Female Impotence (sexual dysfunction) Causes & Symptoms

Still today many women feel embarrassed to discuss sexual dysfunction. But according to a research, 43% of women are suffering from female impotence.

What is sexual dysfunction or female impotence?

Female impotence is a persistent problem with sexual desire, response or pain, which strain the relationship between you and your partner. If you face a problem in any phase among the four phases of the sexual response cycle- excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution, then this sexual dysfunction prevents you and your partner from experiencing satisfaction from sexual activity.

In this article, we will discuss the causes of female impotence, which can be treated and which you should share with your partner and doctor.

Causes Of Female Impotence

Mainly five types of causes- physical, hormonal, social, gynaecological and psychological- are responsible for female impotence.

Physical Causes:

A woman’s sex life can be dissatisfactory due to many physical conditions.

• During pregnancy period, sexual desire decreases. A research suggests that the frequency of sexual relations during pregnancy also decreases. There is a controversy regarding the decrease of sexual desire during pregnancy though.
• Diseases like diabetes, heart disease, menopause, kidney disease, liver failure have an impact on sexual ability and desire.
• Too much tiredness may cause barricade before sexual satisfaction between you and your partner.
• Some sexual problems stem from serious medical conditions like cancer, neurological disorder and vascular disorder.

Hormonal Causes:

• Sometimes estrogen levels after menopause decrease or sometimes pre-mature ovary fails, that is, before the age of 40, the ovary fails. This leads to vaginal dryness and painful intercourse.
• If the ovaries are removed, the level of testosterone falls. This has an impact on sexual desire.
• After giving birth to a child and during breastfeeding, sexual desire is lowered because then your body hormone level decreases, which lead to vaginal dryness.

Social Causes:

Relationship Problems:

Relationship problems prevent a woman from experiencing full satisfaction from her sexual life. Communication with the partner gets disrupted due to the distribution of labor, money problem, child rearing etc. Dictatorship in a relationship or even abuse in the relationship may cause harm to sexual harmony.

Ignorance:

if you and your partner have enough knowledge about sexual stimulation and response, then it is sure that you will enjoy your sexual life. Lack of knowledge about sexual response cycle and sexual stimulation are the causes of uncomfortable sexual activity.

Gynaecological Causes:

Gynaecology and sexual activity are two sides of the same coin.

Vaginal Dryness:

we already know that decrease in Estrogen level after menopause causes vaginal dryness. On the other hand, in younger women, insufficient stimulation is the cause of vaginal dryness. Hormonal imbalances and certain medications make intercourse uncomfortable.

Vaginismus:

Vaginismus makes penetration extremely painful because it causes the vaginal opening to tighten. Injuries or scars from abuse, surgery, infection or childbirth may cause vaginismus. It may be the result of fear also.

Sexual Diseases:

Some infectious sexual diseases like herpes, Gonorrhea, genital warts, syphilis, Chlamydia may cause changes in the genitals and make intercourse painful.

Vaginitis:

Uncomfortable or painful intercourse may be the result of irritation, infection, and inflammation of vaginal tissues.

Nerve Damage:

If small nerves are being cut during pelvic surgery like hysterectomy, it may decrease sexual desire, response, and sensation.

Other gynaecological problems that cause an obstruction or that prevent intercourse or that make uncomfortable and painful intercourse have been discussed below.

• Ovarian cyst
• Endometriosis
• Surgical Scars
• Pelvic mass
• Pelvic inflammatory disease

Psychological Causes:

The psychological causes of female impotence are varied and complex. Here are the psychological causes, which are responsible for sexual dysfunction.

Depression:

Depression mostly affects women between the ages of 18 to 44. It is nothing but the chemical imbalance in the brain. Stress, grief, and emotional conflicts are the factors responsible for depression, which in turn reduces sex interest and sexual activity.

Dysthymia:

Dysthymia is a lower –grade depression form. In this case, a woman feels sad, isolated, unloved and unattractive. So, she withdraws herself from sex and feels a lesser interest in sexual activity.

Stress:

Women under stress have more interest in snap than sexual activity. Then women became unable to reach orgasm. Full-time working mothers generally feel such excessive stress and they even don’t get time to nurture and practice sexual activities.

Sexual Abuse:

Sexually abused women face sexual difficulties. To them, sexual activities appear as a terror. To stay connected with the partners in a sexual situation becomes a difficult job for them.

Sexual Addiction:

Sexual addiction means crave for sexual contact. This leads to unhappy family life and work life. Sexual addiction hampers normal sexual relations with the partner. Naturally, unhappy family life causes depression.

The Bottom Line

Are you getting frustrated with sexual dysfunction and unhappy family life? Don’t worry because most of the cases of female impotence can be treated by doctors and therapists.

Besides, other strategies, which include proper education about sexual function, physically stimulating activity except intercourse, warm bath before intercourse, change in sexual positions etc., promote comfort, relieve pain and enhance communication between partners.