How We Helped One Patient Improve Her Sex Life After Pregnancy
Pregnancy can affect your body in many surprising ways, and postpartum recovery looks different for every woman. One often overlooked aspect of this process is the effect it can have on sexual function–including making penetrative sex extremely painful
The medical term for painful intercourse is dyspareunia, and an estimated 10%-20% of women will develop it after giving birth. Symptoms can vary: some women experience pain only at the point of sexual entry, while others might experience deeper pain during the act itself.
Regardless of how it manifests, dyspareunia can be devastating, preventing women from experiencing sexual pleasure or sharing intimacy with their partner. While dyspareunia in general can stem from a range of emotional, psychological, and physical causes, postpartum dyspareunia often develops due to damage to the pelvic floor–which means physical therapy at (practice name) can help treat it.
In fact, we recently helped one of our patients resolve her postpartum dyspareunia. By sharing her story, we hope to encourage other women in similar situations to find relief.
Meet the Patient: Donna
Donna (not her real name) was six months postpartum when she scheduled an appointment at our (town) clinic after she could not find a specialist in Cle Elum. She was experiencing intense pain during intercourse, specifically with deep penetration.
As we always do, we began with a comprehensive assessment to learn more about Donna and her symptoms. We took a complete health history and discussed her sexual history to help us pinpoint the cause of her pain. During that process, Donna shared that she had never experienced painful sex before, and the symptoms started after she gave birth.
We also conducted a physical exam of her pelvic floor, which we suspected was the likely culprit. The pelvic floor is a sling of muscles at the base of your core that supports your pelvic organs. In Donna's case, childbirth had led to her pelvic floor becoming overly restricted, a major contributing factor in her dyspareunia
Developing Donna's Treatment Program
The good news for Donna was that pelvic floor physical therapy could help resolve her symptoms. Pelvic floor PT is a specialized branch of PT focused on improving pelvic floor function–and sexual function falls under that umbrella.
The foundation of Donna's treatment plan was the John Barnes Myofascial Release Approach( can you highlight whole thing john barnes Myofascial release ). This hands-on technique focuses on releasing restrictions in the fascia, a web of tissues that extends from head to toe and wraps around every nerve, muscle,blood vessels, osseus structures, and/or
organs in the body, including the pelvic floor muscles and organs . Basically everything inside us is wrapped in this structure and once restricted causes issues around the same area or areas far away from the restricted tissues
When the fascia is healthy, its strong yet flexible, moving with the muscles. But childbirth had caused the fascia surrounding Donna's pelvic floor to lose its pliability, making it stiff and restricted and impairing her overall pelvic floor function.
We worked with Donna to release those restrictions by applying careful, low load gentle sustained pressure to the fascial tissue over her skin. After several sessions, the restrictions in Donna's fascia began to subside.
What Were the Results?
By releasing Donna's pelvic floor myofascia, we helped improve her pelvic floor function, alleviating her dyspareunia symptoms. After a few weeks, she was able to have sexual intercourse again. Plus, she discovered something exciting: her orgasms were far more intense than they had been before (another benefit of a healthy pelvic floor).
Donna's story clearly illustrates the power of pelvic floor therapy, especially john barnes myofascial release. If you, like Donna, are struggling with painful intercourse, schedule an appointment at (practicename). We'll review your symptoms and find a solution that meets your needs.
