Understanding Female Sexual Dysfunction and Its Treatment Options

Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is a broad term for any recurrent problem that affects sexual desire and response, ability to achieve orgasm, and physical sensation presenting as pain during intercourse that causes emotional distress or affects the relationship in a negative way.

Unlike erectile dysfunction in males where the causes are often physiological, FSD is caused by either psychological or physiological problems, or both.

Psychological Causes of FSD

All women are likely to experience sexual dysfunction at some point, but many may not be aware because FSD is not widely talked about. Women may feel embarrassed opening up about the topic with their healthcare provider, or may feel hesitant to start the conversation because her experience might be too personal to share.

Female sexual dysfunction is made all the more complicated because sexual response is determined by a complex interplay of factors that are happening outside a woman’s body. A woman’s upbringing plays a role in her feelings toward sex, and so is the larger context of culture and religious belief that she grew up with. She may also be carrying emotional trauma from her past, or she may be a victim of abuse.

Any of these factors can inhibit her sexual desire and consequently can affect her ability to achieve arousal and satisfaction from a sexual situation. In this case, counseling could help her deal with her issues so she overcomes external and internal factors that contribute to her inability to take pleasure from sex. For women, the brain is their biggest sexual organ, so her assumptions about sex have to be carefully examined and modified.

Physical Causes of FSD

Female sexual dysfunction also stems from changes in a woman’s body, the most obvious of which is during menopause. As estrogen dwindles at this stage in her life, so are the mechanisms, such as lubrication, that make sexual encounter pleasurable. Libido also plummets at this stage. Coupled with the prospect of a painful sexual intercourse, lack of sexual desire can lead to less fulfilling sex.

Underlying medical condition and childbirth are also physical factors that contribute to FSD. Diabetes and heart disease, bladder problems, kidney failure, cancers all put a woman’s sex drive into the backseat. Breastfeeding can lead to vaginal dryness and consequently lower a woman’s desire for sex. Changes in the vaginal lining can also make intercourse painful, while women who have had several vaginal deliveries may experience vaginal laxity that interferes with their ability to respond to sexual stimulation.

Dwindling hormones can be addressed by estrogen replacement therapy, and low libido due to a medical condition might be caused by medications. For FSD to resolve, medical conditions have to be resolved first.

Physical changes in the vagina, such as the stretching of vaginal and introital tissues, that lead to decreased sensation also have to be addressed appropriately. For reduced sensation due to vaginal laxity arising from multiple childbirths, there is now an option for vaginal tightening without surgery available in laser clinics in Singapore.

How Can Non-Surgical Vaginal Tightening Help FSD?

Using safe and patented radiofrequency (RF) energy, the Viveve system stimulates the vaginal walls’ natural collagen rebuilding process. Performed in an outpatient aesthetic laser clinic, this vaginal laxity treatment is done by inserting a thumb-sized treatment tip into the vaginal opening, which is then circumferentially moved around so pulses of RF energy are delivered to the collagen fibers that make up the underlying tissues.

The tissues, in turn, react by creating new collagen fibers resulting to tighter vaginal walls over time. Because the changes happen at the cellular level, women who undergo a Viveve treatment in Singapore can resume normal activities right after the procedure. Many of the patients have experienced vaginal tightness, increased sexual sensation and overall sexual satisfaction up to 12 months after getting the treatment.

Tags: Body Viveve Vaginal Tightening Vaginal Laxity