Causes of and Treatments for Painful Sex
When a woman experiences pain during vaginal sex it is medically called “dyspareunia”. This condition is more common than most women realize – with up to 50% of woman experiencing painful sex in their lifetime, most typically after menopause.
Sadly, many women erroneously believe that pain during intercourse is just a part of aging that “they have to learn to live with” – and so they do not seek medical treatment. Other women unsuccessfully try over-the-counter creams or lubricants, while some women just quit having sex altogether.
But it is important to understand that while painful sex is very common it is not “normal.” It is a medical condition and the great news is that it can usually be treated very successfully by an experienced doctor – often with fast, painless, and long-lasting hormone replacement therapy!
The hormone replacement experts at SottoPelle in the greater Phoenix, AZ area believe that every woman deserves to be able to enjoy sexual intimacy, at any age. In this article we explain how 100% natural bioidentical estrogen replacement therapy can treat painful sex and restore comfort and enjoyment to your sex life.
What Causes Painful Sex?
There are multiple medical conditions that can cause pain during intercourse. That is why it is important to discuss any pain you are having during sex with an experienced doctor.
Less common causes of painful sex can include:
- Injury or trauma – such as damage done by an episiotomy (incision made during childbirth).
- Inflammation, infection or skin disorder – including yeast infections, STDs, genital warts, herpes, eczema or other skin problems, and more.
- Vaginismus – involuntary muscle spasms in the vaginal walls that make penetration painful.
- Certain illnesses and conditions – pelvic inflammatory disease, uterine prolapse, fibroids, cystitis, pelvic floor dysfunction, adenomyosis, ovarian cysts, and more can make sex painful.
- Scarring from surgery – scarring from pelvic surgery, such as a hysterectomy, can also cause painful sex.
Most common cause of painful sex:
While many other factors can cause pain during intercourse, by far the most common cause of painful sex is estrogen decline. After menopause, more than 50% of women suffer from vaginal dryness and irritation that causes discomfort during intimacy due to insufficient estrogen levels.
Estrogen is the female “sex hormone” that regulates ovulation and menstruation. Estrogen also helps maintain thick, healthy tissue in the vaginal walls to support conception and reproduction during the childbearing years. And healthy vaginal walls contain cells that produce moisture to lubricate the vagina.
But, as a woman passes her childbearing years and enters menopause, estrogen production declines, and the vaginal walls thin. And thinner walls mean less elasticity as well as fewer cells to secrete lubrication. As woman loses natural lubrication she may experience friction or a “sandpaper” feeling during sex – and sometimes even intense pain, tearing or bleeding.
However, unlike many other symptoms of menopause (such as hot flashes) vaginal pain and dryness that is due to estrogen decline will not get better by itself. In fact, vaginal dryness, irritation and atrophy typically gets worse over time if left untreated. Eventually the vagina may start to itch or feel dry and irritated all of the time, not just during sex.
Additionally, with less lubrication, the vulva (skin around the vagina) may also eventually constantly burn or itch. And, estrogen decline can also affect the bladder and urethra, causing urinary tract infections as well as incontinence.
Treatment for Painful Sex Caused by Estrogen Decline
It is important to see your doctor to diagnose the cause of your vaginal pain during intercourse – and to rule out infection, illness or skin disorders. If she determines that, like most women, the cause of your painful sex is estrogen decline, hormone therapy can rebalance your hormones and restore vaginal comfort.
Fortunately, hormone replacement therapy is fast, easy, convenient, painless and long lasting with Sotto Pelle bioidentical hormone replacement pellets!
Older forms of estrogen replacement required the insertion of messy vaginal creams or the necessity of taking daily pills. Other traditional forms of hormone therapy involved painful shots, inconvenient patches or vaginal rings. And, older hormone therapies used synthetic hormones that were not only less effective, but that also had dangerous side effects (such as increasing the risk of certain cancers.)
But revolutionary the SottoPelle Hormone Replacement Method restores estrogen levels with a single, painless in-office insertion that lasts up to 4 months! And, the SottoPelle Method uses only 100% natural, bioidentical hormones that are plant-derived and identical in almost every way to the body’s natural estrogen.
Hormone replacement pellets are not only more convenient than creams, pills, patches and shots – they are also more effective and safer than traditional synthetic hormones!
And, as an added benefit, restoring your estrogen balance with bioidentical hormone pellets can also help protect against cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes and other illnesses associated with aging. Bioidentical estrogen hormone replacement can also improve energy, libido and mental clarity.
Estrogen Therapy for Treatment of Painful Sex – Phoenix, AZ
If you are suffering from pain during intercourse, please know that sex does not have to hurt at any age. There IS a treatment that can restore vaginal lubrication and alleviate your symptoms – making sex enjoyable again.
Estrogen replacement with the SottoPelle Method is effective, safe, and convenient. Estrogen replacement can help your body rebuild strong, healthy, lubricate vaginal tissue, so you can enjoy sexual intimacy at any age.
If you live in the greater Phoenix, AZ area, contact the doctors at SottoPelle today for a complete hormone workup and diagnosis – and see how estrogen replacement pellets can help treat the underlying cause of your painful sex and give you back your quality of life!
And if you are outside of the Phoenix area, you can use our convenient SottoPelle Physician Finder to locate a provider in your area.
