Vaginal pain

Pain in the vagina or female external genital organs (the vulva, which includes the labia, the clitoris and the entrance to the vagina) is most often the result of an infection. But there may be other causes of pain in the vagina, which indicate malfunctions in the body and failures in its work. What is characteristic of vaginal pain can actually hurt a completely different organ and the pain can go to the vagina. What are the causes of these pains and what to do with them?

Causes of vaginal pain

They can be very difficult to identify. Therefore, when the vagina hurts, it can be dangerous for the female body.

1. This may be an infection that is combined with itching and vaginal discharge.
2. There may be pain during bleeding.
3. Vaginal pain can occur during menopause.
4. The vagina may be sick during or after sex, as well as during arousal before the act.
5. The source of pain may be in the rectum, but to give to the vagina.
6. Causes of pain can be psychological.
7. Vaginal pain can cause increased vaginal dryness.

[1], [2]

Pain in the vulva and vagina - provocateurs disease

Pain in the vulva and vagina is called in one word - vulvovaginal pain. This is a symptom that combines several diseases: vulvodynia (pain in the vagina and vagina of unknown origin), as well as severe pain in the area preceding the vagina (when there is no sexual intercourse, but pain occurs due to tumors, injuries, skin diseases ).

Diseases that cause pain in the vagina can also include vaginismus (when the muscles of the vagina and the areas in front of it ache during contraction as soon as they try to stick a finger or penis, suppository or tampon into the hole). In vaginism, the genitals are not damaged or deformed, but rather the pain is associated with nerve reflexes.

Soreness in the vulva and vagina can also cause dyspareunia. This irritation and pain in the vagina during sexual intercourse, as well as before and after it. Such pain can be a signal of very dangerous diseases of the genital organs, therefore, in the event of pain, it is important to immediately consult a gynecologist and not delay the visit.

[3], [4]

Pain associated with vaginal dryness and atrophy

Other vaginal symptoms that are commonly associated with vaginal atrophy include vaginal dryness, itching, irritation, and / or pain during intercourse (known as dyspareunia). Vaginal changes can also lead to an increased risk of vaginal infections.

In addition to vaginal pain, women may experience other symptoms in the menopausal period. Hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes, fatigue, urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence, acne, memory problems, unwanted hair growth are symptoms that have been reported for women who are experiencing menopause.

[5], [6], [7]

Inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs

Very often, after sexual intercourse, a woman has pain in the vagina, if the genital organs are inflamed. The same happens after intercourse. In this case, the woman does not experience an orgasm, which completely reduces the quality of intimate life.

The perpetrators of these pains can be stagnation of blood flow in the organs in the pelvis, as well as chronic inflammation in these organs.

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) - an infection of organs, including the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, and cervix. They cause pain in the vagina.

Inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs develop as a result of the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

In most cases, inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs are caused by gonorrhea and / or chlamydia.

Young sexually active women who change multiple partners are most at risk of pelvic inflammatory diseases.

Inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs sometimes do not show any symptoms. In other cases, it can lead to fever, abdominal and pelvic pain, vaginal discharge, painful urination, or painful sexual intercourse.

Women who have suffered childbirth may develop a condition such as endometritis. This is a disease in which the cavity of the uterus becomes inflamed and sore. This condition is accompanied by pain in the vagina and its vestibule.

When salpingoophoritis inflamed and hurt the appendages of the uterus. This happens because after giving birth to a woman, the immune system is significantly weakened, and the genitals cannot be protected from infections and inflammation in the same way as before. The causes of this disease can also be strong nerve loads, as well as increased physical exertion.

They can provoke deformities of the pelvic organs, and wounds can form on the surface inside the uterus that hurt. Treat them only in the hospital under the supervision of an experienced gynecologist.

Inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs are treated with antibiotics.

Complications of inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs can include pelvic scar tissue and infertility.

