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Pelvic Pain / Penetration Disorder

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Genito-Pelvic Pain/Penetration Disorder
Being sexually intimate with a partner is something that most women don’t have to worry about. Yet, for those that suffer from genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder, being sexually intimate can be a major source of worry. Women who suffer from genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder have a fear or aversion of penetration during vaginal intercourse and suffer from involuntary contracting of the pelvic floor muscles and intense pain in anticipation of, during, or after vaginal intercourse. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) The exact number of women suffering from this disorder is not known, but it is believed that genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder affects about 15% of women in the
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In his article, “Female Sexual Pain Disorders”, Ros Boa states that genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder can have different causes. This disorder “has been described as possibly having biological, psychosexual, and functional causes not limited to: infections, inflammatory diseases, neurologic disorders, vulvodynia, or tissue abnormalities, pain related fear, irrational thoughts about pain, phobic avoidance, psychosomatic fear of sex and/or vaginal penetration”. (Boa, 2013) Other possible causes of genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder is “fear of anticipated pain [from penetration], a history of religious or strict sexual upbringing, or a history of sexual molestation. (Pacik, 2011). Another possible cause of genito-pelvic pain can be attributed to pregnancy. According to research conducted by Maria Glowacka, et. al, “About half of women may develop genito-pelvic pain during pregnancy, which will persist for about a third of women after childbirth, and a few women may begin to develop pain after childbirth”. (Glowacka et.al, 2014) There is not currently one cause being considered more than the others, as many researchers believe that the cause of genito-pelvic/penetration disease may vary from woman to woman. (Boa, 2011) Though the cause may be
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