Sexual Dysfunctions in Women

464 Words2 Pages
There are many different types of sexual dysfunctions in women such as having a low sex drive, having pain during or after intercourse, having the inability to achieve orgasm, and problems getting sexually aroused. A study from The University of Chicago and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School reported that 43% of women experience sexual dysfunction in some form or another. Also, according to the Department of Urology and Psychiatry at UCLA Medical School, about 40% of women had reported they did not seek treatment for any sexual dysfunction related issues. Along with the common sexual dysfunctions listed above, vaginismus, dyspareunia, and vulvodynia are a few of the more uncommon sexual dysfunctions women suffer from. To start with, vaginismus is a vaginal tightness that can cause discomfort, burning, pain, penetration problems, or the inability to have intercourse, which are results from involuntary, reflective spasms of the muscles of the outer third of the vagina and perineum. Symptoms can include difficult or impossible penetration, difficulty inserting tampons or receiving pelvic exams, and avoidance of sex because of pain or the failure of having intercourse. Vaginismus varies from woman to woman. Some are not able to insert anything at all, while others are able to insert tampons but not a penis. There are two types of vaginismus; primary vaginismus and secondary vaginismus. Primary vaginismus is when a woman has never been able to have pain free intercourse because of the tightness. Secondary vaginismus is sexual pain that can affect women who have been able to have many years of intercourse without any pain. There are numerous things that can cause vaginismus; non-physical and physical. A non-physical causes could be from a childhood experience such as overly rigid parenting, unbalanced religious teaching, shocking sexual imagery, or
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