Tag Archive for sexual dysfunction

When Intimacy Hurts

You are not alone

You Are Not Alone
It is estimated that up to half of US women experience pain with intercourse (dyspareunia), according to published studies.

This staggering statistic reveals a condition that often goes unspoken, untreated, and unresolved. For many women, this topic is neglected in their conversations with their physicians, gynecologists, and friends. But why? If this condition affects so many, why aren’t people talking about it?

Stuck in Silence
Women should be empowered over their sexual health, not stuck in silence. It is through empowerment and education that women can find answers to their pain and discomfort and begin on a path to health and healing.

What’s the Cause?
Painful intercourse, or dyspareunia, is often caused by adhesions. Adhesions are internal scars that form after a trauma, surgery, infection or inflammation. Perhaps you fell on your tailbone as a teenager, or perhaps you’ve had bladder infections, or a prior pelvic surgery. All of these can be implications of adhesion formation.

Tiny adhesions form on the vaginal wall and can bind pain-sensitive tissues, causing pain.

Tiny adhesions form on the vaginal wall and can bind pain-sensitive tissues, causing pain.

As adhesions form, they can cover and bind the nearby tissues and organs causing restriction and often pain. When these adhesions form inside the delicate vaginal wall, they can cause intense pain during intercourse. The pain has often been described as though the woman’s partner is hitting something at the entrance or with deep penetration. Some women experience other symptoms including anorgasmia (the inability to have an orgasm or reach a full orgasm) and decreased desire (libido). These side effects of adhesions can severely limit a woman’s ability to have a pleasurable and healthy sex life.

How To Treat Dyspareunia
So how can you treat this condition without causing additional trauma and adhesion formation? A hands-on physical therapy, called the Wurn Technique, has shown excellent results in decreasing pain with intercourse and increasing sexual function without the need for drugs or surgery. A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Medscape General Medicine (2004) showed that 78% of women had increased desire (libido), 74% increased arousal, 70% increased lubrication, and 56% had increased orgasms after receiving this treatment.1

Endometriosis and Dyspareunia
Women who suffer from endometriosis often encounter painful intercourse as well. A study published in Fertility and Sterility showed a 93% decrease in pain with intercourse after receiving therapy.

What Physicians Say About the Wurn Technique


“The Wurn Technique® is remarkable; it is the only therapy shown to improve all phases of female sexual function, including arousal, lubrication, orgasm, and satisfaction. Amazingly, it does this without the side effects and multiple risks of surgery or drugs.”

Dr. John D. Perry, Psychologist
Author of “The G Spot”

“Their studies show improvement in desire, arousal/lubrication, orgasm/satisfaction and pain. I know of no other single therapy reported to increase all areas of sexual function. I am truly excited to learn about the Wurn Technique®”

Dr. Scott Miles, Gynecologist, Medical Director
Miles Ahead Health and Wellness, Indianapolis, IN

1. Wurn LJ, Wurn BF, King CR, Roscow AS, Scharf ES, Shuster JJ. Increasing Orgasm and Decreasing Dyspareunia by a Manual Physical Therapy Technique. Med Gen Med 2004 Dec 14; 6(4): 47. PMID 15775874

Flowers, Chocolates, and Endometriosis

Today is Valentine’s Day. For many couples, the day will be met with chocolate roses, gushing cards, and sweet embraces. For women who suffer from endometriosis however, it may be met with heightened anxiety, relational challenges, and debilitating pain.

Studies estimate that up to half of all US women experience problems with painful intercourse, (dyspareunia). This all too common health issue is often met with the response, “It’s all in your head”. This explanation can create a feeling of disempowerment for women who know there is a very real source to the pain they experience.

It is not all in your head

Despite health professional’s dismissal of intercourse pain as a psychological issue, the pain is often a result of a mechanical issue caused by adhesions. Adhesions form as part of the body’s healing process after an infection, inflammation, surgery or trauma.

Adhesions can form as a result of:

  • Endometriosis
  • Bladder or Vaginal Infection
  • Surgery (C-section, episiotomy, laparotomy)
  • Trauma to the tailbone or pubic bones (often a fall or accident)

These adhesions create thick fibrous bands at the site of the initial trauma and can attach to the delicate tissues and organs within the pelvis. These attachments create a pull during intercourse, which often results in pain. This pain has been described as either sharp and specific or broad and deep.

Getting the spark back

A study published in Fertility and Sterility, investigated the decrease of painful intercourse in women with endometriosis after receiving a hands-on physical therapy treatment, called the Wurn Technique®. The study reported the following results:

  • 50% of study participants reported reduced ovulation pain
  • 61% of study participants reported reduced menstrual pain
  • 93% of study participants reported reduced intercourse pain
  • 64% reported increased intensity and duration of orgasm
  • 71% reported increased desire (libido)
  • 86% reported increased arousal
  • 79% reported increased lubrication
  • 71% reported increased satisfaction
  • 93% reported improved overall sexual function

The Wurn Technique® feels much like a deep pelvic massage and can be completed in as little as five days.  The Wurn Technique® is provided by the skilled therapists at Clear Passage Physical Therapy. Each therapist empowers their patients by working with them instead of simply working on them throughout therapy. The Clear Passage team has helped many couples return to a healthy and intimate relationship.

