Painful Sex: Research Suggests The Taboo Topic May Be A Public Health Concern
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) September 23, 2014 -- It's a women's health statistic that even women are reluctant to discuss; according to a recent study published in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Forum, as many as 43% of women - nearly one in two! - will experience pain during intercourse or other sexual problems.
Women’s health physical therapist and author Heather Jeffcoat, DPT, is on a crusade to change that statistic, and to empower women to get the help – and the sex life – they deserve. Her Los Angeles-based practice, Fusion Wellness & Physical Therapy, attracts patients worldwide. Her new book, Sex Without Pain: A Self-Treatment Guide To The Sex Life You Deserve, exposes the common myths surrounding conditions like vaginismus, vulvodynia, and other pelvic floor disorders that can make intercourse painful, or even impossible; and it gives women and their partners a treatment option in the privacy of their own bedrooms.
“This book is a labor of love that has been years in the making," says Jeffcoat. “I’ve treated hundreds of women, including some who have been married for years and never experienced intercourse. Every time a patient finds success, I’ve wished for a way to get these techniques out to many others who suffer in silence from these conditions and the social stigma they can cause.”
Despite statistical findings worldwide that led another group of researchers to suggest in the Journal Of Sex & Marital Therapy late last year that the problem should qualify as a public health concern, Jeffcoat is one of only a handful of women’s health physical therapy specialists in the US; and according to Sex Without Pain, even some physicians don’t know how to diagnose and treat these issues correctly. “Thankfully, awareness is on the rise; but very few women seek professional help, and many who do have been told that this well-documented, treatable condition is all in their heads, or that they’ll 'learn to live with it'," says Jeffcoat. "Other patients come to me with medical records that read like horror stories - years of incorrect diagnoses, failed drug treatments, and damaging surgeries." In contrast, Jeffcoat's treatment program, developed over more than ten years using her orthopedic training at Duke University, is based on a progressive series of gentle stretching exercises. "Simply put, pelvic floor muscles are muscles," she asserts. "And physical therapists treat muscles."
Sex Without Pain: A Self-Treatment Guide To The Sex Life You Deserve is currently available in print and electronic form through Jeffcoat's website, as well as Internet retailers including Amazon.com and iBooks.
Lauri Deason, Fusion Wellness & Physical Therapy, http://www.fusionwellnesspt.com, +1 323-898-5528, [email protected]
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