Vaginismus
Added 2016-01-05 17:55:29 +0000 UTChttp://www.ohjoysextoy.com/vaginismus
Unfortunately "vaginismus" is not, in fact, the winter celebration of vaginas-- though I think that would be a far better application of the name. Your family gathers around the Vaginismus tree and you all exchange Vaginismus presents and eat Vaginismus cookies. ...........I DIGRESS.
No, sadly, vaginismus (lower-case "V") is a painful affliction that causes the vaginal muscles to involuntarily spasm shut, causing any kind of attempt at penetration to be incredibly painful and even impossible.
In the last three years, vaginismus has been our most requested topic to cover in the comic, but we were really nervous to take it on since it's not a cut-and-dried experience like, say, getting an STI. You got herpes? That's a virus that can be found in your blood! You can see it with the right kind microscope! But vaginismus is, probably, a psychosomatic syndrome-- which means it's a physical response that is being triggered by the brain reacting strongly to something. That's a bit more ephemeral than, y'know, a virus that can be located and classified. And like with all matters of the brain, finding the "right" treatment for it is going to be unique to each individual's body, mind, soul, and source of trauma. Like I said, a lot less cut-and-dried.
I like having firm answers to give my readers! Y'got herpes? It's incurable. NEXT SUBJECT. Y'got vaginismus? There's a lot of possibilities and trial and error efforts ahead of you and who knows how it'll turn out. UHG.
So, yeah. We were nervous about doing this one! I... hope Matt and I have done an ok job explaining what it is (as far as we understand it) and that it's not necessarily a life sentence.
And now let me seamlessly segue into inviting you San Franciscans to our BOOK SIGNING ON FEBRUARY 12th!
February 12th, 7-8:30pm
Good Vibrations
1620 Polk St.,
San Fransisco, CA
Not only will Matt and I be selling and signing BOTH volumes of the OJST books, but I'll also have a limited edition (of 50 copies!) original print to give away to anyone who spends at least $10 on sex toys in Good Vibes. The prints are all signed and numbered, so your friends will be duly impressed to see what number you managed to snag out of the only 50 copies ever made. And if they are not duly impressed? Pal, you need some new friends.
Alright, my Dearest Perverts, see ya soon!
Merry Vaginismus to you all,
Erika
Comments
I'm glad you covered vaginismus, as a sufferer myself. I'm also planning to come see yall at the signing, if I can! I'm in San Jose and Good Vibrations is where I bought my first proper vibrator (and I need to pick up a new one anyway, the motor disconnected itself from the head of my current one, boo). See you there, I hope!
FaroreNightclaw
2016-01-05 19:06:58 +0000 UTCI'm really glad to see you've covered it, I suffer from this too as well as Vulvodynia (which can't be helping)! It's really important that people understand they are not defective and they are not alone, it's a surprisingly isolating condition. I found some help in the form of the Vagi-Wave which has very mixed reviews but did improve my condition if only a little. Thank you so much, I'm sure this will help many people understand themselves or their prospective parteners.
Olive Potts
2016-01-05 18:51:38 +0000 UTCThank you.
Mystical Alexis
2016-01-05 18:09:38 +0000 UTCThank you a billion times for this. I've been struggling with it for 6 years and only recently started to make progress. For some reason seeing it in comic form makes me feel less like an utter failure. ❤️❤️❤️
Kieryn Darkwater
2016-01-05 18:00:16 +0000 UTC