[8], [9], [10], [11], [12]

Operations and injuries as causes of vaginal pain

The vagina can be traumatized after or during surgery, as well as during childbirth. Injuries can also occur in the perineal region, which causes pain. The reason - increased stress on the female genitals during childbirth. The vagina and uterus stretch during childbirth, it causes severe pain, tissues can not stand and be torn or injured. The birth canal through which the baby passes is also subject to high loads and, as a result, to injuries and sprains.

Because of this, the perineum during childbirth is often prone to ruptures, because it is dissected and sewn.

If after that the crotch again breaks, then it becomes more difficult to impose stitches on it a second time - the woman has pain, moreover, the tissues do not grow together more quickly. In the place where the stitches are applied, there may be inflammation, the tissues may not heal correctly. In addition, the doctor does not always succeed in restoring the damaged organ to its former state.

Because of this, in places where tissue was dissected, the blood supply may be disturbed, the nerves that pass through the genitals become inflamed, their activity is disturbed, and the woman complains of pain in the vagina. Especially during intercourse.

[13], [14], [15], [16]

Cause of vaginal pain - ligament rupture

If a woman has lower abdominal pain, a ligament rupture may be the cause. This happens rarely, but if it does, then you need to know that the ligaments during childbirth carry an increased load. They support the uterus, which is strongly strained and stretched during labor. Crescent uterine ligaments can not withstand the load and burst. Then the woman is worried about a very strong pain, which is not easy to cope with even in the hospital.

The cervix after the rupture of the ligaments is completely immobilized, so during sexual intercourse a woman experiences a very strong pain in the vagina. To alleviate it, we need anti-inflammatory drugs, medicinal herbs with a calming effect, as well as physiotherapy.

These include laser therapy, electrophoresis, magnetic therapy. These procedures are carried out so that the scar tissue and, most importantly, the adhesions, will resolve, and the inflammatory process will pass.

What are spikes? It is a connective tissue that is located around the tissues and organs of the pelvis. If the adhesions do not dissolve, they can give the woman a feeling of pain in the vagina for many years after the operation.

When the adhesions in the pelvic organs dissolve, the cervix becomes more mobile, its body also, and then the pain itself disappears. A woman can have a full sex life.

Causes of vaginal pain can also be a small amount of lubricant, changes in the body during menopause and hormonal imbalance. An experienced gynecologist will help to cope with all these phenomena. About hormonal changes as causes of pain in the vagina - more.

[17]

Strain on the psyche as the cause of vaginal pain

During sex, not all women can relax. Then the lubricant in the vagina practically does not stand out, and the penis during friction against the walls of the vagina causes severe pain.

A woman who has already endured such a process more than once is already afraid of the onset of sexual intercourse. It cannot be aroused, lubrication is not released. This provokes a greater vaginal dryness and reduced its muscles as a result of which there is still a lot of pain during penetration of penis.

[18], [19]

Causes of vaginal pain - sexually transmitted infections

The perpetrators of pain in the vagina and near its entrance may be venereal diseases. Infections that cause sexually transmitted diseases are Ureaplasma, Mycoplasma, Candida, chlamydia, Gardnerella, genital herpes and so on.

They have a bad property to cause inflammation of the vulva - its mucous membrane, as well as to provoke inflammatory processes in the cervix, vagina, in the appendages of the uterus.

When the genital organs are infected and inflamed, their walls become very vulnerable, and such organs are easily injured. Simply touch the external tissues of the vagina, as it is irritated, it causes pain.

[20], [21], [22], [23]

Vaginal dryness and pain during menopause

Vaginal atrophy is a medical term that refers to the thinning of the vaginal wall that occurs during menopause (the time when the menstrual periods of women ceased).

Before menopause, the vaginal lips become swollen, bright red and moist. When the level of estrogen decreases, the mucous membrane of the vagina becomes thinner, drier, from light pink to bluish color, and less elastic. These are normal changes that doctors notice in perimenopause and in postmenopausal women. But pain can occur in the vagina.

