Can Fibroids Cause Pain During Intercourse?
Yes! Fibroids can cause pain during intercourse! Uterine fibroids which are non-cancerous tumors also known as myomas grow in and on a woman’s uterus. A woman can have numerous fibroids and they can be as small as a pearl or as large as a pumpkin. When a woman has fibroids they can disrupt her sex life causing pain, pressure, and discomfort during and even after sex.
The technical term for painful sex is dyspareunia and can be superficial or deep.
Superficial dyspareunia – pain that occurs in or around the vaginal entrance and vulva. Common symptoms include pain at the labia, itching, burning, or stinging. Pain may begin immediately and be constant during intercourse or may be triggered by just walking.
Deep dyspareunia causes pain during sexual intercourse in the upper part of the vagina, the pelvis, or even the thighs and is usually the result of deep penetration. Women have reported pain lasting for hours after intercourse.
Several women’s health issues can result in dyspareunia including:
- endometriosis,
- cystitis,
- pelvic floor dysfunction,
- adenomyosis,
- pelvic inflammatory disease,
- uterine prolapse,
- irritable bowel syndrome,
- retroverted uterus,
- ovarian cysts, and
- uterine fibroids.
Why Do Fibroids Cause Pain During Sex?
Location, Location, Location! This is not only true with real estate but with fibroids as well. The symptoms that fibroids cause are primarily related to their location within the uterus as well as their size and the number of fibroids present. Fibroids that are growing close to the entrance to the cervix can make penetration during sexual intercourse painful and for some women, friction can also cause a great deal of discomfort due to fibroids in that area.
If fibroids are located higher up in the uterus, intercourse can cause pressure that is painful as well as extremely uncomfortable. Many women have even reported experiencing mild to severe cramping or stomach pains during sex and for hours after having sex.
How Can Fibroids Sabotage Your Sex Life?
Women who experience pain during sex are more likely to avoid having sex. This can cause a great strain on a relationship. Many women not only have pain during sexual intercourse, they experiencing bleeding as well. This can be embarrassing, messy, and certainly can be a mood killer. Many women deal with visible abdominal swelling, similar to being pregnant, which affects their self-esteem and gives them a negative body image and they feel “undesirable”.
Fibroids can make “Not tonight”, “ I have a headache”, “I am too tired”, or “I am not in the mood” phrases your partner hears every night.
These are not excuses, they are real-life issues for a woman living with fibroids. Fibroids can cause hormone imbalances that throw off your libido, they can cause constant heavy bleeding leading to anemia. Anemia is a condition of iron deficiency that can cause headaches and severe fatigue. Having sex requires energy, just like exercise, and if you are bleeding heavily or exhausted from anemia let’s face it, you are not going to be “in the mood”. These fibroids can rob you of the joy and intimacy in your relationship.
Video: Can Fibroids Cause Pain During Intercourse?
What Can I Do To Alleviate Pain During Sex With Fibroids?
If fibroids are making sex painful or embarrassing or you try to avoid intimate situations due to fibroid symptoms, one of the most important things you and your sexual partner can do is communicate. Even though the conversation may be awkward it will be less awkward than avoiding the real issues resulting in hurt feelings or a damaged relationship.
Some couples have found through experimenting, that changing positions can alleviate pain and pressure and make sex enjoyable to both partners. Another possibility is increasing foreplay activity and pleasuring each other without penetration. Talking openly about the sexual challenges fibroids are creating can help each partner to understand the plight of the other and may lead to possible solutions or “workarounds” until the fibroids are addressed.
Good Bye Fibroids, Hello Sex Life!
If you are living with fibroids and they are wreaking havoc on your relationships and giving your sex life a “G” rating, there is hope! Uterine Fibroid Embolization or UFE is a non-surgical procedure that can be done in an office environment in about 45 minutes. It treats all fibroids regardless of their size and location by cutting their blood supply. After UFE fibroid tumors shrink out, become soft, and don’t cause any symptoms including pain during intercourse.
The recovery time is only about a week and requires no overnight hospital stay. Most women reported that after having UFE they “got their lives back” and they wondered why they had not had the procedure sooner!
To evaluate your individual case and get more information on fibroids and UFE, make an appointment with a UFE-expert Dr. John Lipman of Atlanta Fibroid Center® by calling (770) 953-2600 or make an appointment online.
