Author| Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT specializing in pelvic floor dysfunction, dyspareunia, vaginismus and pelvic pain | February 11, 2022
If you are looking for vaginismus and dyspareunia treatment in Grand Rapids, you have found the right place.
If you have vaginismus and dyspareunia, please know that you are not alone and that high quality pelvic physical therapy treatment with our licensed physical therapists can help you here in Grand Rapids, MI. At Purple Mountain PT, our licensed, doctors of physical therapy specialize in treating pelvic health conditions, including vaginismus and dyspareunia. Our clinic has been established precisely to offer you trauma-informed, holistic care in a safe, private and trusted setting. When working with us, you will receive compassionate and research backed treatments, from your pelvic health specialist PT. Our patients often tell us that they wish they had known about us sooner, so that they did not experience the frustrating pain with sex that places a burden on their relationships. If you have been to your physician and not received much guidance on how to get your vaginismus or dyspareunia to resolve, our physical therapists offer you answers, education and treatment plans that work. If interested in learning more, call us to speak with a real person, one of our team members who talks to people all the time about vaginismus and dyspareunia and can explain to you what to expect and how this can help you: (616) 516-4334. Or, ask us a question here and we will be in touch with you.
You have found the Leading and Only Pelvic Health Specialty PT Clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Treating People Just Like You, Who Have Vaginismus, Dyspareunia, Back Pain, Endometriosis, Postpartum Pelvic Health Conditions and Bladder Control Problems is Our Focus! We Know How To Help Your Painful Sex
So, what does physical therapy for dyspareunia and vaginismus involve? First, know that our PTs are trauma informed and work with you to customize the treatment plan to best meet your needs. What is different from our methods is that we give you private, 55 minute appointments delivered from a whole body framework, in a PT clinic devoted to pelvic health care. When working with our PTs you can rest assured that you are receiving your care from a PT who specializes in dyspareunia, vaginismus, pelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction. Working with a pelvic specialist PT who does this work all day long for years gives you the confidence that you are working with someone who knows what they are doing, who has helped others and who knows how to get you feeling better. Interested in learning more? Call us at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgable team members or contact us here and we will be in touch.
Our whole body treatment approach recognizes that your vaginismus and dyspareunia are not solely due to pelvic floor dysfunction.
While we treat your pelvic floor dysfunction, we also include care to your hips, abdomen, spine, neck, inner thighs or other areas of your body that are contributing to the pain. This comprehensive approach includes education to you regarding what exercises or behavioral changes or other remedies you can implement to best help your painful sex. We look at your movement patterns, fascia, nerves, joint mobility, muscle tension, abdominal scars, deep core (abdominals and low back) strength and more. We even use rehabilitative ultrasound imaging to show you your pelvic floor muscles, abdominals or low back muscles and to teach you how to get them to work properly. No other PT clinic specializes in pelvic health like we do and no one is using this technology. We have found ultrasound imaging to be a game changer for our patients because they can see what their muscles are doing wrong and they can figure out how to fix it. With dyspareunia and vaginismus, often the muscles are tensing up, stiff or not relaxing and lengthening when they should be and the ultrasound brings clarity to this issue and helps you improve the status. Interested in learning more? Call us at (616) 516-4334 or reach out here.
We know that painful sex is a private problem and you may not know where to go to get answers, but you have found the right place.
We understand your vaginismus or dyspareunia can take an emotional toll. Our PTs can help you to have peace of mind and hope that your bedroom experiences can be painfree. We welcome you to bring your partners to your appointments so they can also learn about your condition, including tips for navigating painfree sex in the bedroom. Just this week a husband came to a wife’s appointment and told us it was very helpful and educational, expressing gratitude afterwards. For example, he had never been taught about his wife’s condition, the pelvic floor anatomy and he did not understand why it was painful for her. But, in the appointment I was able to inform both of them the specifics of what was going on. If you are interested in shedding light on your condition, in easing some of the emotional toll this is placing on your relationshiop or if you have questions and would like to speak with a trusted & knowledgeable person from our staff to learn more about our physical therapy for painful sex, call us at 616-516-4334 or submit your questions here and we will be in touch with you. We have patients to travel to us from many other states and even other countries and we offer an intensive physical therapy program over one week for out of town patients or remote consultations for those who qualify.
