Do you experience pain during sex?
The results of a recent study have shown that almost 10% of women in the UK experience pain during intercourse. The findings, from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3), are significant because they come from the largest scientific study of sexual health lifestyles in the UK.
This survey, which was carried out by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University College London and NatCen Social Research, involved 8,869 women aged between 16-74 from 2010 to 2012 using computer-assisted self-interviews.
The results showed that 7.5% of women have experienced pain during sex, with nearly 2% experiencing ‘morbid pain’, i.e. symptoms that last for 6 months, recur, and cause real distress.
The age groups that reported the most pain were 55-64 year olds (10.4%), and 16-24 year olds (9.5%). It is also interesting to note that, of the more than 1700 women who had not been sexually active in the past year, 2.05% said they’d been avoiding intercourse because they’d experienced painful sex, and feared doing so again.
What’s Happening?
This kind of pain is collectively called Dyspareunia, and there can be many different precipitating factors and causes. My approach to treatment is a holistic one, and as many physicians agree, this is often a more effective way of providing an effective treatment, because it takes into account the health, sexual and relationship factors. For example, reports of the experience of pain can even have some of their origins in factors like attitudes towards sex, dissatisfaction with sex, anxiety, and sexual relationship factors.
The results of this study suggest that painful sexual experiences for many 16-24 year olds occur because the first sexual experience is often a painful one for many women, and this is a fact which tends not to be highlighted sufficiently. We need better sex education.
The results of this survey also highlight the fact that, for many older women, post-menopausal sex can be painful. This could be as a result of vaginal dryness and vaginal atrophy.
Getting Help
I offer the full range of office Gynaecology services, including rapid sexual health screening, fertility management, help with polycystic ovaries, and vulval pain. Please contact us for more information here.