How Long Does It Take To Cure Vaginismus?
- 29 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By: Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas, PT, DPT, PRPC
Dealing with vaginismus can be incredibly frustrating, and at times can feel isolating. It seems like everyone around you is having great sex, with no issues. So why can’t you?
What is Vaginismus?
Vaginismus lives under the umbrella of “dyspareunia” which is a term for painful intercourse. With vaginismus, the muscles of the pelvic floor contract involuntarily in anticipation of penetration, or something attempting to go inside the vagina. This can make intercourse, as well as other activities like using tampons or having pelvic exams, difficult, painful, or even impossible.
Primary vaginismus is when this inability to insert things has always been an issue. Secondary vaginismus occurs when someone has previously been able to do these things, and then, after some kind of event like a trauma, childbirth, etc., no longer can.
So, How Long Does it Take to “Cure” Vaginismus?
You’re going to hate my answer: It depends.
In my personal clinical experience, I have seen it take anywhere from weeks to years.
Vaginismus can be complex. It didn’t show up overnight, and it will likely take some time to unwind all of the factors that are contributing to it. And there is a spectrum even within a vaginismus diagnosis. Some people can use tampons without issue, but have problems when it comes to larger things like speculums, toys, or partners. Other people have muscles that are more reactive, not even allowing something as small as a q-tip to enter.
Treatments for Vaginismus
In pelvic floor therapy, we are working on the physical tension in the pelvic floor muscles and their ability to accommodate stretch and decrease pain, while also addressing the factors in the nervous system that are driving that anticipatory clenching response.
The treatment itself can involve internal and external manual therapy to the pelvic floor and surrounding musculature, breathing exercises, stretches, and often tools like dilators/trainers.
Dilators are progressively sized cylindrical devices that start smaller than your pinky finger and progress up to sizes that are closer to those of potential partners. You might look at the whole set of them and feel very intimidated, but remember, you only need to work to the level of your goals, which may not include the largest ones in the set if you’re only interested in being able to use tampons or have an exam.
In addition to pelvic floor therapy, many people find benefit from working concurrently with a mental health provider. Sex therapists can be a great addition to the team for working on beliefs and attitudes towards sex, and finding ways of exploring pleasure outside of penetration.
The most important thing to remember with the timeline is that healing isn’t linear. You’re bound to have ups and downs, plateaus, times where you surge ahead by a couple sizes of dilators in a matter of days, and weeks or longer where you’re stuck on one. That’s normal.
You’ll have strategies to fall back
on, and you’ll have a team in place to support you in reaching your goals. Healing from vaginismus is possible.
At Wellest, we’re committed to providing trauma-informed, compassionate care for people with pelvic floor dysfunction. Contact us today and learn more about how we can help.