Reply To: Confusion between tight hymen and vaginismus… a warning!

[Jennifer Dembo, LMSW]

Thank you so much for sharing your story, @isabelw! I’m sorry you had to struggle with intercourse early on and that you weren’t accurately diagnosed. Ultimately, I’m grateful you continued to advocate for yourself, that you were able to get appropriate support and that you are now successfully able to be sexually active according to what you want!

Your experience is – unfortunately – so illustrative of the serious inadequacies we continue to experience in women’s health. Why is medical training so incredibly far behind in this area? We hear stories like yours at Maze day in and day out – it never ceases to amaze me how common your experience is (wrong diagnosis, providers not understanding the anatomy and women’s sexuality in general, etc.) The only way we’re going to change the system is to keep talking and sharing and supporting one another, and demanding a higher standard of comprehensive, respective care.

Thanks again for writing to us and take care!