Relationships May 18, 2017
As women, it’s already bad enough we have to bleed once a month. And to make matters even worse, sometimes our nether regions hurt, too?
There are a number of reasons we experience pain in our pelvic areas and some of them are easily treatable. But of course, any discomfort is worrisome. And can also be quite embarrassing.
But before your mind goes from zero to 60 with dreadful thoughts, ENTITY’s here to clear some stuff up. Vaginal pain – though we can’t say is normal – is definitely not something you should completely freak out about.
Here are five common reasons for vaginal pain.
Three out of four women will have at least one vaginal yeast infection at some point in their life, according to Everyday Health. So it’s extremely common and relatively easy to treat.
Unfortunately, it’s not pleasant. When yeast infections develop in a woman’s vagina, it causes vulvovaginitis, which is an inflammation of the vulva and vagina. Vulvovaginitis occurs when there is an overgrowth of the yeast organisms normally in the vagina. Unfortunately, a number of things could encourage excess vaginal yeast growth. Some of these causes include antibiotics, high estrogen levels, diabetes and impaired immune systems.
You can typically treat yeast infections with over the counter medications, but it’s still best to seek a doctor’s opinion if it’s your first time having the condition.
Although vaginal dryness affects one in three women, it’s a taboo topic few people talk about. It doesn’t really matter if you’re going through menopause or if you’re a young mom breastfeeding her child, vaginal dryness can happen to women of any age and is often caused by decreased levels of estrogen. This dryness can unfortunately leave your vagina sore and in pain after sex.
Though treatment for vaginal dryness depends on the cause, women often use lubricants and over-the-counter moisturizers to alleviate the pain. In other cases, some doctors may even recommend localized treatments such as vaginal estrogen inserts.
Like vaginal dryness, vaginismus can make having sex quite painful. And because of the burning and painful sensations, it can even make tampon insertion a very unpleasant experience, if not impossible.
Vaginismus is a condition where there is an unintentional tightness of the vagina during attempted intercourse. Basically, the pelvic floor muscles surrounding the vagina contract involuntarily. Many women have described the pain as a “tearing sensation or a feeling like the man is ‘hitting a wall,'” according to Web MD.
To treat this, doctors often suggest doing 20 Kegel exercises at a time. Essentially, you would squeeze the same muscles you use to stop the flow of urine when using the restroom. This will help women learn to control and relax their vaginal muscles.
As the name suggests, STIs can be passed from person to person through sexual contact. And unfortunately for women, they get more serious health problems from STIs than men.
Chlamydia and gonorrhea, for example, raises the risk of chronic pelvic pain and ectopic pregnancy if not treated. And while most STIs have mild to no symptoms, women can sometimes experience soreness and vaginal itching. Thus, STIs are often mistaken for yeast infections.
The best way to confirm whether or not you have an STI is to get tested by the doctor, who can then prescribe medication to control the infection.
PID is an infection of a woman’s reproductive organs, which basically makes you feel like you uterus, ovaries and all other lady parts are on fire. It’s usually caused by STIs like chlamydia or gonorrhea.
Like STIs, though, you may not experience any symptoms of PID. But as the infection worsens, that’s when you start feeling pain your your lower belly and pelvis. Some women also have heavy vaginal discharge, pain during sex and pain while urinating. At this point you should contact your doctor immediately to get a prescription of antibiotics.
So while none of these sound too pleasant, they’re definitely treatable. No need to worry … for now. Your lady parts should be back to normal in no time.
