By Jackie
A medical study published last month in Fertility and Sterility found that women who experienced emotional, physical, or sexual abuse at any time during their life had doubled odds of experiencing sexual dysfunction. That means female survivors of abuse are TWICE as likely to struggle with desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and intercourse pain. This study is extremely relevant to women because it shows that even if the abuse occurred during childhood, it can have lasting impacts on sexual function in adulthood. The psychological and emotional impacts of abuse are devastating enough – women do not deserve to live with continued pain or sexual dissatisfaction.
In some instances, women are subjected to direct force, such as being stuck or forced into sexual acts. As a result of the trauma, adhesions may form to help the body repair and heal. However, these adhesions can also restrict the vagina, cover sensitive structures designed to make sex pleasurable, or adhere the vagina to other structures, such as the bladder. Adhesions can also form at the cervix, making it immobile and painful during intercourse. Adhesions that restrict the vagina can also prevent proper lubrication. Furthermore, women who experience intercourse pain often become guarded against sex and experience trouble with desire and arousal.
In other instances, trauma from abuse may occur over time. For example, if a child experiences ongoing emotional abuse, she will always be “on guard” against a recurrent perpetrator, thus tensing her muscles and causing them to go into spasm. Over time, this spasm can also result in adhesions. Adhesions that form around the pituitary-hypothalamus feedback loop can also prevent proper hormonal function, thus decreasing desire and arousal.
Our treatment for sexual dysfunction and intercourse pain can be extremely helpful and cathartic for women who have experienced physical or sexual abuse. We treat the scars and adhesions that form within our patients as a result of the abuse. When we break-apart, detach, and deform these adhesions, women find that pain dramatically decreases and their sexual function increases.
One of our previous patients, Kelly, came to CPT after experiencing sexual abuse almost 20 years prior. She told us, “I had a feeling that the therapy would help me resolve the pain and inflexibility in the vaginal area which had resulted in sexual dysfunction.” After completing our 20 hour treatment program she reported, “The therapy worked beautifully, and I have had no pain since the treatment.”
Please visit our website if you would like to read more about our treatment for sexual dysfunction, intercourse pain, or abuse.
