Reply To: Vaginismus and maturity

[recessivegenequeen]

Really interesting points here, sammy2021! You make a good observation that 16-year-old girls might not necessarily feel ready to undertake treatment for vaginismus like dilating, but I think the thing that would make a big difference is whether they were already aware that kind of pain was normal in a lot of women and also treatable in the future. If a 16-year-old had repeated pain with intercourse but KNEW that vaginismus was a condition that existed, she could make the decision not to have intercourse until she was older and ready to seek treatment and stick to other activities in the meantime, or even just know that there wasn’t “something wrong with her” that felt completely unique. A lot of girls who discover their vaginismus at a younger age believe that no one else will understand what they’re going through when in reality many women will face pain with intercourse at some point in their lives. Knowing you’re not alone and that there are established treatment options out there would make a big difference in my opinion. It’s my hope that the next generation of children will be better educated by their parents and also that sex ed will evolve to encompass more of these topics so everyone is more informed and these problems are less stigmatized in future.