There are many issues that are related to the pelvis, and many people across the United States and Canada experience them. However, many women are too embarrassed to ask their healthcare providers about their sexual issues. However, there are well-trained physiotherapists who can provide women who have sexual dysfunction with a great deal of relief from their issues.

What Are Issues Related to Female Sexual Dysfunction?

• Dyspareunia. Dyspareunia is a complaint of recurrent pain or discomfort that is associated with intercourse that involves attempted or complete vaginal penetration. It is sometimes simply referred to as painful intercourse. This pain can occur before, during, or after intercourse.
• Superficial Dyspareunia. Superficial dyspareunia is pain that is strictly associated with vaginal entry.
• Deep Dyspareunia. Deep dyspareunia is pain that is associated with deeper penetration into the vagina.
• Obstructed Intercourse. A condition known as obstructed intercourse is characterized by a complaint that vaginal penetration is not possible due to some form of obstruction. Typically, this obstruction is muscular in nature.

How Common Are These Conditions?

Although most women do not tell their healthcare providers about these issues, they are actually very common—dyspareunia is experienced by between 8% and 21.8% of women.

Treatments

There are numerous treatment techniques that have been shown to benefit women with sexual dysfunction. Many of these treatment techniques are similar to those that are utilized in other parts of the body. This is due to the fact that, although they are less well-known, the muscles associated with sexual function and dysfunction have all of the same characteristics as other skeletal muscles.

Joint mobilization techniques are utilized by physiotherapists who specialize in the treatment of sexual dysfunction. This involves a great deal of movement of the thigh bones. Low grade motion of the thigh bones in the pelvic girdle can often help relieve pain. Higher grade motion can help increase the mobility of the bones, ligaments, and other tissues in the area that may be restricted.

Trigger point dry needling has also proven to be a very effective treatment technique for sexual dysfunction. Dry needling helps eliminate what are known as trigger points in the muscles. These trigger points are essentially knots in the muscle that inhibit the proper function of the muscle. When these knots exist in the muscle, they may be very tight. This muscle tightness can be painful, and can inhibit typical sexual function.

For more information, visit a clinic like North Florida Women's Care.