Gainesville, FL (PRWEB) October 9, 2008 — Over 70% of women surveyed in a large study in the Journal of Family Practice (JFP) reported painful intercourse. Yet despite the high prevalence, women frequently do not discuss their sexual concerns with their physicians, according to the journal.

More than half of the women in the study also reported concerns of physical or sexual abuse, and over 40% reported sexual coercion at some point in their lives. “Experiences with abuse or coercion may explain why some women are hesitant to talk about their sexual concerns,” says physical therapist Belinda Wurn, an expert in treating the physical components of sexual dysfunction and dyspareunia.

Still, many other women with no history of abuse often conclude that painful intercourse is a normal occurrence for women and do not think to complain to their physician. They simply live with the pain or become disinterested in sex.

“When sex hurts, intercourse can become a time of silent agony instead of pleasure,” Wurn says. “Many women may attempt to avoid sex altogether due to the pain.”

Wurn should know. After a pelvic surgery and radiation for cancer of the cervix left her infertile and in pain, she searched for years to regain a pain-free sexual life. Now the tables are turned and she is conducting and publishing research on the work that got her out of pain.

The pelvic therapy she uses addresses a wholly physical component; it is designed to decrease vaginal and pelvic adhesions that form after trauma, infection, inflammation, or surgery. Untreated, adhesions can remain in the body for a lifetime where they act like glue, tightening tissues and causing pain.

Wurn’s findings have been published in several peer-reviewed medical journals, but “research is only one step in the right direction in helping women resolve their painful intercourse,” she says. “Healthcare professionals need to be stronger advocates and initiate conversations about sexual health with their patients. Sex should not hurt and women don’t have to live with it.”

”Women might want to keep a journal to assess their pain,” Wurn suggests. ”They should note when the pain first started, how often it occurs, if it occurs at certain times during the monthly cycle or in certain coital positions, and if the pain occurs at the entrance or deeper within the vagina. Women should feel encouraged to discuss their journal with their gynecologist. If their doctor doesn’t listen, they should find another who will.”

Wurn and her husband are currently co-authoring a new book, Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain, to help bring these issues to the forefront of medical care.

Over a third of US women surveyed suffer from painful intercourse, yet remarkably, most never tell their doctors. Two studies published in Obstetrics and Gynecology report that between 33% and 46% of women surveyed have persistent pain with intercourse. Suffering in silence, most of these women also reported decreased sexual activity or other adverse effects on their relationships, due to physical pain during intimacy.

Women with dyspareunia (painful intercourse) may also experience pain in the lower back, hip, buttocks and groin. Some are unable to sit for long periods of time, have frequent bladder infections, or suffer from digestive or bowel problems. Many report a decreased desire to engage in sexual activity, inability to have an orgasm, and problems trying to conceive.

Men often feel powerless in helping their partner deal with these difficult issues. Unable to help relieve the pain, many men become confused, depressed and deeply frustrated that their touch causes their partner pain.

Some women complain that traditional dyspareunia treatments — medication, lubricants or psychological counseling — address symptoms, but not the cause of the pain. However, a recently published study indicates that a more permanent answer may be as simple as “the right touch.”

Seventeen years ago, massage therapist Larry Wurn was frustrated trying to find a cure for his wife’s pelvic pain. Belinda Wurn had to resign as Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at the University of Florida due to the pain she experienced after pelvic surgery. That’s when the couple began to develop a non-invasive hands-on therapy to treat Belinda’s pelvic pain. The therapy, a slow and deep bodywork focused on the areas of pain, has evolved over the years into a treatment for intercourse pain and related disorders.

The Wurn Technique® (patent pending) is a manual physical therapy without the drugs often associated with medical techniques. In a recently published peer reviewed study, it relieved or eliminated intercourse pain in 96% of the women treated, and showed statistically significant improvements in all six major areas of sexual function: (desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain). Of the 23 women who received the therapy, 78% reported increased desire and 56% reported increased orgasms on their post treatment study surveys.

According to the Wurns, most patients begin to notice pain relief within the first few hours of therapy. By the end of the one-week program (available at Clear Passage Therapies® clinics) pain significantly decreased or was eliminated in all but one study patient.

In addition to decreasing intercourse pain and improving orgasms, peer reviewed published studies show increased pregnancies in women diagnosed infertile, after this therapy.

About Clear Passage:

Clear Passage Therapies® has clinics in California, Florida, and Iowa. Most patients fly in for the one-week course of therapy. Information is available at http://www.clearpassage.com/ or toll free at 1-866-222-9437.

Belinda Wurn, PT graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in physical therapy from the University of Florida in 1975. She and her husband, massage therapist Larry Wurn, owned a network of chronic pain clinics as they developed their work treating pelvic pain and female infertility. Belinda is considered an expert in causes and treatments of various types of sexual dysfunction including decreased orgasm, desire, arousal, lubrication and satisfaction and painful intercourse. She has co-authored studies about improving natural and IVF (in vitro fertilization) pregnancy rates in women diagnosed infertile.

Larry Wurn, LMT studied manual therapy with several recognized experts in manual therapy to help treat Belinda for pain and dysfunction following surgery and pelvic radiation. Prior to their development, Belinda had been unable to find relief with traditional medical care. As Larry progressed in his education, he and Belinda developed new techniques to help relieve pain and improve reproductive function, including fertility.

Research studies: Belinda and Larry were joined by scientists and research physicians who became fascinated with the results they saw with this new therapy. To date, the group has published three studies in WebMD’s internationally recognized peer-reviewed journal, Medscape General Medicine. These studies were distributed to 2.5 million physician subscribers in 249 countries and were recently accepted into the US Library of Medicine.