Consider Yourself Very Lucky if You Don’t Have One of These 5 Vaginal Di...

Consider Yourself Very Lucky if You Don’t Have One of These 5 Vaginal Disorders



Your vagina is a pretty low-maintenance body part (it cleans itself, after all). But for some women, it can be a major pain—literally. Numbers vary, but a small percentage of otherwise healthy women deal with rare but very real vaginal conditions that cause excruciating discomfort that makes having sex—and even day-to-day activities like sitting down—extremely difficult. And the worst part is, doctors don’t always know what causes them, which means treatment can be spotty or nonexistent. Here are five down-there disorders that make life difficult for some unlucky ladies.

This is typically what happens when you have vaginismus, a mysterious disorder characterized by involuntary tightening of the pelvic floor muscles that control the vagina, says Teresa Hoffman, M.D., an ob-gyn at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. The clenched muscles can be uncomfortable or painful, even triggering spasms. “What causes it isn’t clear, but there may be a psychological component to it, such as anxiety or past sexual abuse,” says Hoffman. The good news is, vaginismus can be treated. One option involves Kegel exercises: tightening and then releasing the pelvic floor muscles over time to help you gain control over them. Another treatment option is to insert slender plastic dilators you get from your doctor into the vagina regularly to relax the pelvic floor muscles.