Is sex painful? Why intercourse can hurt for women and what couples can do to make sure it’s fun for both
- Pain during sex for women can result from a host of factors, from lack of lubrication to relationship issues
- Introducing sex toys could help some couples, while being prepared to communicate in the bedroom is a valuable first step, experts say
Pain during sex is a common problem for women. Estimates as to how many suffer vary wildly, but according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, as many as 75 per cent of women could experience it at some point in their lives.
It’s a really miserable problem, too. Not just for the pain itself, which is bad enough, but because “pain down there” can cause unhappiness in relationships as resentment and blame builds.
Pain can result from a host of factors, experts say. Dryness is a common cause. Lack of lubrication can make sex uncomfortable, but also upsets the balance of healthy bacteria which can lead to infections that trigger pain and irritation.
Causes of painful sex range from clear pathology, such as congenital genital tract abnormalities, to acquired conditions like endometriosis, says Dr Lucy Lord, a Hong Kong-based gynaecologist and obstetrician. Endometriosis is a painful disorder that occurs when tissue similar to that which normally lines the inside of the uterus – the endometrium – grows outside the uterus.
Some women have symptoms that are difficult to diagnose, such as recurrent yeast infections or nerve entrapment syndromes. But by far the biggest group are those women for whom there is no apparent cause.
