Of the many sexual disorders, about 13% of women suffer from pain during intercourse. Among pain-related sexual disorders, vaginismus and dyspareunia are the main ones.

Dyspareunia - recurrent genital pain before, during and after intercourse - can be persistent, situational or limited, and often occurs with an unknown cause or is referred to as a psychogenic disorder. It is mostly caused by a specific physical ailment or results from psychosexual problems.

Vaginismus is defined as an involuntary contraction of the outer muscles of the vagina, making penetration difficult, and is also related to the psychological sphere of the woman. Both of the disorders described above can result from a number of causes - for example, sexual dysfunction associated with perceived pain during intercourse can be linked to surgical treatment of incontinence or menopause. In the peri- and postmenopausal period, a decrease in the quality of sexual life in females can occur due to hormonal changes.

Psychological factors also play a role, such as a decrease in physical attractiveness, loss of self-confidence, resulting in lower resistance to stress and a tendency to depressive states. A decrease in the concentration of oestrogen in the female body results in atrophic changes in the urogenital system in the form of dryness and changes in vaginal elasticity, which contributes to the occurrence of dyspareunia.

Diabetes and related psychological factors may also be a cause of the sexual dysfunction in question. Sexual dysfunctions are then mainly associated with the presence of depression and a reduced sense of attractiveness associated with weight gain and body deformities at the insertion sites in insulin-treated patients.