Estrogen levels begin to drop as they approach menopause. Estrogens are hormones produced by the ovaries. Estrogens control the development of the female body, give it the necessary characteristics, such as the chest, body shape, hips and buttocks. Estrogens also play an important role in the regulation of the menstrual cycle and pregnancy.

Most women reach menopause between the ages of 45 and 55, but this may occur sooner or later. The average age of menopause is 51 years. All women are different, and there is no definitive way to predict when a woman enters menopause. In addition, women in menopause during the transition period experience symptoms with varying degrees of severity. Not all perimenopausal and postmenopausal women will have equally serious pain symptoms.

Vaginal bleeding and pain - the facts

For normal vaginal bleeding, periodic periodic bleeding from a woman’s uterus is normal.

Normal vaginal bleeding is also called menorrhea. The process by which menorrhea occurs is called the menstrual cycle.

In order to determine whether bleeding from the uterus is an abnormal process with pain and other changes and find out their cause, the doctor must answer 3 questions: is the woman pregnant? What is the nature of bleeding? Is the woman in the period of ovulation?

Abnormal vaginal bleeding in women who are in the ovulation stage is most often excessive and frequent, uneven, or the amount of bleeding decreases.

There are many causes of abnormal vaginal bleeding associated with improper ovulation and vaginal pain.

A woman who has irregular menstrual periods with pain in the vagina requires a physical examination, with particular emphasis on checking the function of the thyroid, chest and pelvic region.

Treatment of irregular vaginal bleeding and vaginal pain depends on the cause. After the cause is determined, the doctor decides whether treatment is actually necessary.

Postpartum vaginal pain

Cases of postpartum vaginal pain are very frequent. It occurs in 60% of cases in women who have had a childbirth. These pains are quite long - from three to six months. The causes are difficult to determine, so pain after childbirth is treated with painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as with spasmodics.

Risk groups - women after the first birth, nursing mothers, women who have undergone late childbirth (after 35).

[24], [25]

Hormone imbalance and vaginal pain

After delivery and during menopause, as well as during the period before menopause, pain may occur in the vagina. At this time, sex hormones are produced much less than during normal operation of the reproductive system. Especially dangerous is the small production of estrogen for the female body in lactation (breastfeeding).

Thus, the body does not produce enough lubricant (lubricant). Vaginal dryness provokes pain during sex, as well as during and after childbirth.

The vaginal mucosa is dry, it irritates in response to the penetration of the penis, but the vagina does not stretch without lubrication and therefore hurts. To cope with this medical problem, you need to buy gels to moisturize the vagina, then sexual intercourse will be full.

Often a woman has a dry vagina and pain in it after childbirth. When a woman stops breastfeeding, the hormonal balance is restored, and vaginal dryness can pass by itself. If this does not happen, it is advisable to consult a doctor for hormone replacement therapy.

[26],

Vulvodynia and vaginal pain

Women with vulvodynia have chronic vulvar pain. Until recently, doctors did not recognize vulvodinia as a disease with real vaginal pain.

Even today, many women do not have a definite diagnosis for pain in the vagina. They can remain in isolation, provided that doctors continue research.

Researchers are working hard to uncover the causes of vulvodynia and find the best ways to treat it.

Types of vulvodynia

Vulvodynia affects the vulva and external female genital organs. They include the labia, clitoris and vagina, in which severe pain can occur.

There are two major subtypes of vulvodynia.

Common pain in various areas of the vagina. Vaginal pain can be permanent or occasional. Contact or pressure in the vaginal area, including during sex, can exacerbate pain. But it can make the pain even worse.

Pain in the vagina can occur even when they are given not by the vulva, but by the entrance to the vagina. A woman may have the feeling that with this type of pain they occur only after touching or pressure, such as during sexual intercourse.

Possible causes of vulvodynia

Doctors do not always know the causes of vulvodynia. And there is no evidence that infections due to sexually transmitted diseases can cause vulvodynia.

