GynoFiles

Childbirth can cause many pelvic floor changes, that will heal, but sometimes need attention to make sure the healing is proper and doesn't cause problems with your sexuality. Between a quarter and a third of women report painful sex after having a child. Unfortunately this is one area of gynecologic care that has not been well studied or much attention given to how to avoid these problems. Basically your gyno gives you the green light to begin to have sex, and not much more information. Some of the main reasons for painful sex after childbirth are: tears, breastfeeding, and episiotomy. Circulatory problems may cause painful sex after childbirth as well. If the trauma of compression, or the location of tears. This can lead to difficulty with dryness, arousal, or painful sex. This condition is more typically caused by conditions other than childbirth. It is termed clitoral and vaginal vascular insufficiency syndromes. Due to poor blood flow from some very complex network of blood v...

Painful sex is a seldom talked about, but frequent problem in women. Generally speaking painful sex, also called dysparunia ,  as women age is due to VVA , the most prominent symptom of what is now more accurately called genitourinary syndrome (GUS) of menopause. It is due to lower levels of estrogen, and decreasing male hormones, even those of the adrenal gland. Making use of the fact that adrenal hormones themselves can affect the vaginal tissue, and the fact that some of the male hormones are converted to estrogen there is now a new treatment, DHEA that has been shown to be effective according to a new study published in Menopause . When women use lubricants for sex relief of dryness is very temporary, in some cases making sex possible, but rarely in making any symptoms improve other than intercourse. Vaginal moisturizers are somewhat more helpful in relieve symptoms of vaginal burning and itching at times other than at times of sex, but have no ability to fundamental...

Oxytocin is a peptide hormone produced in the hypothalamus section of our brain and most women know it as a medicine that is used to bring on contractions. But it has been called the hormone of love as wel l. So in a new study they looked at whether the hormone of desire could produce better sexual function as well. In the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm in women with symptoms of vaginal atrophy such as vaginal dryness, pain, itching, discomfort and bleeding during intercourse were treated with vaginal oxytocin for seven days. A s with treatments such as estrogen, Osphena, and the MonaLisa Touch treatment there was significant improvement in the health of the vaginal tissues including more of the healthy superficial cells rather than the atrophic basal cell layer. This was a well tolerated treatment and with this study of just one week there were no significant side effects either. It is still a medication with potential systemic effects however, and most women when asked w...

Painful sex in breast cancer patients is due to the effects of severe lack of estrogen that causes significant vaginal aging and thinning. In many breast cancer patients the effects of low estrogen at the time of menopause compounds the low estrogen effect. If the area is not treated sex becomes impossible. At Women’s Health Practice weadvocate therapy in breast cancer patients to regenerate the lining without havingto use hormones. In the treatments such as with MonaLisa Touch , a non-invasive therapy that treats the source of pain and heals the tissues. In a new study it was discovered that topical liquid lidocaine gel with the use of a lubricant can treat pain with an episode of sex in about 95% of the patients who participated. The study was led by Martha F. Goetsch, MD, MPH, from Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, note. Her study results were presented in 2014 at the annual meetings of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and th...

Painful sex is almost always treatable. The treatments range from curing infections, to appropriately correcting pelvic floor disorders, treating bladder infections, and curing the withering of vaginal tissues as women get years beyond menopause. For others there are pain or immune issues that may be causing the problem. In menopausal women the focus of pain relief for painful sex is on returning tissue to it's 'original' or younger states. Once the tissue of the vagina becomes significantly atrophied those treatments involve hormonal or synthetic hormonal manipulation. The most typical woman complaining of painful sex is a postmenopausal women who has gone several years without estrogen therapy and whom has begun to have very infrequent intercourse. Hormonal therapy is a fix for painful sex, but there are many who want to try non-prescription and non-hormonal alternatives. Some of these women may be breast cancer survivors who are not wanting to use hormonal therapy. A no...

Painful sex, dry vaginal tissues, chronic urinary tract infections, all are due to the lack of estrogen as a woman ages through menopause. There are both medical and non-medical therapies for this condition. Women who have painful sex in menopause usually have the condition of atrophic vulvovaginitis ,or genital atrophy or what is more commonly known as the thinning of the vaginal walls due to menopausal changes. There are even pap tests to determine if this is the diagnosis, although your gyno can usuall y tell just by looking. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Feb of 2013 has approved ospemifene ( Osphena , Shionogi, Inc) for treating this condition of painful sex due to vaginal dryness also known as  dyspareunia in postmenopausal women. Dyspareunia, in younger women, can be caused by a number of conditions  yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, PID, STDs, or endometriosis. In menopausal women it is associated with declining levels of estrogen during meno...

You may have had a diagnosis of uterine fibroids, and been told that you might need surgery, but there is a lot to know regarding fibroids and women should realize they have a lot to discuss with their gyno if they've been diagnosed. Many fibroids are found on pelvic exam or pelvic ultrasound, and it's a surprise as the woman wasn't seeking consultation for period symptoms. Not all fibroids progress to having symptoms, and in fact a significant percent of women who do have symptoms won't need medicine or surgery because they report reduction of symptoms with observation alone. But for those with uterine bleeding, pelvic pains, or women with bulk symptoms such as abdominal swelling, pelvic heaviness, frequent urination, discomfort with sex, or bladder discomfort Both suregical and medical therapy for uterine fibroids are used commonly..  The chances of successful resolution of your symptoms depends upon what your symptoms are and what your plans for the future...