vaginal tissues were damaged or if the mother was breastfeeding. In the latter case, the concentration of its estrogens is low, and the vaginal mucosa becomes dry, very similar to what happens after menopause. In any case, the sexual act should be very gentle for several weeks after childbirth.

Women in menopause or just about to enter it form less sex hormones, so that their vaginal mucosa loses normal lubrication and becomes dry. Under these conditions, despite the continuing and even increasing sexual desire, the intercourse becomes painful. Local application of estrogenic creams removes the problem.

Very often, trying to understand why a patient experiences pain during intercourse, it is found that the pain arises from the lack of knowledge and experience of both partners . When the structure of the vagina is normal and there are no infections, when the level of hormones is sufficient and natural lubricants as long as you want and there are no emotional difficulties, the cause of painful intercourse may be associated with an overly excited or impatient partner. Treatment in this case is simple: attention, patience and mutual understanding.

Just as the discussion of sexual "abilities" is usually limited to men's problems, potency (or lack thereof), and painful intercourse is traditionally associated only with women. But the sexual act can be painful for men . Usually, the cause is infection on the surface of the penis, for example, herpes rash. Most men more often abstain from sexual activity under these conditions, so as not to infect their partner. When the prostate gland inflamed or became infected, the sexual act can also become uncomfortable. The disorder I mentioned above, Peyronie's disease , often makes the intercourse painful. Scar tissue is formed in the trunk of the penis, and with an erection, it curves like a boomerang. The cause is unknown, but perhaps it is an autoimmune disease. Treatment usually does not produce results, although surgical correction sometimes relieves symptoms.

Symptom: painful intercourse