Researchers are trying to find the causes of vulvodynia. They may include

1. Nervous damage to the tissues of the vagina or their irritation
2. Abnormal reactions in germ cells after infection or injury
3. Genetic factors that make vulva vulnerable to chronic inflammation.
4. Increased sensitivity of the vagina to yeast infections
5. Vaginal muscle spasms
6. Allergies or irritation of the vagina from chemicals or other substances
7. Hormonal changes in the body
8. Sexual abuse
9. Frequent use of antibiotics

[27], [28]

Risk groups for vulvodynia

A woman of any age, beginning in adolescence, may be subject to vaginal pain. Women with vulvodynia in the world from 200 000 to 6 million. White women, African-American women and Spanish women suffer most of all, it is now known that they suffer from vulvodynia equally.

[29], [30], [31], [32]

Physical and emotional effects of vulvodynia

Vulvodynia with its pain in the vagina can have a huge impact on a woman’s life. This can impair her ability to have sex, do exercises, communicate and work. A study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that most women with vulvodynia and vaginal pain for this reason feel "out of control" - they are not able to have sexual intercourse and are not able to enjoy life. They need special support - medical and psychological.

[33], [34]

Signs and symptoms of vulvodynia

Although this disease secretly lasts from several months to several years, the symptoms of vulvodynia usually begin suddenly.

1. Burning, tingling in the vagina
2. Pain in the vagina, throbbing or dull
3. Itching
4. Burning pain is the most common symptom of vulvodynia.
5. Some women describe pain as stabbing, or as if acid spilled on the skin.
6. Although the vulva, as a rule, looks normal, labia can look a bit sore or swollen.

How symptoms of vulvodynia change

Symptoms may vary in many women with vulvodynia. And the severity of symptoms varies from woman to woman. While cycling, installing tampons and other rather innocent movements, a woman with vulvodynia can have pain in her vagina.

[35], [36]

You may experience vulvodynia symptoms:

• All the time, or just once
• During activities such as exercise, sitting or walking - or even at rest
• Pain can occur in one particular area of the vagina or throughout the entire area of the vagina.

The effect of vulvodynia on the body

Symptoms of vulvodynia, including vaginal pain, are not signs of a life-threatening condition. But pain in the vagina can significantly affect the normal functioning of women. For example, if the symptoms are serious or difficult to have sex, it can affect intimate relationships.

And this, in turn, can affect a woman’s overall health and make her feel depressed. Feel free to ask for help in such cases. Many women find ways to manage vaginal pain.

Treatment of vulvodynia

Although there is no traditional treatment, self-care can bring relief from vaginal pain. Women with vulvodynia need to check what works best to eliminate their pain, because it depends on the individual characteristics of the body. Women may have to try several ways to eliminate the pain before finding a combination that helps relieve them.

Self-care in vulvodynia

Here are a few things women can do to help relieve or control pain in the vagina.

Avoid potential irritants.

This can help to avoid anything that may cause irritation of the vulva. Perhaps these methods include the use of certain types of soap, anti-inflammatory drugs, douching or douche. Here are some tips:

• Use a dermatologically tested detergent and do not use chemical rinses for underwear.
• Toilet paper should be soft and white.
• Pick up sets of 100% white cotton underwear, natural sanitary pads and tampons.
• Avoid contact with the shampoo area of the vulva.
• Avoid perfumed scented creams and soaps, pads or tampons with fragrances, and spermicidal contraceptives.
• Avoid a hot bath or pool with lots of chlorine.
• Rinse the vagina with cool water after each urination and intercourse.
• Avoid products that irritate the vagina. An unwanted menu can include foods such as greens, legumes, berries, chocolate, or nuts.
• Wear loose clothing - do not wear tight pants and skirts.
• Keep the vulva clean and dry.

[37], [38]

How to relieve pressure on the vaginal area

Certain activities put pressure on the vagina and cause pain.

Use water soluble lubricants during sex.

Avoid actions that exert direct pressure on the vulva. This includes cycling and horseback riding, even simple sitting on a hard stool.

