Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy Combined With Sexual Therapy in Vaginismus Treatment

Vaginismus is a sexual dysfunction defined as recurrent or persistent difficulty or impossibility of sexual intercourse due to involuntary contractions of the muscles in the vaginal area in women. This condition is usually associated with excessive tension and spasm of the pelvic floor muscles and adductor muscles when evaluated in terms of these muscle groups.

Sexuual therapy includes the placement of dilators of graduated sizes by the therapist at home or in a clinical setting, guided by both the patient and the partner, for systematic desensitization to vaginal penetration, and sexual education to alleviate the psychological impact of the condition. This method is most frequently used in studies and the reported success rates are quite high.

Various techniques such as breathing and relaxation exercises, local tissue desensitization, vaginal dilators, biofeedback and manual therapy are used within the scope of pelvic floor physiotherapy in the treatment of vaginismus. There are studies in the literature investigating the effectiveness of biofeedback exercises in the treatment of vaginismus with a 100% success rate. It has also been reported that the combined application of pelvic floor exercises with behavioral sexual therapy provides significant improvement. In this study aimed to examine the effectiveness of pelvic floor physiotherapy combined with sexual therapy in individuals diagnosed with vaginismus.

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosed with vaginismus,
• Being between the ages of 20-45,
• Having an active sexual partner in the last 6 months,
• Not being in the accompanying physiotherapy or psychotherapy process.

Exclusion criteria

• Diagnosed with or treated for vulvodynia and/or vulvar vestibulitis,
• Having a pacemaker,
• Not being able to give personal consent,
• Having a physical problem that would prevent treatment.