Sexual dysfunction

Women

Sex may be less enjoyable or satisfying after childbirth. Whilst it is easy to understand why, it should not be acceptable to new mothers.

Decreased sexual satisfaction has a number of reasons:

Sex may be very painful for some women, usually due to very tight muscles that don’t relax enough to allow pain-free penetration. Muscle retraining can help to relax and ‘soften’ an over active pelvic floor. This allows for easier penetration.

Imagine an empty toilet roll – rigid. It is not closed per se, but has no flexibility. A small-diameter object can penetrate it but anything bigger than itself will cause stretching (resulting in pain)….

Common symptoms include the feeling of ‘hundreds of tiny cuts doused in lemon juice’, and ‘ripping’, or ‘tearing open’.

Some pain conditions affecting sexual function are vulvodynia and vulvar vestibulitis.

Pudendal nerve entrapment also causes pain with intercourse.

Men

Pelvic floor dysfunction may present as an inability to maintain (not achieve) an erection. Common secondary to prostate surgery.