“Before therapy intercourse was too painful.

Since therapy, I have had no pain. This is incredible.

What a gift to our marriage. Thank you.”

-Clear Passage Patient

For more information, visit www.clearpassage.com.

Uncovering the True Culprit of Infertility: Adhesions

Adhesion formation can cause infertility by gluing down delicate tissues and organs and reducing regular function

Adhesion formation can cause infertility by gluing down delicate tissues and organs and reducing regular function.

For many women, the diagnosis of infertility begins a dedicated search for help, hope and healing. Many causes of infertility go undiagnosed while others are diagnosed as blocked fallopian tubes, endometriosis, or hydrosalpinx. However, in many cases of infertility, the true culprit comes in the form of tiny internal scars called adhesions.

These adhesions form as the bodies first response in the healing process. As adhesions form, they can attach to delicate tissues and organs creating a strong glue-like bond that restricts movement and regular function. This restriction of function causes infertility when adhesions attach throughout the pelvis and reproductive organs.  Adhesions are a particularly difficult condition because they do not appear on most diagnostic tests. Unless the adhesions are extremely large, doctors cannot know they are there unless directly visualized during surgery.

Generally, treatment for adhesions involves a surgical procedure in which the surgeon cuts or burns the adhesive bonds throughout the abdomen. However, due to the trauma and healing process involved in this procedure, adhesions often reform, sometimes worse than before the surgery.

There is a non-surgical solution for treating adhesions called the Wurn Technique®. This treatment is a hands-on physical therapy that has been successful in treating the following:

An Excerpt from ‘Fertility Rates Improve After Addressing Underlying Adhesions’ By Laura Owens

One in eight couples is affected by infertility. Faced with the overwhelming emotional and physical stress of trying to conceive, many couples seek alternative treatments after conventional medicine fails.

The Wurn Technique® is one such approach. Developed by Belinda and Larry Wurn, this treatment is based on manually palpatating blockages caused by adhesions in the body, offering a drug and surgery-free treatment for infertility, chronic pain and a long list of pelvic conditions.

…Click Here to Read More…

Chronic Pain eBook

Click here to read our chronic pain eBook.

Many people suffer from the debilitating  chronic pain, but there is a natural way to live pain-free. You can read more about this natural treatment by reading our Chronic Pain eBook.

This eBook describes the cause and treatment of adhesions which can cause chronic pain throughout the body. Adhesions are thick fibrous bands of scar tissue that form following a trauma or surgery. These adhesions can attach to delicate tissues and organs causing tightness and pain by acting as an adhesive glue. The Wurn Technique® is a hands-on physical therapy has been shown to decrease pain and increase function by pulling apart these adhesions strand by strand. This allows the body to return to normal function and relieves the stress and pulling on the delicate tissues within the body.

Share this information with someone you know who suffers from chronic pain, and help them find a path to living pain-free.

Discovering a Treatment for Intercourse Pain

The Clear Passage Therapies (CPT) team is devoted to continual research and development. We always monitor our patients’ progress and feedback after treatment. Once we begin to notice a trend, we expand our research in that area to see how our treatment can help.

Long before CPT began treating intercourse pain, we did not even know our treatment could help in this area. Over time, the CPT team began to notice that many women who came for infertility treatment were also reporting decreased intercourse pain. Some women reported, “I’m not sure why, but I don’t experience pain anymore with intercourse.” Others were considerably bolder and told us, “My orgasms have been incredible since treatment!”

We decided to investigate further and also developed different manual physical therapy techniques that we felt could help female intercourse pain. We then conducted a study to scientifically test how our treatment could help sexual dysfunction and intercourse pain. The results, published in Medscape General Medicine, were more than we could have ever imagined. 91% of study participants experienced a reduction in intercourse pain and large percentages of women reported improvements in orgasm (56%), lubrication (70%), desire (78%), and arousal (74%).

CPT is now proud to offer a treatment plan specifically for women with intercourse pain and sexual dysfunction. As we continue on our path of education, self-improvement, and research, our treatment for these conditions only improves. Even better news is that at CPT, we never treat “parts” of our patients. We believe everything is connected; we often see that pain and dysfunction in one area is linked to dysfunction in another. So if you come for infertility treatment, but also experience intercourse pain, our therapists will treat both conditions. For more information, please see our article Infertility and Sexual Dysfunction are Linked, And Its Not All in Your Head and You Don’t Have to Cope with Painful Intercourse While Trying to Conceive.

Please visit our website to learn more about our treatment for female infertility, female sexual dysfunction, or painful intercourse. Not sure if you have sexual dysfunction? Read our article Is Your Sexual Function Normal?