What Everyone Needs To Know About Painful Sex

Sex shouldn’t hurt. Too many people believe that having some pain with vaginal penetration is normal and to be expected. That’s simply not true. NO ONE should be having painful sex–unless it’s the kind of pain that is desired and negotiated in advance. Pain with sex is not something you just have to put up with. And, almost always, it can be resolved with a little help.

If you ignore sex pain and keep engaging in the painful action, it will almost certainly lead to worse issues down the road. And besides the physical damage, nothing will tank your libido like engaging in sex with unwanted pain. Every time you grit your teeth and keep doing the thing that hurts, you’re forging a link in your brain between that activity and pain. Over time, as sex and pain become more closely linked in your mind, your desire for sex will wane.

This is important to recognize, as one big reason that people continue to engage in painful sex is to avoid hurting their partner’s feelings or because they feel obligated to provide sex as part of their relationship. Even if simply grinning and bearing it will keep your partner from feeling rejected or uncomfortable in this moment, continuing to engage in painful sex will do your sex life more harm than good in the long term. And I suspect your partner would actually want to know. Hopefully, they want to do whatever is needed to help you have enjoyable sex.

The first step is to have that awkward conversation now. Let your partner know what you are experiencing, and that you’d like to see what can be done to help improve your experience of sex by decreasing pain. Be sure to let your partner know this is almost always something that can be resolved.

The second step is to stop participating in the activity that hurts. This is a temporary measure to make sure your body’s natural protective response doesn’t make the issue worse.

The next step is unravelling what’s going on with your body, with the help of a medical practitioner, a sex therapist, or both. There are countless potential causes for sex pain. You can start by using a high quality lubricant, and also consulting with your primary care physician. But be aware (your doctor may not be!) that resolving many issues requires the help of specialized professionals, like a pelvic floor physical therapist or a vulvar pain specialist. If your doctor doesn’t suggest one of these specialists, and your sex pain doesn’t resolve, ask your doctor for a referral to a pelvic floor PT and let them advise you on how to proceed.

If you are feeling frustrated and things aren’t improving, consider consulting with a sex therapist, who can help sort out the issues and refer you to the right resources. With the help of skilled professionals and a little bit of patience, regardless of whether painful sex is new for you or something you’ve been living with for a long time, you are very likely to uncover the cause, resolve it, and start having pain-free, enjoyable sex.

It is also important to recognize that while you are working to resolve painful sex,  your sex life doesn’t need to grind to a halt. You can’t engage in the activity that produces pain–but there are plenty of other ways for you and your partner to create pleasure and experience closeness, which is (at least as I see it) what sex is really about. There is no reason your relationship has to suffer just because one activity isn’t possible for the moment. Situations like this one are the reason I often say that flexibility is the key to a happy, healthy sex life. This is an opportunity to work on that flexibility, and perhaps even discover new ways of connecting intimately that can become favorite additions to your sexual repertoire.