[39], [40], [41],

Pain relief

These steps can help relieve vaginal pain.

• Take warm or cool foot baths.
• After intercourse, apply ice or frozen gel in a towel to lower the abdomen to relieve vaginal pain.
• Try relaxation techniques.

[42], [43], [44]

Treatment of vulvodynia: drugs, therapy, surgery

There is no treatment for vulvodynia, which works for all women. Women will have to try a combination of treatments for better results. These types of vulvodynia treatments can be offered by your doctor. Also remember that chronic pain can affect you emotionally. Consider group methods of emotional support, it is very effective.

• Medicines
• Local anesthetics such as lidocaine
• Creams with estrogen
• Tricyclic antidepressants
• Anticonvulsant drugs
• Preparations for blocking nerve endings
• Interferon injections
• Therapy
• Physical therapy, which includes exercises to strengthen the muscles of the pelvis and reduce muscle spasms
• A biofeedback method that helps you learn how to relax your vaginal muscles to reduce pain
• Surgery

If you have vulvodynia syndrome, your doctor may suggest surgery to remove diseased tissue, especially if other options have not been relieved.

Symptoms of vaginal pain

Symptoms characteristic of vaginal pain can be completely different: pain can be sharp, aching, dull, cutting, pulling. These feelings can be permanent, they can be disturbed from time to time, or they can occur during or after sex. If a woman takes painkillers, it does not mean that the pain does not return again - the problem is not solved.

Additional symptoms of various diseases with pain in the vagina of the vagina can be the following.

• Itching in the vagina and whitish Vaginal discharge - this may be a sign of a urinary tract infection.
• Vaginal pain can occur after or during sexual intercourse - then the cause may be inflammation of the genitals, their injury or deformity.
• Pain in the vagina can bother a woman because of bleeding, the cause of which is sometimes difficult to determine
• The vagina can also hurt when a woman has menopause
• From pain in the vagina, a woman may suffer for reasons that are not clarified, in particular, they may have a neurotic origin.
• Pains in the area of the vagina can be wandering, they can occur completely in other organs (for example, in the rectum) and give to the vagina.

If this pain to endure, and nothing is left untreated, the disease, which manifests itself this pain can get worse. In order not to bring yourself to the pathological processes in the internal organs, you need to consult a gynecologist for examination, and if the pain is unbearable, call an ambulance. It is not recommended to take painkillers before her arrival, because then it will be difficult to diagnose the symptoms.

What parts of the body can give pain to the vagina?

This may be an area of the rectum, perineum, or sacrum. The nature of the pain that gives into these organs can be cutting, paroxysmal, oppressive, deep, dull, aching. It seems to a woman that there is some kind of perceptible barrier in the place where the pain occurred, such as a tampon, finger or solid foreign object.

True, these pains can be felt near the very surface of the vagina, to be shallow - such a nature of pain in women occurs in 60-70% of cases.

The nature of vaginal pain during sex

It can be acute, cutting, paroxysmal. If during sex or lovemaking the vagina starts to hurt, it means that the woman has serious problems either with gynecology or with a mental perception of sexual intercourse. Because of these pains, intimate life can be put in jeopardy, therefore, with the first symptoms of vaginal soreness during intercourse, you need to immediately solve these problems in the gynecologist's office.

Pain when excited

The pain before and after intercourse can be of a different nature - cutting, burning, cramping. Pain in the vagina and vulva in women are distinguished by type: pain after childbirth, superficial pain, deep pain. This pain in women can be so unbearable that the vagina is irritated in the most seemingly innocent circumstances. This can be when sitting on a hard stool, while riding a motorcycle or bicycle, during an examination by a gynecologist. It may increase even when the gynecologist simply touches the surface of the vagina with a swab.

How to determine if there is inflammation of the genitals?

It is necessary to follow the symptoms that occur in humans. If these symptoms are present, then you most likely have inflammation.

