What is vaginismus and can it be cured?

Vaginismus is a condition which affects a woman's ability to have sexual intercourse, insert tampons and undergo gynaecological examinations. This is due to a conditioned muscle reflex in the PC muscle, they clamp shut making penetration either extremely painful or in many cases, impossible. It is important to remember that the woman does not choose for this to happen, it is a learned reflex reaction. A comparison which is often made, is that of the eye shutting when an object comes towards it. This, like vaginismus is a reflex reaction designed to protect our bodies from pain. A woman with vaginismus expects pain to come with penetration and so her mind automatically sends a signal to her PC muscles to clamp shut, thus making penetration either impossible or very painful. The severity of vaginismus varies from woman to woman.

The condtioned reflex creates a vicious circle for vaginismic women. For example, if a teenage girl is told that the first time she has sex it will be very painful, she may develop vaginismus because she expects pain. If she then attempts to have sexual intercourse, her muscles will spasm and clamp shut which will make sex painful. This then confirms her fear of pain as does each further attempt at intercourse. Every time the fear is confirmed, the brain is being "shown" that sex does hurt and that the reflex reaction of the PC muscles is needed. This is why it is important that if a woman suspects she has vaginismus, she stops attempting to have sexual intercourse. This does not mean women with vaginismus can not partake in other sexual activities, as long as penetration is avoided. It is a common misconception that these women do not want to have sex as a lot of the time, they desperately do.

There is no one reason that a woman may have vaginismus and in fact, there are a variety of factors that can contribute. These may be psychological or physiological and the treatment required will usually depend on the reason why the woman has the condition. Some examples of causes of vaginimus include sexual abuse, strict religious upbringing, being taught that sex is dirty or wrong or simply the fear of pain associated with penetration, and in particular, losing your virginity. These are just some of the reported reasons behind vaginismus and there are many, many more. It is a very personal condition and so each case must be looked at individually as causes and treatment can not be generalised to all women with vaginismus.

Most women who suffer from vaginismus do not realise they have it until they try to insert a tampon or have sex for the first time and so it may come as quite a shock to them.

I hope this help's

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hello! i actually have vaginismus and just found out about a month ago. basically i found out because everytime i attempted to have sex or had a gyno exam, it hurt immensely. apparently it is from the tightening of the muscles. my gyno prescribed me with a small dosage of amitriptyline (which is an anti-depressent). i think it helps to relax the muscles and so therefor there is less pain. she also prescribed lidocaine gel which numbs the area so penetration isnt as painful. so far things are progressing nicely. it just takes time to "train" your muscles not to tighten up. sex still isnt pleasurable for me...but it doesnt hurt as much and its getting better the more and more we do it. usually vagismus is caused by something psycological but it can be cured....it just takes time and patience. hope this helped!