What Causes Vaginismus?

Imagine the one thing you fear the most was sexual intercourse. The fear would bring about anxiety and make penetration ifficult and sometimes, impossible.

This condition is called vaginismus and it is considered a sexual disorder. The condition itself varies in degree from mild to severe.

While most women are generally diagnosed by their gynaecologists with the mild version that still enables penetration but with much difficulty and often pain. These women can still have sexual desires, become sexually aroused and have an orgasm; the condition only refers to difficulty with the penetration part of sexual intercourse.

On a physical level, women with vaginismus have difficulty to insert even small things into their vagina, such as a tampon, and may find it impossible to have sexual intercourse. The difficulty is caused due to a spasm in the muscles of the outer part of the vagina.

Why is vaginismus caused?

Vaginismus can be caused by several possible causes, including sexual abuse, physical pain problems, and emotional issues and sometimes it just happens with no evident cause.
Without getting into specifics, any sort of sexual abuse can create a psychological issue with sex that may lead to vaginismus.

Another cause may be religious upbringing. Naturally, most religious people, even those who are devout, will not experience this problem so there’s nothing wrong with a religious upbringing in general. However, being educated as a child about the negative aspects of sexual intercourse in a way which was repetitive and extreme, may create a psychological problem with sex which results in vaginismus.

In most cases of vaginismus, the spasm is triggered by pain or anticipating to feel pain. The spasm is a defense mechanism of the body to protect the vaginal area without the woman’s awareness that the spasm occurring. This is something the patient does not control.

It is important to note that the vaginal spasm remains long after the woman experienced the actual abuse or physical pain problem. It is as if the body still reacts to a past memory that occurred before and hasn’t diminished yet.

The cure of vaginismus is a gradual process and it involves defeating the spasm by learning vaginal muscle control.

Gaining better awareness and control over the vaginal muscles is done by learning relaxation and bodily awareness techniques to allow the patient to undo the vaginal spasm she experiences. Physical therapy and sexual counseling can work. However you can also do this alone at home once you have the right guidance and support.