Painful intercourse, described medically as dyspareunia, is not uncommon. An estimated 20 to 50 percent of women experience some form of sexual dysfunction, including pain during sex.
“The term ‘dyspareunia’ means pain during sex, and it covers a huge category of symptoms, with a huge range of possible causes,” says Edwin Huang, MD, a gynecologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Those causes commonly range from, easily remedied issues such as allergic reactions or infections, to more complex, psychological issues.