Our licensed PTs have been doing this work for a long time and we know how to treat you holistically so that you can experience intimacy without pain and resolve your vaginismus and dyspareunia.
We are Purple Mountain Physical Therapy a specialty pelvic health PT clinic located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We offer personalized, discreet and effective care to help women who are suffering with vaginismus and dyspareunia (painful sex). Often our patients come to us perplexed by what’s going on and not knowing the issue causing their pain. We conduct a detailed evaluation to determine exactly what is going on with you to cause you to have painful intimacy. Based on this evaluation we develop a treatment plan customized to your needs. There are many causes and types of painful intimacy and by the end of your first appointment you will have learned so much about your condition. If you are interested in learning more about our PT for vaginismus or dyspareunia, contact us at (616) 516-4334 or fill out this online inquiry and we will be in touch. We help people in-person in Grand Rapids, Michigan and also online via telehealth. If you are frustrated with your condition and looking for some real answers, we are here to help you.
Painful intimacy is a private and difficult problem, our gentle and therapeutic physical therapy for vaginismus and dyspareunia helps ease your pain.
So many of our patients tell us that their painful intimacy has been a private struggle. Often you have mentioned it to your OBGyne, but do not receive clear answers or solutions regarding what is going on. Some of our patients who were brave enough to verbalize to a medical provider that sex is painful, have been told to just keep having sex, even if it is painful and maybe it will get better. Others have been told to drink wine beforehand, which is not recommended and not appropriate medical advice. Some women fear they will not be able to have children because sex is not possible. If any of these sound familiar to you and you want high quality recommendations and treatments for your dyspareuni or vaginismus, we are here for you. Because our physical therapists specialize in treating vaginismus and dyspareunia, our patients tell us that the care they receive is healing to their mind, body and spirit. Reach out to us at (616) 516-4334 to learn more about our treatment, or contact us here.
Our Treatment for Painful Sex Includes:
- Education that explains what we are finding, in clear terms you can understand.
- Explanation of the many things we identify that contribute to your vaginismus and dyspareunia.
- A Plan for your path to recovery and our plan of care so you can experience pain-free intimacy.
- Therapeutic and whole body treatment that includes manual therapy, pelvic balancing, spine treatment, scar tissue care, exercises, core muscle retraining, downtraining the stress response and pelvic floor dysfunction recovery care.
- Exercise based care to address muscle imbalances, fascia stiffness, reductions in blood flow, deficiencies in your core muscles, hip or leg weakness and more.
- Rehabilitative Ultrasound Imaging to visualize your pelvic floor, bladder, abdominals and deep low back muscles and retrain them.
- Instruction in self care at home to reduce your pain with sex and intimacy. This may include certain stretches, lubricants, devices at home to help yourself,
Vaginismus and dyspareunia may cause a strain in your relationship and mentally with your sense of self.
We are here to support you and help you out of this difficult place. Many of our patients are sad that sex hurts and they feel alone and, frankly, hopeless. We wish you could talk to some of the patients we have helped over the years, because it is truly possible to completely resolve vaginismus and dyspareunia, but it does require the right treatment, delivered to your whole body and in a manner that is healing and therapeutic. To get your questions answered about our vaginismus and dyspareunia treatment, contact us at (616) 516-4334 or fill out this online inquiry and we will be in touch. We treat people in person in Grand Rapids, Michigan and also online via telehealth.
We understand that finding the right people to help provide you with vaginismus and dyspareunia treatment in Grand Rapids can be frustrating. Rest assured, this field is our specialty and you have found the right place.
Our treatment for vaginismus and dyspareunia is customized to your individual findings
Each person’s experience with vaginismus and dyspareunia is unique. While there may be common themes we find with our patients, your experience and what is going on with your body is different than what others may be experiencing. Because of this, we begin your treatment for vaginismus and dyspareunia by providing you a whole-body evaluation that assesses and treats your spine, hips, abdomen, thighs and pelvic floor. Because the nerves to the pelvis cross the abdomen and come out of the spine, we find that a person can have problems anywhere along the back, abdomen or legs (including the feet) that are contributing to the propensity to have painful sex, vaginismus and dyspareunia. If you would like more information about our treatment for vaginismus and dyspareunia in Grand Rapids, contact us at (616) 516-4334 or fill out this online inquiry and we will be in touch. We provide treatment in-person in Grand Rapids, Michigan and also provide remote consultations. Our online clients find that our insights and ability to guide them towards self-care or getting effective treatment closer to home is very useful.
