Increasing orgasm and decreasing dyspareunia by a manual physical therapy technique.

CONTEXT Female sexual pain and dysfunction. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of a new site-specific, manual soft-tissue therapy in increasing orgasm and reducing dyspareunia (painful intercourse) in women with histories indicating abdominopelvic adhesion formation. DESIGN AND INTERVENTION A total of 29 new patients presenting with infertility or abdominopelvic pain-related problems, and also indicating sexual pain or dysfunction, received a series of treatments (mean, 19.5 hours) designed to address biomechanical dysfunction and restricted mobility due to adhesions affecting the reproductive organs and adjacent structures. OUTCOME MEASURES Primary outcome measures were post-test vs pretest scores on: (1) the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) full scale, orgasm domain, and pain domain; and (2) 3 supplemental 10-point rating scales of sexual pain levels. Secondary outcome measures were post-test vs pretest scores in the other 4 FSFI domains (desire, arousal, lubrication, and satisfaction). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for all statistical analyses. RESULTS For the 23 patients available for follow-up, the paired FSFI post-test vs pretest scores were significant (P < or = .003) on all measures. Of the 17 patients who completed the 3 sexual pain scales, the paired post-test vs pretest scores were significant (P < or = .002). CONCLUSIONS Many cases of inhibited orgasm, dyspareunia, and other aspects of sexual dysfunction seem to be treatable by a distinctive, noninvasive manual therapy with no risks and few, if any, adverse effects. The therapy should be considered a new adjunct to existing gynecologic and medical treatments.