1. Burning sensation in the vagina
2. Genital itching
3. Vaginal discharge - mucous or purulent, they may have an unpleasant pungent smell

If these symptoms are not enough, you need to undergo additional laboratory tests. What you need to take for tests in the gynecologist's office?

1. Smear on the flora of the vagina.
2. Crops bacteria from the vagina.
3. Bacterial culture from the cervical canal.
4. Diagnosis of the center.

[45], [46], [47], [48], [49]

Diagnosis of vaginal pain

It is very difficult to establish the causes of pain in the vagina, especially if a woman has not consulted a gynecologist for a long time and the disease takes on chronic forms.

If the cause of pain is still found as a result of laboratory tests, ultrasound of the genital organs and palpation, then the doctor directs all efforts to eliminate the cause of the pain in the vagina. A woman needs to refer not to one doctor, but to several: a proctologist, a urologist, a neuropathologist, an endocrinologist, in order to get a complete picture of the disease and prescribe the optimal treatment.

[50], [51], [52]

10 important questions to the doctor about vaginal pain

Some of the questions below may be very relevant for the treatment of vaginal pain.

1. What is my diagnosis?
2. What can I do at home to control my pain symptoms?
3. Can pain medications help me feel better?
4. What treatment will you advise for me?
5. Are there any activities that I should avoid?
6. How can vulvodinia affect my sex life?
7. What should I tell my partner about my condition?
8. Can vaginal pain affect my ability to have children?
9. What can I do to maintain my condition?

Doctors who should be addressed to get rid of pain

• Gynecologist.
• Psychiatrist.
• Sexologist.

[53], [54], [55]

Treatment for vaginal pain

As soon as tests are performed, the picture of the causative agents-causes of pain becomes clear to the doctor. Then he can prescribe local and general treatment. It looks like antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs. Among the methods of treatment they are douching with anti-inflammatory drugs, suppositories for the vagina, which have anti-inflammatory effect.

If a girl is not breastfeeding and is not pregnant, she can be prescribed hormonal suppositories, antibacterial drugs in oral form. A course of treatment from 5 days to a week may be enough for a woman to recover.

If a nursing mother still has to take antibiotics, she shouldn’t breastfeed the baby at this time — she can express milk and feed the baby with artificial milk supplements.

But the mother can do without local and oral means (candles, douching), then the feeding break is not needed. But this can be done in the initial stages of the disease of the genital organs, when the process of inflammation has not yet become chronic.

Antibacterial therapy for getting rid of vaginal pain is practiced when a person is infected with microorganisms of a viral nature. If these are microorganisms that can be destroyed only with the help of complex antibacterial agents, then the mother will have to refuse to breastfeed the baby for the duration of the treatment. If this is not done, the infection can enter the baby’s body and spread throughout the mother’s body, which can lead to complications.

Microorganisms of viral nature, which are difficult to get rid of, are Trichomonas, gonococci, chlamydia, and so on.

Pain prevention: how to strengthen muscles

For the pelvic floor muscles to become stronger, and their blood circulation to recover or intensify, exercise is necessary.

[56], [57]

Muscle Building Exercise

The woman is lying or sitting. It is necessary to strain the muscles of the vagina and count to two, then relax them. So do 20-30 times. If a woman does this exercise 3 times a day, her muscles will strengthen in just one month. A well strengthened for 3-4 months.

At this time, you need to prepare for the fact that in the area where the stitches are imposed, there may be a feeling of discomfort and mild pain.

If you do not skip the exercises and do them diligently for at least three months, the wounds will heal well and the muscles will strengthen. Then on the site of the seams will not be coarse scar tissue.

If the scar at the site of the sutures still had time to form, and the tissue became inflamed, then it will be necessary to operate after the mother has stopped breastfeeding the baby. The operation involves the excision of scar tissue and the subsequent process of rehabilitation. But this needs to be done no later than six months after the first operation, otherwise the tissue will become rough and will not heal well. After all these procedures and strengthening the muscles of the vagina, the pain in it should subside and not bother.