One of our specialties at Maze is treating vaginismus. Vaginismus is a condition where there is involuntary tightness of the vagina during attempted intercourse. Women do not control the tightness, and many do not even realize this tightness is causing the tightness and pain with penetration. Most patients have been to see several other medical professional before coming to us. If they saw a gynecologist they were often told to just have a glass of wine to relax, or that it is “all in their head. “ Many then seek out a sex therapist to help then figure out how to “get it all out of their head.” However talk therapy alone will not cure vaginismus.
So why then do we have so many women come to us who have suffered with vaginismus for years, and have seen numerous providers with no results? One reason is that many providers question if it is real, and treat it like it does not exist, and therefore untreatable. I have several instances lately where I have been writing about vaginismus, and certain spell checks do not have it in their dictionary. They offer me “vaginitis” or “veganism.” What? This occurred to me that this is a telling metaphor for vaginismus in general. It is still not recognized by many in the medical profession as a real issue just as spell check does not recognize it as a real word. However many spell checks let you add a word, just as we at Maze are adding vaginismus as a real medical issue with real cures.
