Do women with vaginismus have a lower threshold of pain?

OBJECTIVE

Vaginismus and dyspareunia are together categorized as a genito-pelvic pain and penetration disorder. We aimed to evaluate the threshold of pain and the pain sensitivity in women with vaginismus.

STUDY DESIGN

In this prospective case-control study; 32 women with vaginismus and 29 healthy women were enrolled. Sociodemographic Information Form, Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Pain Beliefs Questionnaire (PBQ), Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR), The Lamont Scale of Vaginismus were applied. Threshold of pain was measured with algometer in terms of Newton (N).

RESULTS

The pain thresholds vaginismus and control group were as follows; left posterior superior iliac crest (40.3 N, 84.9 N respectively;p < 0.001), right posterior superior iliac crest (42.9 N, 76.1 N respectively;p = 0.007), left lateral trochanter (42.0 N, 69.8 N respectively; p = 0.015), right lateral trochanter (43.8 N, 75.3 N respectively; p = 0.003), left anterior superior iliac spine (29.2 N, 51.2 N respectively; p = 0.003), left insertion of gracilis muscle (27.3 N, 45.2 N respectively; p = 0.038), left medial vastus muscle (37.0 N, 52.4 N respectively; p = 0.025) and the pain thresholds were significantly lower in the vaginismus patients.

CONCLUSION

Women with vaginismus have a lower threshold of pain, and the pain threshold decreases in higher grades of vaginismus. The pain may aggravate the avoiding behavior of women from sexual intercourse.