Vaginismus is a genito-pelvic pain /penetration disorder in which vaginal penetration is either difficult or impossible. Vaginismus is characterized by the instantaneous, involuntary (psychosomatic) contraction and tightening of the pelvic floor muscles at the vaginal opening, and by pain upon insertion. Dyspareunia, or painful intercourse, is often associated with vaginismus.
This reaction will occur if penetration is perceived as upsetting, painful (even before attempting it!), frightening, or dangerous, making the body scream out loud, “NO ENTRY!” Occasionally, the condition will be caused by a physical problem such as a birth defect or surgery. Vaginismus is a vagina in panic…
We offer the following vaginismus treatment options to account for travel and time logistics. All programs lead to the same end result, Overcoming vaginismus.
Virtual Vaginismus Coaching: Designed for women who cannot possibly arrive for in-person treatment at our New York location.
Our Online Vaginismus Treatment is for Women Who:
Read more about receiving treatment online here.
The causes of vaginismus are not entirely understood, and are likely multifactorial, including both psychological and physiological factors.
The most common causes of vaginismus, in order of prevalence. Note that, contrary to common belief, abuse is not at all on this list!
While the woman may not know why she has vaginismus, she certainly knows that she is not friendly with her vagina and cannot use it naturally or in “the normal way.” Anxiety is common in women with vaginismus and can be linked to other conditions such as vulvodynia.
There are five (5) body areas that are responsive to emotional stress, with symptoms of vaginismus being involuntary as well as present on/off as per stress level:
Of course, the natural tendency is to suspect a medical problem, and, indeed, there are different potential causes for these problems.
When medical examination and testing will not find any physical reason to justify the above complaints, emotional stress can be established, and proper intervention is a must.
Psychosomatic physical expressions like these, under the influence of stress hormones such as cortisol, tend to expand over time and may eventually cause tissue breakdown because of an associated inflammatory process.
In other words, stress is not a good thing for our body-mind health!
A stressed individual – male or female – may have more than one such body area ‘activated.’ And indeed, when it comes to vaginismus symptoms, it is quite common to see women who suffer from stress activation in several of those body areas, not only in her pelvic floor!
Diagnosing vaginismus requires identifying an inability, or a great difficulty, with one or more of the following Five Penetrations of Life SM
A woman may have none of the penetrations or she may be able to have some, but not all of them. However, intercourse is always problematic or impossible.
Note: Although most women with vaginismus self-diagnose, this information is not intended to replace prompt medical care. Painful intercourse should always be consult by a medical professional.
There are two main types of vaginismus, primary and secondary vaginismus.
Primary vaginismus is when the woman was never able to have vaginal penetration/s or has always struggled with them, women feel trapped, with feelings of panic and anxiety, being “stuck with it forever,” of feeling inadequate, and “the only one who suffers from this…”
Partners suffer as well, feeling frustrated, helpless, rejected, and inadequate. Inaccurate sexual information and the lack of understanding of the woman’s body will worsen the crisis, often leading to alienation; it is not unusual for some women in a relationship to suggest a breakup because they feel that they cannot “do what a woman should do” because of their primary vaginismus.
Secondary vaginismus is when the woman lost the ability to have vaginal penetration/s. Causes of secondary vaginismus include gynecologic surgery, Menopause, cancer treatment & radiation, emotional or relationship crisis, frequent painful urogenital infections, and Sexually Transmitted infections.
Although these women will remember that penetrations used to be fine, they are now faced with painful/impossible vaginal penetrations, making them feel just as isolated and hopeless as those with primary vaginismus.
Typically speaking, a solution is simple and takes just a few treatment sessions.
Symptoms of vaginismus always include pain during intercourse.
Pain: Although vaginismus causes various physical and emotional symptoms that every woman will experience in her own way, pain is the main feature and the one shared by all sufferers regardless of the severity of their condition.
It is important to emphasize that vaginismus’s pain is not “in the woman’s head.” Rather, it is a real physical pain from the panic reaction to penetration, the product of a Fight or Flight response.
Concerning pelvic/gynecologic examination, women will tend to avoid them or will suffer terribly through them.
Tampon use? Women will settle for sanitary pads and come up with excuses for why they prefer them over tampons.
To explain this further, watch the videos on this page. For more information about signs of vaginismus, see our page on vaginismus.
With years of experience and thousands of treatment hours, we have developed a practical and quantitative approach that addresses the whole woman, not just her genitals.
We have a very informative video outlining what vaginismus therapy and the treatment process for vaginismus entails below.
Watch the video below before more information about vaginismus treatment and whether it hurts.
Vaginismus continues to be a puzzling condition that is often misdiagnosed and poorly managed due to limited understanding and resources. Even the medical community is mostly clueless as to understanding it, and how to treat.
Women, and partners, have embraced the Internet as it offers them a venue to research resources for vaginismus treatment without disclosing their suffering in fear of shame or embarrassment.
There is widespread false information about overcoming vaginismus, including the following wrong information often given by clinicians. They totally miss the point that the vagina is an automatic body part that should work without much ado if not for the anxiety that settled within it…
The list is long and goes on. The confusion is deep. The damage to the woman’s body & mind is injurious and devastating. This is wrong!