All of your treatment for vaginismus and dyspareunia takes place in our private, comfortable pelvic health speciality clinic.
At Purple Mountain PT, we know that the patient-provider partnership is crucial to you feeling understood, comfortable and, frankly, to getting results. As PTs who specialize in vaginismus and dyspareunia, we work with you at each visit to understand what you need to get you better. This is why we never leave you unsupervised to complete exercises by yourself. Your licensed physical therapist is literally with you the entire appointment, you have her undivided attention. If you would like more information about our treatment for vaginismus and dyspareunia here in Grand Rapids or via remote consultation, contact us at (616) 516-4334 or fill out this online inquiry. We are happy to answer your questions.
Each visit, we build our plan of care for you so that we are making gains and progressing your plan.
Your treatment for vaginismus and dyspareunia will be customized to your findings and preferences. Our therapists are trained to deliver trauma informed care, especially for painful sex and we work very diligently to create a gentle and therapeutic environment for you. We begin each session by inquiring what you noticed following the last PT visit and answering your questions. From there, we will assess and treat everything needed so your pain with sex can improve. If you would benefit from a comprehensive evaluation and treatment program, reach out to us here to ask your questions.
What does PT treatment for vaginismus and dyspareunia involve?
Our whole-body treatment means that you will receive care to any area of your body that may be contributing to pelvic issues. This could include any or all of the following:
- Neck, thoracic spine, lumbar spine or SI joint treatment. We use a combination of exercises, joint mobilization, postural correction and myofascial manual therapy to optimize spine and pelvic alignment, core muscles and nerves.
- Abdominal visceral mobilization and scar tissue treatment. We will assess and treat your entire abdomen, because there are typically issues in this area that contribute to the propensity for you to experience vaginismus and dyspareunia.
- Gentle pelvic floor muscle treatment. These muscles form the entire base of the bones of the pelvis, going from the tailbone in the back to the pubic bone in your front region. They help with bladder and bowel control, pelvic organ support and intimacy experiences. We provide gentle internal and external treatments to ease stiffness, trigger points, high tone and nerve irritation in these muscles and fascia. If you would like more information about our treatment for vaginismus and dyspareunia, contact us at (616) 516-4334 or fill out this online inquiry and we will be in touch.
- Exercise based care that may include a variety of stretches, fascial mobilization, joint movements, breathing retraining and core muscle re-education.
- Self-Care instruction This includes a wide variety of recommendations and instructions on what you can do at home. We cover everything from diet, exercise, pelvic stretches, intimacy positions, strategies to experience pleasure when intimate, breathing, meditation, heart rate variability training, how to talk to your partner about your needs and concerns and more.
Sometimes Vaginismus and Dyspareunia have been present from your first attempt at intimacy.
Many of our patients report that using tampons was always painful, or getting their first gynecologic exam was excruciating. Some people found that penetrative intercourse was very painful from their first attempt. We help women for whom this has been going on. Our comprehensive assessment and treatment program will bring clarity to help you understand what is going on and how to improve this. If you would like more information about our treatment for vaginismus and dyspareunia, contact us at (616) 516-4334 or fill out this online inquiry and we will be in touch.
Sometimes intercourse used to be fine, but now it hurts.
Some of our patients developed painful intimacy over time. We will help you get to the bottom of why this has happened. For many of our patients, even if an infection (such as a chronic yeast infection or bacterial vaginosis, BV) seemed to be the trigger for your dyspareunia and vaginismus, after the infection is resolve you are left with pelvic floor muscle tightness and spasm causing the pain. Our evaluation and treatment will determine if this is going on and also help you understand what you can do to help resolve the pain. Our physical therapy can resolve your vaginismus and dyspareunia; many of the women we’ve treated are able to get back to intercourse with no pain. If you are interested in learning more about how physical therapy can resolve your vaginismus and dyspareunia contact us here.
