Reasons for Painful Sex

Sex is supposed to be pleasurable and romantic. Movies often lead to high expectations of a really positive experience. However, various medical problems can severely affect a person’s sexual enjoyment.

Pain during intercourse can be caused by many things, including:

Lack of arousal or fear

If you aren’t in the mood or not enough time has been taken before penetration is attempted, this can result in pain. You might also be afraid, for instance, if it is your first time or if you have recently given birth. Spending more time on foreplay might ease the discomfort.

Hormonal Imbalances

If you have had a baby and are breastfeeding, you will have lower estrogen levels, which can cause vaginal dryness. This is only temporary and can be remedied by using a sexual lubricant.

Ladies who have gone through menopause may also experience lower estrogen levels and pain with intercourse. This can be treated with an estrogen replacement cream, pessary or vaginal ring. If you don’t want to use hormone replacement therapy, an ordinary lubricant may help.

Childbirth

In addition to lack of estrogen, the actual physical process of childbirth can cause painful intercourse. The muscles and tissue around the vagina will be bruised and may feel sore, and if the woman has had stitches, it may hurt too much to have penetration during sex.

There’s no set rule for how long couples should wait to resume their sex life after childbirth, but most doctors say to wait six weeks when the post-natal check is done. If you leave it until then, or later, you may find you aren’t as dry or sore.

Men should not perform oral sex on their partners for several months after childbirth because this can cause a vaginal infection or an infection of the uterus. In rare cases, it may also cause a life threatening condition called air embolism.

This can occur after oral sex when a man accidently blows air into the woman. The air can then get into the blood vessels more easily than normal because the uterus is newly delivered.

This can prove deadly, and there have been cases of women dying after childbirth due to having oral sex too soon. It is safe for the woman to perform oral sex on the man, however, and this may be a less painful alternative than having penetrative intercourse.

Infections

Infections such as thrush can cause burning, itching and inflammation at the vaginal entrance or tip of the penis. It can also spread to the person’s partner so it’s important to see your doctor if you think you have thrush.

Anti-thrush cream or tablets can be given. Women also have the option of using pessaries.

If you want to use a natural remedy, bathing the genitals in natural yoghurt with live biocultures can help (as the good bacteria eats up the thrush). Tea tree cream or having a bath with a few drops of tea tree oil added, has been found to be helpful for some people.

Sexually transmitted infections can also cause pain during and after intercourse, requiring treatment with antibiotics. Sexually transmitted infections may damage your fertility, so you should not put off seeing a doctor if you suspect you have one.

Pain Disorders

Pain disorders such as vulvodynia (a constant burning pain in the vulva, often with irritation around the surrounding area) or vestibulodynia (a burning pain to the vulva only during intercourse or when pressure is applied to the area).

No one knows why this occurs but it is thought to be damage to the nerve fibers that then abnormally perceive pain sensations.

Both conditions have a variety of treatments including topical steroids, anti-depressant pills (which can suppress nerve function and so reduce pain sensation), sexual lubricants or aqueous cream, a bland emollient can also be used to ease soreness.

If you are in a lot of pain and cannot tolerate penetration, lidocaine anaesthetic gel is available to apply to the affected areas. This will numb the pain and sooth the area while allowing penetration to take place.

Natural remedies include ointments such as aloe vera gel, rescue remedy cream, tea tree cream and hypercal cream, often with greater success than prescription treatment. Homeopathy and acupuncture have also been used with varying success.

Men can also suffer with chronic pelvic pain disorders. One, known as prostatodynia causes pain in the genitals, burning during urination, back ache and chills. This condition may cause him to suffer painful sexual intercourse.

Treatment is generally ineffective, although unlike vulvodynia, the condition comes and goes so it may be possible for him to have intercourse when he isn’t having symptoms.

Sources:

Sex is painful and I itch badly afterwards, Net Doctor. Web. 11 February 2012. http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/ate/womenshealth/204199.html

Vaginal problems: treatments, Menopause Matters. Web. 11 February 2012. http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/dryness.php

Sex after giving birth, Net Doctor. Web. 11 February 2012. http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/sex_relationships/facts/sexdelivery.htm

Treating vaginal thrush, NHS Choices. Web. 11 February 2012. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Thrush/Pages/Treatment.aspx

Vulvodynia, The Vulval Pain Society. Web. 11 February 2012. http://vulvalpainsociety.org/index.php?page=vulvodynia

Definition of Prostatodynia, Medicine Net. Web. 11 February 2012. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9863

Reviewed February 13, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jessica Obert

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