What to do About Painful Intercourse

Painful intercourse, also known as dyspareunia, can interfere with intimacy and your ability to maintain a healthy sex life. While the condition can cause varied levels of discomfort, women who complain of painful intercourse typically report a sensation of dryness, tightness, or severe pain. 

Painful intercourse can occur as the result of physical changes to your vagina associated with childbirth, injury, inflammation, medical conditions such as endometriosis, or a congenital abnormality.

Painful intercourse is often associated with vaginal dryness. Vaginal dryness is one of the most common symptoms of menopause, affecting up to 45% of postmenopausal women. 

Vaginal dryness can often be remedied by applying over-the-counter lubricants before intercourse. Making time for sex and extending foreplay can also help promote natural lubrication and reduce discomfort.

When symptoms persist, only a complete medical evaluation can determine the reason you’re experiencing painful intercourse. The sexual health specialists at Ovation Wellness in Madison, Mississippi, provide expert diagnosis and treatment for painful intercourse. The professional and empathetic staff can help improve your sexual health with treatments that help restore your body’s natural lubrication so you can resume a healthy sex life.

Read on to learn more about options for treating painful intercourse and how they can improve your intimate experiences.

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT)

Changes in hormone levels caused by menopause can reduce the amount of estrogen that the blood vessels and tissues in your vagina and vulva receive. The effect can cause vulvovaginal atrophy, a condition in which the vulva and vaginal tissue lose elasticity, thickness, and moisture.

Low estrogen levels can also cause atrophic vaginitis, an inflammation of the vaginal tissue that causes symptoms of pain, swelling, itching, and burning, which can intensify with penetration and intercourse.

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) can improve symptoms of painful intercourse by returning your hormones to balanced levels when menopause causes them to decrease. Low levels of estrogen and progesterone are associated with many of the common symptoms of menopause, including vaginal dryness.

Bioidentical hormones are natural compounds made from plant components. These compounds are chemically identical to your natural hormones. 

BHRT can be administered in many forms including gels, creams, injections, patches, and lozenges. The staff at Ovation Wellness administers bioidentical hormones in pellet form. The pellets, which are about the size of a grain of rice, are implanted in your skin, usually near your buttocks.

BHRT pellets last for several months. During that time, the pellets release a consistent flow of low levels of hormones to mimic the normal levels of your natural hormones. This can promote the restoration of natural lubrication. 

MonaLisa Touch®

MonaLisa Touch® is a minimally invasive procedure that delivers CO2 fractional laser therapy to the tissue of the vaginal wall. This gentle treatment generates new collagen, elastin, and vascularization, which restores vaginal elasticity and its ability to produce moisture. 

The effect can improve symptoms of vaginal atrophy including painful intercourse, stress urinary incontinence, and vaginal burning or itching.

The treatment is administered by placing a side-firing probe into the vaginal canal. A two-part pulse treats surface tissue and deep tissue to revitalize vaginal mucous. This in-office procedure takes less than five minutes to perform and is administered without anesthesia. 

More than 90% of women treated report satisfaction with the MonaLisa Touch. While most patients report positive results after the first session, a complete course of treatment involves three sessions, administered six weeks apart.

O-Shot

The O-Shot is a treatment that can help increase vaginal lubrication and improve sexual desire and your intimate experience. This innovative therapy rejuvenates vaginal tissue with platelets from your own blood.

O-Shot therapy involves drawing a sample of your blood. The blood is placed in a centrifuge to isolate the platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from the rest of your blood. 

The PRP that results has a higher concentration of platelets than a comparable sample of unaltered blood. The PRP is injected into your vaginal tissue with a tiny needle. 

The platelets release growth factors at the injection site. These growth factors stimulate tissue growth by promoting collagen production and increasing blood flow to the treated area. The O-Shot takes about 30 minutes and requires no time for recuperation.

Don’t suffer from the discomfort and frustration of painful intercourse. Find out more about ways to treat this condition. Call our office today to schedule a medical consultation.