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Natural Remedies, Chinese Medicine & Vaginismus
In this section we want to give you some ideas and information about what natural therapies exist out there which could be helpful as a treatment or co-treatment of your vaginismus.
If you live in the West, you may be skeptical about some of these treatments. It is understandable to want some higher level of scientific evidence than they usually offer, but since with this kind of medicine the unique relationship that is created between practitioner and patient is just as important as the efficacy of the treatment itself, some of these approaches are very hard to measure in Western scientific terms. It does not mean that they are not valid. However, since traditional medicine is usually less regulated than the official one, being cautious is always a good thing. So we would recommend you to get some thorough information about both the method and the practitioner, before giving them a try. But if you do decide to give it a try, let us know how things go so we can share your experience and help more women.
We feel that to suggest that a cure for vaginismus is available using the following treatments alone is not fair. Acupressure for instance may work on its own, but in this article we look at it as an approach that you may consider using while also trying other kinds of therapy. These methods certainly aren't quick-fixes either.
It may be a good idea to try these methods especially if you are looking for a traditional, wholistic, delicate approach to your body or if you have problems with the Piraformis muscle and the sciatic nerve which can be intertwined and cause tension in the pelvic area, which could be a factor in your vaginismus.
We would like to thank Tony, a registered CAM (Complementary & Alternative Medicine) practitioner and owner of The Chi Clinic in England, for sharing precious information and personal knowledge about some of the topics in this article.
ACUPRESSURE, FULL BODY MASSAGE and Vaginismus
Acupressure is an ancient Chinese healing method that involves applying pressure to certain meridian points on the body to relieve pain. A good and simple definition of acupressure can be found in this UK site on alternative health remedies. Acupressure is not just about having some trigger points touched, or anybody could learn to do that, or any MT (massotherapist).
With acupressure you create a special connection with the sensitive person touching you, who will treat your problem in the context of your whole persona and not as if it was something detached from the rest of your body/mind.
Acupuncture works under the assumption that when there is an emotional issue, there is a problem in the body's energy system. By using the acupressure points, one can help clear up the disturbance in the energy system.
A Cochrane Collaboration review said: "It seems that acupressure or pressure point massage techniques provide more relief than classic (Swedish) massage, although more research is needed to confirm this".
The full body massage in particular can be used for women with vaginismus. This is an external massage during which the practitioner is able to relax the woman by applying with their fingers such pressure as required to specific “trigger points” used in both acupressure and acupuncture. These calming points, called acupoints, are various and may deal with anger (gall bladder, liver for example) or fear (stomach and heart) or one will use moxa over the kidneys to invigourate the life spirit. The trigger points to relax the muscles of the vagina may be found in reflexology of the hand or in auricular therapy.
In acupressure, no anaesthesia is employed other than depression of the points to obstruct blood flow and provide up to 90 seconds of space to stretch the muscles. When all this has been done for some sessions and trust has been established, and only then (as to attempt to enter too quickly could be counter-productive), a woman may give her consent for the practitioner to apply trigger point therapy to some internal points too.
Internal trigger points
Internal trigger points are easily accessible in women, being just inside the vaginal opening and in the region of the sacrum. These acupressure points are predominantly the same ones as are used for impotence and loss of libido. Sedation of these, using moderate finger tip pressure, is almost immediate.The fingers should always be covered with gloves.
Dr’s Janet Travell and David G. Simons describe these points in the volumes of Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction, The Trigger Point Manual .
This book/manual is also used as a reference manual by Clinical Massage Therapists for the relief of pain and it was based upon the innovative trigger point research of Dr. Janet G. Travell (who was President Kennedy's physician according to Wikipedia!).
In particular you may want to check volume 2 (pages 113-129) for a description of the muscles concerned and the location of trigger points.
Travell and Simons do NOT profess or mention the treatment of vaginismus in either volume but the methods of internal access to these points is well demonstrated and they explain how to make an internal examination.
Here you can read a lecture on vaginismus and Acupuncture from an experienced practitioner. Towards the bottom, you can find some real stories from women who tried this method.
Issues with the use internal trigger points
Although these points are used regularly by therapists for the relief of pain or to correct dysfunctions, the USE of them is controversial and open to debate or false opinions.Laws regulating this technique are a bit shady for what we can understand. Somewhere it may be completely illegal to perform acupressure on internal trigger points, somewhere else it is not illegal but it is risky both for some practitioners and some patients who may find themselves in unpleasant circumstances.
Is the United States, we believe that some local laws prohibit the use of these points unless you are a physical therapist. MT's will not work directly with the muscles of the pelvic floor - but working on related muscles is within the scope of a good MT.
In the UK, some practitioners work on the principle that one has to show that the treatment is necessary, in accord to usual practice, and there needs to be an informed consent.
If you feel safer, you could ask to have a chaperone in the room. Actually, all practitioners should have or should offer to have a chaperone when examining your breasts or genitals.
Some practitioners only limit themselves to simply palpate with the finger tips and avoid the internal trigger points because it is becoming more and more risky.
Attempt or offers to treat using this method can be regarded as suspicious if not downright open to an accusation of illicit sexual contact or ‘getting kicks’. Where there has been hindsight or the manner of the treatment, the body language or some other reason, it is a procedure open to claims under laws of assault.
Please check your local laws about this type of treatment, make sure you give a written consent or that you have a third person there to witness what goes on.
Most of all, it is crucial you get to know your practitioner well before letting them touch you there, make sure you not only know what their credentials are but that you spend enough time with them to establish a relationship until you fully trust them.
The Yingyang House website offers a directory of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Practitioners ( Acupuncturists, Bodyworkers, Energyworkers and Herbalists), all around the world.
This is their list of US practitioners.
This is their list of UK practitioners.
Remember that junior student/assistants in particular should not be allowed to touch the breast or the genitals ever in a treatment.
We have been told that most men who do this work are either gay or in a strong relationship with convictions of right and wrong that have nothing to do with religion or upbringing. But you always get the odd one out who get a kick by doing that sort of treatment or who may rush it before the woman feels completely trusting. Beware of those practitioners who propose an internal massage at your first sessions…
At the same time, it's fair to say that we also know of some practitioners (actually, this was an Italian gynaecologist!) who suggested using his penis as a dilator, to teach the woman how to transition from the dilators to intercourse!!
So, traditional or Chinese medicine isn’t the only branch of medicine which is susceptible to suspicious. So make sure you know your practitioner well and trust your intuition more than the qualifications on their wall…
In the UK there is an ASSOCIATION OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE. In England, there is a Complementary and Alternative Medicine Council that deals with issues associated to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Here you can read their regulation of herbal medicine and acupuncture .
And here is a link to a search tool to find certified Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners
EFT and Vaginismus
From what we understood, EFT (emotional freedom technique) is a type of acupressure therapy that you can do on your own by tapping some parts of your body a certain amount of times and repeating out loud certain positive affirmations at the same time.It's a mix of acupressure and NLP (neurolinguistic programming). EFT differs from acupuncture/pressure in that it uses a standard set of points, but the user varies the effect by using statements that reflect the problem going on. It's quite easy to learn and even if it may be ineffective, at least it can't harm you.
Some women with vaginismus said that they found this technique was useful to get over the first dilator faster but there is no study showing any correlation between EFT and vaginismus so don’t get your hopes up.
You can check their website www.emofree.com for more information and to have a list of practitioners.
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