I recently met a woman complaining of a long history of painful intercourse. Several years ago she finally had the courage to tell her doctor about it. The doctor responded by recommending that she go see a therapist. The woman met with a therapist and was asked all the typical intake questions. When the therapist …
Continue ReadingYES! Hormonal contraception can cause painful intercourse.
I see many patients that come to the office complaining of painful intercourse and one of my first questions is: Are you taking birth control pills or any other form of hormonal contraception? And if so, for how long? Now, the information I’m about to provide includes all hormonal contraception like the nuvaring, patch, injections …
Continue ReadingWhat I have learned about chronic pain.
As a medical professional, treating chronic pain can be very difficult. We are always looking for new treatment options for vaginal/vulvar pain since one treatment option doesn’t always work for all patients. What I have noticed is the longer a patient has pain, that once pain has advanced from acute to chronic, the more complicated …
Continue ReadingOsphena — Oral medication for painful intercourse.
By far the most common cause of painful intercourse in a menopausal woman is vulvar and vaginal atrophy. During menopause estrogen levels plummet and can result in severe vulvar and vaginal dryness. Some of my patients have described intercourse as feeling like someone was rubbing sandpaper in their vagina. Another patient described her vagina as …
Continue ReadingMYTH: Wine helps painful intercourse.
I am always surprised at how many patients I see who tell me that their gynecologist recommends they have a glass of wine before intercourse. They say it’s to help them relax and that it would help with the pain they experience during intercourse. Not only does this not work, but the patient is left …
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