Tag Archive for painful intercourse

Sexual Dysfunction Expert, Belinda Wurn, Speaks Out Against Painful Intercourse

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.

Researchers Find Unexpected Results During Infertility Investigation- Better Sex and Orgasms

Gainesville, FL, June 6, 2006/PRNewswire/ – Researchers investigating a treatment for female infertility were surprised when participants reported unusual side effects – increased orgasms and sexual desire.

“The improved sexual function occurred in women who reported low libido, painful intercourse, and other sexual issues before therapy,” said gynecologist Richard King. “We were pleased to find that in addition to helping women conceive, this therapy has a beneficial side effect.”

King and his research team were investigating a pelvic physical therapy treatment for female infertility, the Wurn Technique®. Then patients began reporting increased desire, decreased pain with intercourse, and “orgasms like I’ve never had in my life” to the research team weeks and months after therapy.

“After years of experiencing an almost complete lack of interest in sex, I now have desires and responses unlike anything I’ve experienced in my lifetime,” reported one forty year-old woman to a member of the research team. “My husband and I feel like newlyweds.”

Based on the unexpected findings, the researchers conducted a study on the ability of therapy to improve female sexual function. Results of the study [“Medscape General Medicine” - 12/04] showed 78% of women experienced increased desire (libido), 56% reported increased orgasms, and 96% reported decreased pain with intercourse.

“Before therapy, I wasn’t interested in sex, and I had difficulty experiencing orgasms. I had come to believe that this was the way things were supposed to be. After therapy, I began to have deep, intense orgasms during intercourse,” said another study participant to Mandy Roscow, MPT, one of the therapists.

In the initial study the hands-on physical therapy technique, which breaks down pelvic adhesions, was shown to improve in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates, and natural pregnancy rates in infertile women. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Medscape General Medicine (6/04).

Note to editors: Dr. King, research participants, therapists available for interviews. Media contact is Larry Wurn, 352-336-1433 or cptherapy(at)aol.com.

The right touch may improve intimacy

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.

Newly Researched Infertility Treatment Comes to the Western US

Newport Beach, CA, July 25, 2005/PRNewswire/ – A new infertility treatment, shown to be effective without drugs or surgery, is now available in the Western US. The therapy, known as the Wurn Technique® (patent pending), is a manual physical therapy treatment, similar to massage.

Previously available only in the eastern US, the therapy has been used as an adjunct to traditional infertility treatments for several years. It is now being offered at Clear Passage Therapies® in Orange County, California, between Los Angeles and San Diego. The new clinic will provide a valuable service for the nearly one in six couples throughout the Southwest who are struggling with infertility.

Medical studies published in Medscape General Medicine, Ob/Gyn & Women’s Health (6/04) show the therapy significantly increased pregnancy rates for women diagnosed infertile. Study participants who received therapy before undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) saw pregnancy rates climb to 67%, far above the 41% national average for IVF, as reported by the US Centers for Disease Control. “I am always looking for new approaches to benefit my patients’goals of becoming parents,” said Brian Acacio, MD, Medical Director of Sher Institute for Reproductive Medicine, Los Angeles. “This preliminary research shows improvement with this therapy. While additional studies need to be conducted, this is very exciting.”

In a related study, 71% of infertile women conceived naturally after therapy. “The therapy appears to facilitate fertility in women with a wide array of unexplained or adhesion-related infertility,” said Richard King, MD, an independent gynecologist and research physician. “Prior to receiving the therapy, patients in the natural therapy study reported infection, surgery, endometriosis, hormonal issues, unexplained infertility, and even blocked fallopian tubes. Most became pregnant naturally and delivered babies following therapy.” Women in both studies averaged 5 years of infertility.

No drugs or surgery are used with the therapy and side effects are generally positive. A third study published in Medscape (12/04) reported the therapy’s effectiveness in reducing intercourse pain and increasing sexual function in areas measurable by science, including desire [libido] and orgasm.

“I am pleased to offer this new therapy on the West Coast,” said Mary Cox, PT, Director of the California fertility clinic in Orange County. “I look forward to working with women and their physicians to resolve pelvic pain, and to improve success rates for infertility patients.”

Clear Passage is accepting patients for treatment and offering phone consultations (at no charge) toll free at 1-866-BABYHERE (1-866-222-9437). Clinics are currently located in Florida, Iowa, and California. More information is available at www.clearpassage.com.

Newly Researched Infertility Treatment Comes to Midwest

DES MOINES, IA, June 6, 2005/PRNewswire/ — A new infertility treatment, shown to be effective without drugs or surgery, is now available in the Midwest. The therapy, known as the Wurn Technique® (patent pending), is a combination of manual physical therapy and massage techniques.

Women from across the country have successfully used this therapy as an alternative and adjunct to traditional infertility treatments for several years. It is now available to women and their physicians at Clear Passage Therapies® in Des Moines, Iowa. The clinic will provide a valuable service for the nearly one in six couples throughout the Midwest struggling with infertility.

Medical studies published in Medscape General Medicine, Ob/Gyn & Women’s Health (6/04) show this therapy significantly increased pregnancy rates for women diagnosed infertile. Study participants who received therapy before undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) saw pregnancy rates climb to 67%, far above the 41% national average for IVF, as reported by the CDC. Successes included women over 40 and several women who had failed to become pregnant in two or more IVF transfers before therapy.

In a related study, 71% of infertile women conceived naturally after therapy. Women in both studies averaged 5 years of infertility.

“The therapy appears to improve fertility in women with a wide array of unexplained or adhesion-related infertility,” said Richard King, MD, an independent gynecologist and research physician. “Successful study participants had histories including prior infection, surgery, endometriosis, hormonal issues, unexplained infertility, and even blocked fallopian tubes.”

No drugs or surgery are used with this therapy and side effects are generally positive. A third study published in Medscape (12/04) reported the therapy’s effectiveness in reducing painful intercourse and increasing sexual function, including desire (libido), and orgasm intensity and frequency.

Victoria Keinert, MPT, and Jean Nollen, PT are Founding Directors of the new Midwest fertility clinic in Des Moines. “We are pleased to offer this exciting and effective treatment option to Midwest women who are dealing with pelvic pain and infertility,” said Nollen.

Clear Passage is accepting patients for treatment and is offering phone consultations (at no charge) toll free at 1-866-BABYHERE (1-866-222-9437). Clinics are currently located in Gainesville, Florida and Des Moines, Iowa, with plans to open in Southern California later this year. More information is available at www.clearpassage.com.