Treating Vaginal Dryness Using Lubricants

One of the most difficult topics for a woman to talk about with her doctor is painful intercourse.

Sometimes women are simply too embarrassed to bring it up, so they continue on experiencing the pain or avoid sex altogether. Sometimes, women think that the pain is in their head or they're doing something wrong in the bedroom. Often times, the main reason for painful intercourse is vaginal dryness.

Many women experience painful sex at some point during their lives. This can be for a myriad of normal reasons, but if it starts to affect a woman's intimacy levels then she definitely needs to seek the counsel of her doctor. An occasional problem is one thing, but a recurrent issue needs to be evaluated medically. Thankfully, there are easy treatments that can help reduce or even eliminate this very common problem.

Here are some of the symptoms of painful intercourse:

• pain that happens any time there is penetration including while putting in a tampon
• pain with certain sexual partners
• new pain that starts after being pain free before
• superficial pain upon entry
• deep pain during thrusting
• an aching or burning sensation

There are many different causes for painful intercourse including insufficient lubrication. This usually happens if there hasn't been enough foreplay, however it can also be a result of not having enough estrogen in the body.

Estrogen levels drop at different times during a woman's life including after menopause, after childbirth or even during breast-feeding. This can also happen when a woman is on certain medications, especially those that are related to cancer treatment.

In fact, certain antidepressants, sedatives, birth control pills, anti-histamine and even high blood pressure medications can affect a woman's lubrication causing vaginal dryness.

It's also possible that a woman has suffered an injury or irritation either from pelvic surgery or an accident of some sort. After a woman gives birth she often has an episiotomy, and that can cause problems with painful intercourse as well. Some women have congenital abnormalities in the way that their organs are set up within their body which can lead to painful intercourse also.

Another reason for painful intercourse can be an infection in the genital area or urinary tract. Any time an infection is suspected, a woman should see her doctor as soon as possible to get antibiotics or whatever medication is necessary to keep the infection from progressing.

Another common cause of painful intercourse is called vaginismus, which are involuntary spasms of the muscles of the vaginal wall. Again, this is easily treatable with the right kind of medical intervention. Sometimes this includes having vaginal physical therapy.

Painful intercourse does not have to be something that a woman just learns to live with for the rest of her life. Instead, a woman should try some of the simpler remedies such as over-the-counter lubricants to see if that takes care of the problem.

If it doesn't, then a woman can definitely see her doctor to find out the cause of the painful sex. Once a woman knows the cause, then the doctor can proceed forward with helping her to get the best treatment for her particular situation.