The action of doing Kegel exercises is actually what you’d do to stop a urine stream while sitting on a toilet.Ĭontract your pelvic floor muscles for three seconds. These will strengthen the vaginal muscles, making them a little less tensed up-but it won’t prevent the problem. Next, if a woman wants to go ahead with the transvaginal ultrasound, and it can wait for several weeks, she can practice Kegel exercises in preparation. “A hysteroscopy can be done to visualize the inside of the uterus, but requires some form of analgesia and is more invasive than U/S.” Kegel Exercises and More “MRI can also be used to visualize fibroids and certain types of uterine anomalies. “If you’re looking for uterine fibroids, a transabdominal U/S can be done and avoid the need for transvaginal U/S.” This can also be used to look at the ovaries. “Laparoscopy would not be useful to see inside the uterus,” says Dr. “How is this accomplished? Lidocaine can be applied with a vaginal applicator very similar to the applicators available for the use of Monistat vaginal creams.”Ī laparoscopy is not an option. “Lidocaine will cause numbness of the area where it’s applied and is temporary. The Riobe Method focuses on the prevention of diseases, not the prevention of death from diseases. Riobe, who’s board certified in ob/gyn and integrative medicine, is the author of “The Answer to Cancer.” “If a transvaginal ultrasound is absolutely necessary such as to view the endometrial lining, then lidocaine cream can be used prior to the ultrasound if vaginal lubricant is not sufficient,” says Mylaine Riobe, MD, founder of Riobe Institute of Integrative Medicine. Transvaginal Ultrasound Intolerance with Vaginismus: Solutions This involuntary spasming will occur when she or someone else attempts to insert the transvaginal ultrasound probe. The key word is “involuntary.”Ī woman doesn’t think, “Okay, time to tighten my vaginal muscles.” She has no conscious control over these reflexive muscles they are not like biceps. Vaginismus is the involuntary spasming of the vaginal muscles. But there’s little consolation in cases when the technician or doctor inserts.Ī transvaginal ultrasound requires the patient to be awake, to respond to the technician’s instructions as far as wand insertion so heavy sedation is out of the question. She herself may be instructed to insert the transducer or “wand” into her vagina. When a woman with vaginismus (and more times than not, she doesn’t even know it has a name, or has been misdiagnosed) learns she needs a transvaginal ultrasound, she will panic. Transvaginal Ultrasound: Penetration Unbearable Women with vaginismus have been known to avoid Pap smears at all costs. Vaginismus prevents sex between married couples. The second the vaginal muscles “detect” that something’s about to make entry, they go into spasm and tighten, narrowing the vaginal entry, making penetration difficult and sometimes impossible.Īs the penetration progresses, even if done with a pediatric sized swab, the sensation is that of a knife ripping into a structure full of ultra-sensitive nerve endings, and it feels as though “something” is resisting. These symptoms perfectly describe vaginismus.Is the pain absent as long as there is no attempt at any penetration?.Does it make an internal pelvic exam and Pap smear from your doctor impossible?.Does this even prevent you from inserting a tampon?.Have you never been able to have sex due to an agonizing pain that’s like no other?.If any penetration, including that from a transvaginal ultrasound, is unbearably painful, it’s likely you have a particular condition that’s often misdiagnosed.
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