One common cause of dyspareunia is vaginal atrophy vva which occurs in 50 of postmenopausal women.
High pelvic floor tone.
Poor function occurs when one of these aspects is deficient.
Intravaginal or intrarectal palpation reveals resistance to stretch.
Pelvic floor dysfunction occurs when there is either too much tension on the pelvic floor muscles high tone or not enough low tone contributing to urinary incontinence constipation pain during intercourse or pain in the lower back pelvic region genitals or rectum.
High tone pelvic floor muscle pfm dysfunction.
The muscle may feel thick boggy or hypertrophied and taut bands may be palpated.
It is similar to severe cramping you might experience in your leg or other body part.
Some women with vaginal atrophy will also have high tone pelvic floor dysfunction htpfd also known as levator spasm.
Pelvic floor muscles pfms function best when they are both strong and flexible.
High tone pelvic floor muscle dysfunction presents as a persistent and elevated resting tone.
The patient will find manual palpation to be uncomfortable or painful.
High tone pelvic floor muscle dysfunction is one of the most common causes of pelvic pain.
When pfms are weak and flexible they have low tone dysfunction.
At the time of menopause a lack of estrogen thins the vaginal mucosa and lessons lubrication making sex painful.