I moved to Israel last year*
My story is just like everybody else’s with vaginismus. No intercourse, no gynecological exams, no tampons – basically some major obstacles to a normal life.
I grew up in New York and moved to Israel last year immediately following my wedding. I knew right away that our problem with having intercourse would not go away by itself. I asked some friends of mine who were much more experienced and one of them found the Women’s Therapy Center on the web. During the past year, I corresponded with Ditza and Ross by e-mail to discuss my condition and what we could do about it. They said that I would need to come to New York for a short period of time for treatment.
I didn’t really want to go. First of all, I had a new job that I couldn’t pick and leave so easily. Airfare is expensive and we didn’t want to spend time and money on a treatment that we knew little about. We figured that we would try to fix our problem by seeing the very best talent in Israel.
Well, 5 gynecologists and 1 sex therapist later my husband and I decided to stop putting off this trip that we had to make. All of these so-called professionals prescribed different treatments ranging from drinking wine, a vaginal “stretching” procedure, a Hymenectomy, Escracain jelly to numb the vagina, sex therapy, etc, etc. Only Ditza and Ross seemed to make sense – so we finally bought tickets and went to New York for 2 weeks.
It was a little difficult trying to get around questions from family and friends who wanted to spend time with us. Our appointments at the Center were for 4 hours daily (2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon), plus 45 minutes of traveling 4 times a day. We also needed time to do our “homework” that Ditza and Ross assigned each day. This left little time and energy for much else. We ended up trying to accommodate our social obligations as well as our therapy sessions (plus much-needed shopping) — and ended up totally exhausted.
Despite everything, Ditza and Ross got us through it. After only 16 hours of therapy, all those years of fear and misery were a thing of the past. Even after the first day, Ditza was able to get her finger inside – showing me that I was indeed “normal”. I never would have believed that this was possible. Each day, we worked our way through various exercises until I was able to achieve my goal.
It wasn’t easy at all but it was short and now it’s over. I am so relieved to be free from this burden that I’ve been carrying since I was a teenager. Ditza and Ross really know vaginismus and I am so grateful to them for helping me overcome my fear.
My only regret is not coming to New York when I first heard about the Women’s Therapy Center a year ago. I could have lived without those horrifying gynecologists and sex therapy appointments, not to mention the difficulties we faced as a newly married couple trying to deal with this problem.
My advice to any woman with vaginismus: Take care of it now. There is no need to live with this. I am the biggest wimp in the world and I came out alive and well. If I can do it so can you! I promise. Even if it means taking a trip from out of town for 2-3 weeks – it’s well worth it!
Good luck to all of you and g-d bless*.
– S.R.
* Results may vary from person to person
