Vaginal spasm - causes and treatment

Vaginismus therapy and countermeasures

The vaginal spasm (vaginismus) is a very unpleasant and painful complication in the context of sexual intercourse. Women who suffer chronically can hardly enjoy intimacies, making married togetherness a real problem. But there are ways out of the vaginal spasm.

contents

• Vaginismus therapy and countermeasures
• definition
• Physical causes of a vaginal spasm
• Mental causes of a vaginal spasm
• Symptoms of vaginal spasm
• diagnosis
• Therapy for a vaginal spasm
• Medical therapy
• Psychotherapeutic measures
• Home remedies and relaxation measures
• Medicinal herbal treatment
• Operative therapy
• Diseases of vaginal spasm

definition

As a vaginal spasm is called a sexual dysfunction in which it comes to spontaneous cramping of the vaginal muscles. In fact, it is the outer third of these muscles that line the female vaginal entrance. In addition, the pelvic floor muscles are affected by the cramping.
Vaginal spasm refers to a sexual dysfunction in which there is spontaneous cramping of the vaginal muscles. (Image: akiradesigns / fotolia.com)

As with any form of seizure, proper signal conduction from nerve impulses to the affected muscles is also responsible for the problem in the case of vaginal spasm. To date, however, the exact genesis of vaginismus is not yet fully understood, although both physical and psychological causes seem to come into question. In this context, two main forms of vaginismus are distinguished:

1. Primary vaginismus - the vaginal spasm was already at the time of the first sexual intercourse. Here are mostly physical causes responsible for the spasm during the act.
2. Secondary vaginismus - the seizure occurred only after a certain event in appearance. In addition to physical causes such as a vaginal trauma in the vagina, secondary vaginismus also often psychological causes are observed, such as those in a trauma after a rape.

useful information: A vaginal spasm can occur not only in the context of sexual intercourse, but basically in any attempt to introduce a foreign body in the vagina. This includes not only acts of masturbation but also gynecological examinations using speculum.

Physical causes of a vaginal spasm

Physical causes are the less common cause of vaginal spasms. They can occur early in the development of the female body. For example, if the hymen of a girl is severely constricted and thus difficult to penetrate, this occasionally leads to seizure reactions during penetration. This applies both to the first sexual experiences of the young patients, as well as to initial gynecological examinations and the use of tampons.

But older women sometimes complain of a vaginal spasm. This may be due to hormonal changes during menopause. The altered hormonal action rarely passes by without a trace of women and affects not only psyche and metabolism but also muscle and nerve function. In addition, an age-related lowering of the abdominal organs due to pelvic floor weakness as the cause is conceivable.
Even older women complain sometimes a vaginal spasm, for example, due to hormonal changes during menopause. (Image: Double Brain / fotolia.com)

In addition to these natural physical factors, infections in the genital area and in the urinary tract are also able to trigger a seizure. These include in particular urinary tract infections such as cystitis and venereal diseases such as chlamydia. The physical causes of vaginismus include birth defects at the entrance to the vagina, vaginal tumors and adhesions in the vagina, for example, as a result of a surgical procedure.

Last but not least, physical cramps may even be due to medications and hormone-based contraceptives, as their side effects may well be cramping reactions. Particularly worthy of mention here are hormone-based contraceptives such as the pill and drugs for the treatment of urinary incontinence.

Mental causes of a vaginal spasm

Far more common and also much more critical are vaginal spasms that are triggered by mental factors. Relatively harmless here would be a vaginismus due to short-term stress caused by stress or unfounded fear of sexual intercourse. Often, however, several factors come together that are initially not perceived by patients as a triggering factor, but their severity should not be underestimated.

For example, the causes of psychologically-induced vaginal spasms can often be found in traumatic experiences from the past. These may have been made by the woman very early in the development, without that she can still remember in detail. The main causes are clearly a strict upbringing of girls, within which the feminine sexuality was always negatively treated and the exploration of one's own body was a taboo. The result is a sexual inhibition, which is particularly expressed in intimate contact with the opposite sex. Of course even more traumatic experiences of abuse or similar traumas, such as sexual harassment as the cause of mental vaginal spasms. In addition to childhood, these can also lead to secondary vaginismus in every other phase of the woman's life.
Often, vaginal spasms have a psychological cause, for example after traumatic experiences. (Photo: sunnychicka / fotolia.com)

However, it should be mentioned that the unpleasant physical experiences that underlie the secondary vaginal spasm do not necessarily have to do with cases of abuse or sexual inhibition. Severe diseases of the abdomen or a traumatic childbirth can also subsequently provoke a seizure disorder in the area of ​​the vagina as a result of the situation-related pain experiences. Likewise, conflicts of partnership or unconscious fears, for example, of a potential pregnancy, may emerge as causative factors. The same is true for disturbed self-perception and low self-esteem. For example, if there are unprocessed inferiority complexes or a pronounced sense of shame, the woman may develop vaginal spasms. In this regard, attention should again be drawn to appropriate education in childhood, but also to social pressure, bullying and exclusion.

