Re: Welcome New Members!

[Heather34]

Hi npaul. Welcome to the Forum and thank you for your post. I am so, so excited for you to have your upcoming procedure in October. I struggled with vaginismus for several years and the majority of my relationship and marriage prior to finding Dr. Pacik’s treatment. I tried several other treatments prior, including using dilators on my own, PT, biofeedback, etc. and nothing worked. Thus, I was convinced that this, too, would not work. My husband, on the other hand, wanted to try it and we did … thank God. We had the procedure on June 27th and were able to have pain-free intercourse on July 4th and continue to enjoy such. There are so many different elements that I believe made this program work when all of the others didn’t and Dr. Pacik himself was definitely the biggest factor. In addition to being kind, caring, and compassionate, he is also incredibly knowledgeable about all aspects of vaginismus and the symptoms experienced, including heightened anxiety and the physical resistance feeling with any attempted insertion.

I want to share one of my favorite Blogs from Dr. Pacik with you: Vaginismus Treatment – The 1, 2, 3 Punch: http://www.vaginismusmd.com/vaginismus-treatment-the-123-punch/ Excerpts include:

“The first punch is the injection of Botox under anesthesia. This is the knockout punch for the spastic muscle at the entry of the vagina (the “closed fist”). It will be unable to recover for about four months. The second punch is the progressive dilation under anesthesia, stretching the tight muscle(s). Once these muscles are weakened and stretched under anesthesia, the continued post treatment dilation keeps these muscles stretched. The third punch is reduction of anxiety. It is well known that fear and anxiety play an important role in continued spasm of the entry muscle. The brain says “PAIN“, the vagina responds with a protective reflex “NO ENTRY“. Once fear and anxiety lessen and women are able to tolerate penetration as well as having comfortable pain free intercourse, this protective reflex appears to diminish, and the reflexive spasm of the vaginal muscles appears to disappear.” It goes on to describe the importance of post-procedure care: “The three punches described must be combined with careful post-procedure monitoring, which includes the review of daily logs to help patients with their post-procedure dilation program. The counseling done after treatment is of utmost importance to help women understand what needs to be done when they return home and the steps needed to succeed in having pain free intercourse.”

Please know we are all here for you. In addition, I wanted to direct you to another thread in which 3 October patients have also posted (two who will be treated on 10/1 and one will be treated on 10/13). http://www.vaginismusmd.com/vaginismus-md-forum/?mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=933.0#postid-5061

Sending you huge hugs and support!!!