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What is Vaginismus and How CBD can Help

Vaginismus is a condition reasonable for considerable sexual suffering experienced by women. Sometimes it is triggered by past negative experiences such as sexual abuse. Sometimes it is caused by experiences of sexual pain due to underlying medical conditions like endometriosis. Sometimes it is related to cultural conditioning informing a woman’s attitudes to sex, shame around pleasure, fears of pregnancy,  or ideas about sexual violence. Sometimes vaginismus just happens - with not much explanation.

Vaginismus is defined as the involuntary hyper-contraction of the pelvic floor muscles, making vaginal sexual penetration difficult and painful or just impossible.

Women with vaginismus suffer physical pain and complex emotional responses to this problem. For purposes of self pleasure or in a caring relationship, many women with vaginismus are highly motivated to overcome it, to experience pleasurable sex, to get pregnant, to undertake normal gynaecology checks like cervical screening without psychological and physical trauma.

Treating vaginismus is complicated as it involves getting to the bottom of any underlying medical and physical concerns and also unpacking mental health aspects, past traumas, attitudes to sex, fears and motivations. It is a process that can be extremely successful but takes time. The most effective strategies involve building a multidisciplinary team which might include a gynaecologist, a pelvic floor physiotherapist, and a psychologist or sex therapist.

Cannabidiol (CBD) can be an absolute godsend for women suffering vaginismus. Using the relaxant properties of CBD can help reduce a woman’s threshold to climax through self pleasure and helps her to relax, both physically and emotionally. It can be combined with outercourse (external non penetrative self pleasure), can be used with self-guided dilator therapy (even in the bath) and of course can help achieve pain-free pleasurable penetrative sex and climax if this is your ultimate goal. 

For more information on vaginismus listen to this episode of the Knocked Up Podcast featuring acclaimed Psycho-Sexologist Chantelle Otten and Pelvic Physiotherapist Dora Pandeloglou.