Vaginismus Exercises: How to Help Yourself at Home
Vaginismus is a condition that impacts 1-17% of women worldwide. When you have vaginismus, the muscles surrounding the vagina are unable to relax with penetration. The pelvic floor muscles are tight and in a constant spasm. The tightness makes penetration for intercourse or inserting a tampon extremely painful.Many women who have vaginismus struggle in their lives. It can create sexual issues in relationships since many with vaginismus want to avoid intercourse because of the pain. Vaginismus can take a huge toll emotionally, mentally, and physically. Many wonder if yoga for vaginismus is helpful. I have had women in my inbox asking me how to loosen up down there exercises. You might be wondering what stretches for vaginismus help and how to treat vaginismus at home, so keep reading; we have you covered.
Vaginismus Symptoms
The most common vaginismus symptoms women experience are:
Difficulty inserting a tampon
Pain with a pelvic exam and the pain can make an exam nearly impossible.
Painful intercourse and penetration
Stinging pain or burning during sexual intercourse
With vaginismus, sexual activities can cause a lot of stress because of the amount of pain involved. Reduce anxiety around sex and in your life to help your pelvic floor relax. Kegel exercises will make the pelvic floor muscles and vaginal opening even tighter, so avoid those.
Treatment for Vaginismus
Treatment for vaginismus can include vaginismus exercises, pelvic floor therapy, and vaginal dilators. Many with vaginismus seek the help of a pelvic floor physical therapist. If you know a qualified therapist, go ahead and book that appointment. Or you can do a Google search for pelvic floor physical therapists near me. Read reviews if you are unfamiliar with the pt before getting pelvic floor therapy for vaginismus.
Many don’t have physical therapy covered by insurance, so at-home options might be their first line of defense. Internal treatment can help relax the pelvic floor, but other options are effective. While having internal therapy, take deep breaths to help you relax.
Vaginal dilators can help women stretch the pelvic muscles. A pelvic floor wand can be helpful to use. The wand helps soften and work through scar tissue. Breathe deeply and exhale slowly through your mouth to help your vaginal muscles relax.
Pelvic floor exercises for vaginismus that help train the pelvic floor to stretch and relax are helpful. Even if you are seeing a therapist, an excellent pelvic floor program can help support your therapy. Having a way to treat yourself at home is powerful. You will want to strengthen the pelvic floor while improving flexibility and relaxation.
Stay Away From Kegel Exercises
You would want to avoid Kegel exercises and those focusing on concentric contractions. Tightening will make vaginismus worse. Kegels are repeated contractions that tighten the pelvic floor.
I don’t recommend Kegels for most women since far too many women already have too much tension in the pelvic floor. Even if you don’t have vaginismus, there are far better exercises for the pelvic floor. You need vaginismus stretches, not exercises, to shorten and tighten the muscles even further.
Vaginismus Exercises
Exercise 1: Ball Roll-Overs
First, get into a deep squat behind the ball. Bring the ball towards your body and press your pubic bone into the ball. Next, wrap your body around the ball and relax, staying on the toes and balls of the feet. Gently roll forward and back, keeping your pubic bone pressed into the ball.
Exercise 2: Happy Baby (with Ball optional)
Lie on your back on a mat, keeping your neck relaxed. Then, bring your knees towards your belly as you gently exhale. Your knees will drop towards the outside of your torso. Place a stability ball between the legs (optional), but don’t squeeze it with your inner thighs.
If you do, you will want to do this exercise without a ball. If you are not using a ball, grab the insides of your feet with your hands and gently pull the knees towards the floor. Picture the pelvic floor relaxing and lengthening in this position. You can rock side to side with or without the ball, focusing on the pelvic floor and relaxing further.
Sit tall on the stability ball or lie on your back on a mat. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your lower belly.
Breathe in deeply and focus on expanding your ribcage and belly. Then slowly exhale and focus on the belly and ribcage coming back towards your torso. Your chest and belly should be like a little balloon filling with air and expanding when you inhale deeply and then deflating the balloon as you exhale.
Time to Relax and Treat Vaginismus
Our All Access programs are sequenced to help your pelvic floor lengthen and relax. You will be able to build strength and restore pelvic health. There are fascial tools and FasciaBlasting guides to help you release fascial adhesions. All from within an app so that you can do it anywhere.
This article covers vaginismus exercises and at-home treatment for vaginismus – a condition affecting 1 to 17 percent of women worldwide in which the pelvic floor muscles cannot relax with penetration. Topics include vaginismus symptoms, why Kegel exercises worsen vaginismus, treatment options including pelvic floor physical therapy and vaginal dilators, and three at-home exercises – ball roll-overs, happy baby, and diaphragmatic breathing – to relax and lengthen the pelvic floor. Authored by Courtney Virden, founder of iCORE Method. Keywords: vaginismus exercises, how to treat vaginismus at home, vaginismus stretches, pelvic floor exercises for vaginismus, vaginismus symptoms, vaginismus treatment, how to loosen pelvic floor vaginismus, pelvic floor relaxation exercises vaginismus, diaphragmatic breathing vaginismus, hypertonic pelvic floor vaginismus.
