Dyspareunia Treatment | Best Gynecologists in Brooklyn

Dyspareunia

While men usually have an easier time talking to their doctors about pain they experience while having sex, women often find the conversation more difficult. But instead of refusing to have sex because it’s become too painful, talk to a caring, understanding gynecologist who has a wealth of experience with painful sexual conditions. The cure may be as simple as taking antibiotics for an infection. The cause also may be something that has serious consequences if left untreated. Don’t wait; trust your gynecologist at Century Medical and Dental Center to help you through a difficult time.

Dyspareunia is a condition that causes you to feel throbbing and burning pain that lasts for hours after a sexual encounter. Both men and women can experience this pain, although for women, the pain is usually recurrent and persistent. As the nature of the condition is delicate, you may prefer not to talk to your doctor when sex hurts, even during an annual physical exam.

But your best Brooklyn gynecologist at Century Medical and Dental Center is experienced with these kinds of issues, and can gently guide you to a treatment plan. Talking honestly to your doctor also can help you avoid potential consequences. You may have dyspareunia if you’re experiencing any of the following symptoms:

• Pain during sex
• Pain after sex
• General burning after sex
• Pelvic pain after sex
• Internal vaginal pain
• Cervix pain during sex
• Sharp pain when inserting a tampon

Having painful sex can be a psychological issue as well as a physical one. The most common medical reason is lack of sufficient lubricant during penetration. Natural lubrication develops during foreplay, but can decrease if you are menopausal with low estrogen levels or suffering with any emotional turmoil.

Why Sex Hurts

Dyspareunia pain is grouped into two types for women. Knowing exactly when you feel pain is an important indication of what’s causing the pain. If the pain starts at the time of penetration, then it’s called entry pain, but if it’s more intense and occurs during thrusting, then you’re suffering from deep pain. Entry pain develops for a number of varying reasons, including:

• Not enough foreplay, leading to vaginal dryness
• Lack of sexual desire
• Diabetes that causes skin rashes, yeast infections and urinary tract infections
• Certain medications taken for hypertension, high cholesterol and sinus infections
• As a consequence of taking birth control pills
• Eczema or psoriasis in your genital region
• Injury or trauma to the genitalia — like female circumcision, pelvic surgery after an accident or a surgical cut to enlarge the birth canal during childbirth
• Sexually transmitted infections such as genital warts, anal warts, herpes, gonorrhea, chlamydia or syphilis
• Vaginismus, which causes involuntary spasms in the vaginal muscle
• Birth abnormality where the vagina isn’t fully formed or a membrane blocks the vaginal opening
• Vulvodynia, which causes chronic pain and irritation at the opening of the vagina
• Vulvar vestibulitis when the vulvar vestibule painful and becomes red
• You’ve recently given birth or are breastfeeding

Deep pain usually occurs because you have an underlying medical condition that’s causing the severe discomfort. These medical conditions include:

• Pelvic pain
• Endometriosis
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Uterine fibroids
• Ovarian cyst
• Uterine prolapse
• Endometrial polyps
• Ovarian polyps
• Endometritis
• Bladder prolapse
• Adenomyosis
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
• Cervical or ovarian cancer

A Correct Diagnosis Is Critical

Dyspareunia is difficult to talk about, but your gynecologist in Brooklyn needs to know certain things about your experience with the pain, such as when it starts, when it’s most intense, how long it lasts and what relieves it. You also need to undergo a pelvic exam to see if you have any infection or to find any abnormality in your reproductive organs.
Additional tests you may need to undergo include:

• Blood tests
• Colposcopy
• Sonogram
• Urodynamics
• Cancer screening tests like an endometrial or cervical cone biopsy

Treatment for Dyspareunia

Treatment for dyspareunia depends on the diagnosis. If you’re experiencing burning after sex — that is, your vagina burns after sex — it’s mostly likely due to an infection, which requires antibiotics or antifungal treatment. If you have other forms of gynecological problems such as abnormal uterine bleeding, then your treatment plan includes solutions for that condition.

Other treatment options your gynecologist may suggest if no underlying condition is found include:

• Increasing your foreplay time
• Using sex toys
• Seeking out couple massages
• Changing your sex position for a better grip
• Using water-based creams or lotions for lubrication problems
• Trying estrogen in topical ointments, as a tablet, or in a ring, which are viable options for menopausal women

Don’t let embarrassment or fear keep you from enjoying a full sex life. Contact our Brooklyn MD at Century Medical and Dental Center for an appointment to discover the cause of your pain and find solutions that work for you.