Pelvic floor hyperactivity is associated with complaints on all three 'outlets' of the pelvic floor: obstructive or frequent micturation, IBS-like complaints, and dyspareunia. We propose two possible etiological pathways for pelvic floor hyperactivity: (1) primary pelvic floor hyperactivity (trauma, neglect, toilet-training, 'overtraining', psychological 'make-up'), and (2) secondary pelvic floor hyperactivity (after sexarche) associated with repeated painful 'unaroused intercourse'.
In this talk I will present a questionnaire that we developed to measure symptoms associated with pelvic floor hyperactivity. It's 7 scales were found to reliably discriminate between women with and without a hyperactive pelvic floor as assessed by a gynaecologist using ICS guidelines. Women with dyspareunia and vaginismus were found to have more symptoms associated with pelvic floor hyperactivity than women without sexual problems. In addition, I will present work with a vaginal probe that we developed that measures genital arousal (vaginal pulse amplitude), sensibility of the vaginal wall and pelvic floor EMG simultaneously. In a first study this probe was found to be a very sensitive measure of pelvic floor muscle tone in asymptomatic women. The probe will enable us to study whether (chronic) pelvic floor hyperactivity is directly related to reduced vaginal blood flow, and to directly assess the relationship between pelvic floor EMG, pelvic floor symptoms and sexual complaints.
Recorded June 12 – 16, 2011 at the 20th WAS World Congress for Sexual Health
Forging the Future: Sexual Health for the 21th Century, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Visit The World Association Of Sexual Health at http://www.worldsexology.org
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