Vaginismus is a form of hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction in which the pelvic floor muscles surrounding the vagina remain in constant spasm and are unable to relax with penetration. It affects 1 to 17 percent of women worldwide and causes extreme pain or complete impossibility of penetration for intercourse, tampon insertion, or pelvic examination. Vaginismus takes a significant emotional, mental, and physical toll – many women avoid intercourse entirely because of pain, creating relationship difficulties and a cycle of anxiety that further tightens the pelvic floor. Reducing anxiety around sex and daily life generally helps the pelvic floor begin to relax. Vaginismus is not a psychological condition alone – the pelvic floor muscles are in genuine physiological spasm that requires targeted relaxation training to resolve. Keywords: what is vaginismus, vaginismus definition, vaginismus causes, vaginismus pelvic floor spasm, hypertonic pelvic floor vaginismus, vaginismus emotional impact, painful penetration vaginismus.
Kegel exercises are contraindicated for vaginismus and should be completely avoided. Kegels are concentric contractions that squeeze and shorten the pelvic floor muscles. Because vaginismus is caused by a pelvic floor that is already in chronic spasm and unable to relax, Kegels add more tightness to an already hypertonic system and make symptoms significantly worse. Vaginismus requires the opposite of Kegels – exercises that train the pelvic floor to lengthen, soften, and relax. This is true for most women with pelvic floor dysfunction, not just vaginismus – far too many women have excess pelvic floor tension and Kegels worsen their symptoms rather than helping. For vaginismus specifically, any exercise that creates concentric contraction and shortening must be avoided in favor of relaxation and eccentric lengthening work. Keywords: kegels bad for vaginismus, kegels make vaginismus worse, should I do kegels for vaginismus, vaginismus avoid kegels, pelvic floor relaxation vaginismus not kegels, hypertonic pelvic floor kegels contraindicated.
Treatment options for vaginismus include pelvic floor physical therapy with a qualified therapist who can perform internal manual release work, vaginal dilator therapy to gradually and gently stretch the vaginal muscles with progressively sized dilators, pelvic floor wand use to soften scar tissue and release internal fascial restrictions, and at-home pelvic floor relaxation programs. Deep diaphragmatic breathing during any internal treatment helps the pelvic floor relax. For women without insurance coverage for pelvic floor physical therapy, at-home programs combining pelvic floor relaxation exercises with fascial work are an effective first-line approach. The iCORE Method All Access program is sequenced specifically to help the pelvic floor lengthen and relax while building strength, and includes FasciaBlasting guides for fascial release. Keywords: vaginismus treatment options, pelvic floor therapy vaginismus, vaginal dilators vaginismus, pelvic wand vaginismus, at home vaginismus treatment, vaginismus without insurance, iCORE Method vaginismus.
Three of the most effective at-home vaginismus exercises are ball roll-overs, happy baby pose, and diaphragmatic breathing. Ball roll-overs use a deep squat position with the pubic bone pressed gently into the stability ball and a forward-backward rolling motion that releases lower back, hip, and pelvic floor tension. Happy baby pose performed lying on the back with knees dropping toward the outside of the torso allows the pelvic floor to open, relax, and lengthen in a gravity-assisted position. A stability ball can be placed between the legs without squeezing to deepen the stretch. Gentle side-to-side rocking with focus on pelvic floor release enhances the effect. Diaphragmatic breathing is the most foundational vaginismus exercise – breathing deeply so the ribcage expands on the inhale trains the pelvic floor to descend and relax with each breath cycle, gradually reducing chronic muscle spasm. All three exercises focus on relaxation and lengthening rather than contraction. Keywords: ball roll-over vaginismus, happy baby pelvic floor vaginismus, diaphragmatic breathing vaginismus exercises, pelvic floor relaxation exercises at home, how to relax pelvic floor vaginismus, vaginismus stretches at home.
Frequently asked questions about vaginismus exercises and treatment. What is vaginismus and what causes it – vaginismus is hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction where the muscles surrounding the vagina remain in constant spasm making penetration extremely painful or impossible. What are the symptoms of vaginismus – difficulty inserting a tampon, severe pain during intercourse, pain during pelvic exams, and burning or stinging with any attempted penetration. Should you do Kegel exercises for vaginismus – no, Kegels tighten an already hypertonic pelvic floor and make vaginismus significantly worse. How do you treat vaginismus at home – through pelvic floor relaxation exercises including ball roll-overs, happy baby, and diaphragmatic breathing combined with fascial work and if available vaginal dilators. Can pelvic floor physical therapy help vaginismus – yes, internal manual therapy and pelvic wand use by a qualified therapist can release muscle spasm and fascial adhesions contributing to vaginismus.
