Monthly Newsletter

Our team just went up to New Hampshire to learn a new treatment for severe vaginismus from a wonderful Doctor. He (and his caring staff) have developed a procedure which uses general anesthesia and Botox in order to help women over the first, most frightening hurdle of treatment.Vaginismus is a condition where a woman experiences extreme pain if she tries to insert anything into her vagina.  Some women who suffer from Vaginismus tolerate a penis in the vagina for very short periods, but it's unpleasant and painful.  Others cannot even touch the area around the vagina, can't have a gynecological exam and can't insert a tampon.

It is one of the most devastating conditions we see in patients. Not because the absence of intercourse does, by definition, mean that you can't have a satisfying sex life. (As I always tell patients there are as many ways to have sex as there are body parts.) But women with vaginismus start to think that there is something crazy and abnormal about them. They start to feel horrible about themselves. They start to avoid any sexual encounters with partners.  

When I am lecturing and trying to explain vaginismus, the analogy I use to describe how a patient feels is to compare it to what your reaction might be if I told you I was going to put a pen into your eye. 

If I said to you,"Listen, I am going to put this pen in your eye. Not to worry, it won't hurt a bit and actually it will feel good," you would look at me as though I had three heads and run for your life.

Patients with severe vaginismus feel that way. Often with anti-anxiety medications, behavior medication, relaxation exercises we can work with a woman to help her get those first dilators in. Sometimes it just doesn't work and it's just too hard.

This new procedure has the women under general anesthesia while a physician injects Botox that stops the muscles from going into spasm - the primary cause of vaginismus.  Then, a  local anesthetic is administered so that there is absolutely no initial pain from the procedure,  and a large dilator is inserted. The patient wakes up with the dilator inside her - something most patients cannot imagine ever happening to them.  Then, the real work begins.   She has to work with dilators, get comfortable with the idea of inserting something into her vagina, internalize the idea that there is really no pain and then make the  transfer to intercourse.

It doesn't solve the whole problem, but it can be a big help and relief for the right patient and we are so glad that we will be able to offer it in our office as well.

MCFS Book Recommendation

10 Steps ~ Completely Overcome Vaginismus, The practical approach to pain-free intercourse.  Mark and Lisa Carter,  Vaginismus.com (2004) 

Here's a book that can take you through some tangible steps to recognizing  vaginismus, learning about the anatomy of the condition, and retraining your mind and body to stop the cycle and gain control over such a debilitating situation.

The book gives a thorough course in Vagina 101, moves on to discuss possible emotional backdrops to the condition, and then procedes with a step by step treatment plan using dilators and a patience.

Although a book cannot provide the kind of encouragement and support you might receive from a support group or clinicians experienced in sexual dysfunction, it is a practical textbook for a self-help approach, and if you think you are among those who suffer from vaginismus, this book is a good place to start

Amazon