Symptoms of vaginal spasm

Cardinal symptoms of vaginismus are cramping pain and a reflex narrowing of the vagina when attempting to insert a penis or other objects into the vagina. It should be mentioned that the sexual partner can also feel extreme pain on his penis if it is in the vagina at the time of the narrowing. The physical symptoms are not the only symptoms of this sexual dysfunction.

As shown, the causes of vaginal spasms can be quite diverse, and often the whole is based on a multifactorial event. As a result, affected women develop a high level of suffering, which, in addition to the painful spasms, is also intensified by the fact that women's sexual problems are still often considered a taboo topic in society. Patients often do not dare to go to a gynecologist to have the problem diagnosed by a doctor, nor is there any relief in therapeutic discussions. From this psychological burden, which is characterized by shame and fear, often results in a very tense fear of intimacy, which additionally increases the likelihood of a vaginal spasm.

diagnosis

The easiest way to diagnose a vaginal spasm, of course, is the open discussion with a treating gynecologist. At this point, women who are ashamed of their cramping condition are clearly encouraged to talk about their problem! For psychological causes of the disease can be almost exclusively revealed within a detailed medical history. The further gynecological examination may then trigger the vaginosis already by acute vaginal reactions to introduced examination instruments, which gives the doctor a first impression of the physical sensibilities. If appropriate reactions are lacking, eye diagnosis can at least help to find physical causes such as scarring, inflammation and infections. Depending on the individual circumstances, further diagnostic measures may consist of blood tests and smears to detect pathogens and signs of inflammation.
Psychological causes of the disease can almost exclusively be revealed within a detailed medical history. (Image: psphotography / fotolia.com)

Therapy for a vaginal spasm

The therapy of vaginal spasms is always dependent on the triggering factors. Important preconditions, and preceded by all further steps, are, of course, a breaching of silence and an offensive and goal-oriented treatment of the woman concerned with her sexual disorder. Because nothing else is the vaginal spasm. It's not a taboo and nothing to be ashamed of, but simply a sexual dysfunction that can and must be treated the same as any other illness. Once patients have realized this, numerous treatment options are available to remedy the problem.

Medical therapy

Organic or physical causes can often be eliminated very quickly. For example, by the antibiotic treatment for infections, the professional curing of birth injuries by means of wound care or a drug change, if drug side effects cause the problem.

On the other hand, it is not recommended to use a standard medical treatment of psychological causes as the cause of vaginal spasms. If the vaginal spasm problem is based on a serious mental disorder, such as a manifest depression or an anxiety disorder, then antidepressants and other psychotropic drugs may help, but in profound trauma a talk therapy has priority.

Danger: There are application notes that recommend local treatment with numbing ointments before sexual intercourse. Again, this is to be discouraged without clear agreement with the doctor, as numerous active ingredients that are included in these ointments, the malfunction can also aggravate.

Psychotherapeutic measures

The first step in the treatment of mental causes as a trigger for vaginal spasms is the perception and recognition of the disorder as well as the appropriate action according to medical guidance. In careful discussion therapies, affected women (if desired with the involvement of the partner) can discuss the possible causes together with the therapist and discuss appropriate treatment steps. Here, depending on the causative factors, various options are possible, including:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy,
• Talk therapy,
• the learning of relaxation methods,
• trauma therapy,
• and couples therapy.

Home remedies and relaxation measures

At home, patients also have the opportunity to do some work themselves to alleviate the problem and aggressively address their vaginal spasms. In the first place, of course, is the open and trusting conversation with the partner. The joint decision to tackle the sexual difficulties as well as the support of the partner, women can already take some tension. The joint planning of private measures to remedy the malfunctions then contributes to the rest. It is important that both partners are open in addressing their wishes and needs, and that their likes and dislikes are thoroughly discussed. Such information should also be provided during sexual intercourse.

For example, shared, warm baths in preparation for the act can contribute to relaxation. Further rituals can be found in listening to relaxing music or enjoying a romantic movie together with a glass of red wine or an aromatic cup of tea in a relaxed atmosphere.

In everyday life, joint ventures are as important as a firm retreat point for each partner in the event of emerging stress to avoid tense situations. Detached from the partnership, patients in everyday life can themselves contribute to solving the sexual dysfunction. These include learning relaxation techniques such as yoga or meditation, getting to know and accepting one's own female anatomy with the prior guidance of a therapist and that
Perform pelvic floor training (e.g., using vaginal dilators) as instructed.
Relaxation techniques such as yoga or meditation can help everyday patients resolve sexual dysfunction. (Image: AntonioDiaz / fotolia.com)

Medicinal herbal treatment

In medical science, warm sitz baths are recommended for relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles. They are particularly effective with enthralling additives such as hay flowers.

Operative therapy

Abdominal tumors, adhesions or non-contracted injuries can and should be surgically removed or corrected in vaginal convulsions. Lowering of internal organs, pelvic floor weakness or certain types of urinary incontinence can also be remedied by means of surgical - sometimes even minimally invasive - methods.

Diseases of vaginal spasm

Vaginal narrowing, vaginal adhesions and wounds, vaginal inflammation, urinary tract infections, venereal diseases, traumas, stress, sexual inhibition. (Ma)