Life’s too short for painful sex.
Unfortunately, nearly three out of four women and AFAB individuals will experience it at some point in their lives. Sexual dysfunction in people with vaginas is highly underfunded and under-emphasized in educational and research institutions — not to mention that medical solutions available are often invasive, expensive, or fear-inducing. While the field of pelvic health is generally separated into disparate groups with varying ideologies, we can all agree that the path to sexual wellness requires a multi-disciplinary approach.
Recently a crop of healthtech consumer-use products have surfaced to help practitioners improve the quality of their patients’ lives by providing at-home practices to accompany professional care. While at-home products may not be the “solution” to cure pelvic pain, if they’re integrated as a part of a holistic practice they might just be the accessible, consumer controlled piece of the puzzle we’re all trying to solve together.
The integration of current technology and research on the various sources of pelvic pain has allowed for more at-home products for consumer use. Here are a few products that are available now.
B-wom is a digital coach for women’s and pelvic health that offers users personalized care programs with habits, guided exercises, and recommendations. The app helps women address issues such as incontinence, sexual dysfunction and pelvic pain, among many other challenges, and supports them in their health journey from puberty, through pregnancy and until menopause.
The Ohnut is a friendly intimate wearable that offers calibrated control over depth of penetration, for any female-bodied people who have deeper pain with sex. Individuals can easily stack one to four linking Ohnut rings around the base of the penis, which act as a buffer. As both partners are active Ohnut participants, a woman’s solo challenge is now a collaboration of curiosity.
Private Packs is a discreet wearable cooling or heating system specifically engineered to soothe women’s privates discreetly. A sleeve attaches seamlessly to brief or bikini underwear, and there are separate cooling and heating packs that each fit into the sleeve. Private packs are designed to move with the wearer, giving the freedom of healing and movement throughout the day.
Individuals who have pelvic pain, whether during sex or otherwise, can use this internal massager that connects to a variety of attachments. Endossage features a unique massaging and dilating motion, that can massage tissue to aid in relaxation and increased blood flow to affected tissues. The motion encourages a more natural approach similar to therapeutic manipulation.
This medical-grade borosilicate glass wand is designed not only to massage hard-to-reach places in the vagina, rectum, and elsewhere but also to cool down or heat up in order to provide relief through temperature therapy. It’s specifically made to heal pain associated with interstitial cystitis, or chronic bladder inflammation.
Soul Source’s silicone line of vaginal dilators are industry standard in the medical community allowing individuals to gradually relax and stretch the vaginal muscles. These friendly colored dilators give individuals the at-home comfort of progressing at their own pace.
Often times superficial dyspareunia, vulva / vestibular nerve damage, vaginal birth, etc can cause a burning sensation around the vestibule. WaterSlyde attaches to a shower faucet and simplifies the ergonomics of using a cool water stream to calm sensitive areas. It is also useful to maintain vaginal hygiene by using water as opposed to a substance that may disrupt vaginal pH.
