For the past few months, intercourse has become increasingly painful with my boyfriend so I went to the ob/gyn today. Although I have a slight bacterial infection, she believes the real cause is muscle tightening down there. The only "cure" to this is through mental training and long periods of time :( I was wondering if anyone has any experience or insight into this, so that this healing time can be lowered. (Also, eeeeverything else in the relationship, including other physical intimate acts, are great. The issue is simply intercourse).

The ob/gyn also mentioned that I had a few symptoms of interstitial cystitis and that if the mind/body reconditioning doesn't work, I should possibly see a urologist about that. It's pretty uncommon I think, and so the only knowledge I have is from googling.

TIA for any assistance guys

In recent months I overcame Vaginismus myself. For about 5 years I have had trouble having pap tests because I was mentally/physically sensitive to it, but just over a year ago I had a cyst the size of an orange removed from my ovary, and in the same operation I had a cervical biopsy because of cervical changes. With all of this, the area was painful for a few weeks. I should have been able to function sexually three to four weeks after, but after the surgery I associated any contact with that region with pain, even though there was no physical cause for it anymore. It isn't a common thing, but it can happen after experiencing childbirth, surgery or injury to that area. I could easily identify the cause, but do you know what the cause is for you? The cystitis may be the cause and should be treated. I was referred to a sexual health clinic. The clinic was very far away from where I lived and worked. Fortunately for me, in the time I was trying to work out how I could get over there to see somebody, I overcame it myself.

My advice to you is to relax- don't expect pain when you are about to have sex. The condition is psychological, so preemptive fears will cause the pain to be much worse. Your partner needs to be understanding about this, too. Until you have recovered, you need to call the shots. Feeling pressured will only make it worse. I wish I knew more, but a specialist would know more than I do.

Sorry this was so long but I hope it helps anyway.

Oh, I definitely have that. I posted about it here before. I have never used a tampon or had sex properly. I attempted to get a PAP when I was 19 and it was very painful and I started crying. My doctor then prescribed me Xanax to calm me down. That didn't work either. I went to 2 different doctors until one finally recommended that I get put under anesthetics. So, this past August I went to the hospital and they put me under. I woke an hour later with huge discomfort on my insides. Everything came out okay though.

My GYN asked me about getting counseling for the problem. I haven't yet.

I haven't dealt with it personally but when I worked in an adult store we got a lot of questions about it...

If there isn't a 'physical' medical issue it quite possibly is.

I knew some ladies that had luck seeing a therapist about it, once they got to the root cause and dealt with that they did okay.

I've known others that went years without treatment or attention though, because they were embarassed. Poor things. :(

Hmmmmm....this sounds kind of like me. I have some scar tissue & am highly susceptible to PID flareups due to some past issues. Intercourse is frequently painful for me & now it's to the point where I kind of "prep" myself mentally for it before I even have sex, which has def hurt my BFs & my relationship. No advice really but I would love to hear what others have to say on this.