Sex cannot be all sunshine and rainbows for everyone, as people also experience dyspareunia or painful sex. However, people are still confused about why they experience pain during sex. We have found 5 reasons that could be behind painful intercourse.

1. Urinary tract infections could make intercourse painful

Urinary tract infections are a very common condition that affects a lot of women. However, it must be noted that this condition often affects women who do not engage in a very high degree of hygiene maintenance.

That sounds like a mouthful, but female hygiene is a complicated matter for a lot of women! This is because many women do not get proper education on how best to take care of their private parts.

At any rate, because of our society's failure to teach girls how to take care of their feminine hygiene, many women experience UTIs and this has a great impact on their sex life.

UTIs aren’t necessary caused by lack of hygiene, bust also improper diets and dressing.

These could cause eczema or other skin issues in the vagina, which could make sex painful, according to an article titled, “Painful intercourse (dyspareunia),” which is on the Mayo Clinic website publication.

UTIs are generally mild infections, so they are not life-threatening. However, when they get quite severe, they could make sex uncomfortable and even painful.

UTIs are often easily taken care of with over-the-counter medication that doesn't require a prescription.

2. Childbirth and breastfeeding could disrupt hormones

If you are a woman who has recently given birth and your sex becomes painful, do not worry yet. A lot of women experience this kind of pain straight after childbirth.

After giving birth, healing varies in different women, although there is no set duration for the resumption of intercourse.

Gynecologists usually give two months if the delivery isn’t complicated. Still, resuming intimacy after delivery is painful, with stretched vaginal muscles still sore.

According to an article on the Healthline website, hormones may not have recalibrated well and breastfeeding could also distort your libido,

This may especially be the case if you are breastfeeding as well. It’s not a big deal, really. The thing is, your body’s natural hormone production becomes out of whack after you have just given birth.

Breastfeeding can also cause the same thing. Right after you give birth to a new human being, your natural levels of oestrogen and progesterone drop significantly.

This could usually cause mood swings and a general disinterest in sex. Due to this low level of sex hormones, your libido or sex drive will also take a hit.

That's why sex could be painful because your vagina is not producing enough lubrication. This is temporary though, so let it run its course.

3. Your antidepressants could be lowering your libido

People who are taking antidepressants often suffer from low libido. This is true for both women and men. The reason is the medication itself as antidepressants usually regulate the part of your brain that is easily excited.

With that, people who are heavy on their antidepressants may experience bouts of unresponsiveness when sexually teased.

As such, because arousal is lacking, your vagina does not produce enough lubrication and then penile penetration becomes painful.

Not to worry though, this can be easily readministered as long as you make a consultation with your doctor.

If you have this kind of concern, your doctor will advise you to reduce your dosage or change your medication altogether. You are not advised to simply stop taking your medication though, as doing so may have heavier negative implications.

On top of changing your medication, you could also try using lube to help smoothen things out.

4. Menopause could cause vaginal dryness

Another possible reason that your sex has become painful is menopause. This one is kind of expected as a lot of women, even before their own menopause, have heard about this possible issue.

With that said, if you are a woman who is already experiencing perimenopause (that is the years leading to menopause) you could be having hormone swings. Perimenopause happens some 8 to 10 years prior to menopause.

Perimenopause itself could cause severe hormonal imbalances, but when you finally enter menopause (starting from the last time you bleed) then your sex hormones could drop heavily.

When you hit menopause proper, your body severely limits the secretion of estrogen. Yet this hormone is key in inducing vaginal moisture.

When this happens, the vaginal wall dries and withers. The surrounding areas are inflamed as a result, according to an article on the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists website.

This could then cause extreme vaginal dryness no matter how sexually stimulated you are. The use of lubrication is usually advised as a temporary solution.

If your vaginal dryness doesn’t improve, you need to get professional advice. Hormone replacement therapy may be suggested depending on how well you may benefit from it.

5. A lack of arousal could make penile penetration painful

On a milder note, the reason you are experiencing pain during sex may simply be a lack of arousal. This doesn't indicate any illness. You're just not wet enough because your partner hasn't aroused you long enough.

A lot of women do not seem to know that it takes longer for them to get wet than their male counterparts.

So, if you don't know this and can't communicate it with your partner, they may not know that you need more time with foreplay.

The problem is, that a lot of men don't know this either, so you need to be the one who guides your partner during foreplay. Tell them that you need at least 15 minutes of foreplay until you feel fully ready to receive their penis.

Of course, if you want to use lubrication, that's always welcome. When choosing a lube, try to go with a water-based one as this type is more user-friendly.

To summarize the main points, dyspareunia is not common, but several people have reported pain during intercourse which can have multiple reasons. We hope the reasons we provided can help you identify why sex is painful for you.

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Women With Low Sexual Desire Usually Have A Medical Problem

Men and women both suffer from sexual dysfunction at an early age. The problem is equally serious in women, who most of the times lose their interest in enjoying sex. There can be many reasons associated with this problem, some are minor in nature while others are serious and needs medical attention.

Reasons for low sex drive

Stress can be one of the prominent reasons for this problem and it needs to be treated as well. Regardless of the reason, it is necessary to get it diagnosed and get proper medication for the same. Insufficient sexual life not only affects your quality of life but keeps your morale down always.

Women are always conscious about themselves and sometimes this can create a problem. Those who have a negative image about themselves are usually not able to enjoy sex. It is because they think a lot about their physical structure, size of the breast, and other things. This will take off their mind from sex and make them worry for something that they are not sure if their partner will have a problem with.

Sexual abuse

In some cases, women who had been through verbal, sexual, and physical abuse also face such problem. Such factor leaves a negative impact on their mind, and they don’t enjoy intimacy in the way they have to. Men generally have to be very sensitive with their partners and ensure that they don’t hurt them anytime.

Besides this, there can be other reasons that can reduce their sexual libido. One of them is the hormonal changes, which happens in women after a certain age. Changes in some of the important hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone affect her sex crave. Pregnancy also reduces her sexual desire, and this happens with many.

Medical problem

Women suffer from lots of medical problems, which also includes thyroid. These days, even young women suffer from this problem, which kills their sexual desire at an early age. In many cases, women tend to put on the additional weight and they usually feel depressed. Both of these factors are not good for sexual life.

Another serious medical issue is diabetes, which is not only good for health, but for libido as well. In such cases, it is suggested that women look for a better treatment option, which will help them to overpower the problem. It is always recommended to consult a doctor and get the proper treatment to cure this medical issue. Some of the pills consumed for anti-depression, birth control, drugs, and others can drastically reduce your sexual desires.

These pills can increase or decrease your blood pressure, which can then affect your libido. Thus, it is not recommended to consume any pills without being prescribed for the same. Besides this, you can also consult your doctor to check how and what can be done to control the side effects that are associated with the consumption of the pills.

In some cases, the side effects of the pills remain for a temporary period and so you don’t have to worry about the same. Your doctor would be the right person to explain the same to you.