Tracks the medical emergence and treatment of vulvar pain conditions in order to understand why so many US women are misinformed about their sexual bodies. How does a woman describe a part of her body that much of society teaches her to never discuss? It Hurts Down There analyzes the largest known set of qualitative research data about vulvar pain conditions. It tells the story of one hundred women who struggled with this dilemma as they sought treatment for chronic and unexplained vulvar pain. Christine Labuski argues that the medical condition of vulvar pain cannot be adequately understood without exposing and interrogating cultural attitudes about female genitalia. The author’s dual positioning as cultural anthropologist and former nurse practitioner strengthens her argument that discourses about “healthy” vulvas naturalize and reproduce heteronormative associations between genitalia, sex, and gender. “This is an empirically engaged, ethnographically rich interpretation of genital pain in a cross section of women—but it is also so much more. Christine Labuski has a deep understanding of both the anatomical biomedical construction of female genitalia and manifestations of physical pain and suffering, which she combines with a marvelous cultural analysis of how entangled these biological ‘facts’ are with the contemporary culture of female loathing and self-loathing.” — Lisa Jean Moore, coauthor of The Body: Social and Cultural Dissections

For the 20 million people who suffer from pelvic pain: the completely revised and updated guide for making sex feel good again. Pelvic pain can lead to embarrassment, silence, and misdiagnosis. It can hurt your relationship as well as your sense of self. Tackling the stereotypes, myths, and realities of pelvic pain, this easy‑to‑understand, accessible guide will help readers get the help they need and deserve, offering key information on: The most urgent questions about the causes of pelvic pain The more than twenty causes of pelvic pain How to find the right doctor The relationship between pelvic sex and genetics The newest in treatment for pelvic pain and pelvic pain indications How psychological factors can contribute to and reduce pelvic pain Featuring groundbreaking research and stories from people who've lived it, When Sex Hurts provides the tools you need to stop hurting and start healing.

Bronze Medal Winner of a 2009 National Health Information Award Stop your pelvic pain . . . naturally! If you suffer from an agonizing and emotionally stressful pelvic floor disorder, including pelvic pain, irritable bowel syndrome, endometriosis, prostatitis, incontinence, or discomfort during sex, urination, or bowel movements, it's time to alleviate your symptoms and start healing--without drugs or surgery. Natural cures, in the form of exercise, nutrition, massage, and self-care therapy, focus on the underlying cause of your pain, heal your condition, and stop your pain forever. The life-changing plan in this book gets to the root of your disorder with: A stretching, muscle-strengthening, and massage program you can do at home Guidelines on foods that will ease your discomfort Suggestions for stress- and pain-reducing home spa treatments Exercises for building core strength and enhancing sexual pleasure

The number of studies on chronic and recurrent pain bears no relation to the frequency of these complaints in gynecologic practice, nor to the clinical and scientific problems that still need solving in this area. Several factors stand in the way of progress in this field, such as the strongly subjective nature of the complaints, the frequent lack of correlation between them and objective findings, and the complexity of the psychosomatic interac tions involved. Although progress in our knowledge has been much slower than we would have wished, and although we are well aware of these many gaps, it was considered useful to gather in a book what we think we have learned during 3 decades of active interest in pain patients and pain problems in gynecologic practice and 12 years of supervision of a pain clinic in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Leuven University. As there are many differences between acute pain - clinical as well as experi mental - on the one hand and chronic pain symptoms on the other, it was felt preferable to limit the scope of this book essentially to chronic and recurrent pain in gynecologic practice. When presented with a complaint of lower abdominal and/or low back pain, the gynecologist should constantly be on the lookout for nongynecologic causes, of which the most frequent will be either gastroenterologic or orthopedic and sometimes urologic. I have been fortunate in obtaining the collaboration of Dr.

Outlines an approach to healing pelvic pain in pregnant and postpartum women, featuring illustrated exercise recommendations and organizing information into two parts respectively dedicated to women and their caregivers. Original.

Pelvic pain is more ubiquitous than most people think and yet many suffer in silence because they don't know there is help or they are too embarrassed to seek it. This book looks at the variety of problems that can lead to pelvic pain, and how to address the issues when they arise.