Levator ani syndrome, another term for pelvic floor dysfunction, is often present with vaginismus and dyspareunia.
Because the pelvic floor muscles need to be able to lengthen and soften to allow for comfortable and pain-free intercourse, if you have levator ani syndrome (also called pelvic floor dysfunction, high tone pelvic floor or pelvic floor hypertonicity), then you will experience tension and tightening of the vagina and vaginal opening, which is painful. Our licensed PTs will work to gently calm down your pelvic floor dysfunction and help the area to be more flexible and less tensed up. If you are interested in learning more about our vaginismus and dyspareunia treatment in Grand Rapids, reach out to our team at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.
Many of our patients also have other pelvic, low back, hip, bladder, bowel or other pain concerns. We will treat those, also.
Our PTs are fully trained in treating you head to toe. While we specialize in pelvic health, back, neck, TMJ disorders and treating chronic pain, we also have experience in general orthopedic physical therapy. Some of our patients who have painful sex also have things like urinary urgency and frequency, constipation, urinary leakage, interstitial cystitis, endometriosis, hip labral tears, hip gluteal pain, sciatica or pelvic organ prolapse. Some patients develop dyspareunia following reconstructive pelvic surgery, hysterectomy, endometriosis excision surgery or cesarean section and have pain related to the scar tissue and recovery from these surgeries. Rest assured, we can help you. We’ve written before about our treatment for pelvic pain and you can read about it here. Our PTs will help treat your whole system and calm down all of these things. In fact, we must resolve all of these things in order to help you get rid of vaginismus and dyspareunia. If you have questions about our methods and how we may be able to help you, one of our team members would love to chat with you. You can reach out to us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.
Our treatment is designed to get you relief and answers for why you have painful sex
We have written another article about dyspareunia and vaginismus that covers some of the other things that may be going on causing your pain. For example, some of the women we’ve helped have hymen remnants causing their problem and we can help treat this, as well. For other people, provoked vestibulodynia or vulvodynia is occurring. We’ve worked with women whose driver of the dyspareunia is scar tissue from episiotomy, perineal tearing, c-section or gynecologic reconstructive surgery. If you are interested in learning more about our vaginismus and dyspareunia treatment in Grand Rapids, contact us at 616.516.4334 or fill out this online inquiry. We are specifically trained in male pelvic health, so our methods are targeted to your needs.
Men, if you experience pain with erections, orgasms or afterwards, you may have pelvic floor dysfunction
The focus on this article is on female intimacy pain, but we want to point out that we also treat men who experience painful intimacy. Men have pelvic floor dysfunction, also, and our pelvic PTs are trained to help treat male chronic pelvic pain, chronic prostatitis pain syndrome, myofascial pain, back pain and pinched nerves. Some of the men we treat experience pelvic or perineal aching, tip of penis pain, anorectal spasms or other pelvic pain associated with intimacy. Our treatments to your back, hips, pelvis or abdomen can help men, also. You can get all of your questions answered by calling us at 616-516-4334 or reaching out to us here. Contact us here to learn more.
You deserve to get answers and high-quality treatment for your vaginismus and dyspareunia. We are here to help.
At Purple Mountain PT, our entire team is focused on providing our patients answers and healing. We work with adults and kids who have pelvic problems, back pain, neck pain and TM joint syndrome. We have compassion for people who experience vaginismus and dyspareunia and are looking for treatment in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Many of our patients drive to us from all around our great state and find that working with our specialist PTs is worth the effort. Because we specialize in treating all chronic pelvic pain, including vaginismus and dyspareunia, our patients find that they learn more about their problem and experience peace of mind. We provide physical therapy treatment for painful sex in a safe, healing and trauma-informed setting. If you would like to learn more about physical therapy treatment for your vaginismus or dyspareunia, contact us at (616) 516-4334 or submit this online inquiry and we will be in touch. We offer in person visits in Grand Rapids, Michigan or online via telehealth.
Peace,
You may be interested in reading these articles we’ve written:
Are you looking for Painful Sex Treatment in Grand Rapids?
What is High Tone Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Bladder Problems. What’s Going On?
Endometriosis Physical Therapy Treatment in Grand Rapids
