What Are the Benefits of Shockwave Therapy for Women’s Sexual Health?

August 8, 2021

The World Health Organization defines wellness as a state of complete physical, mental, sexual, emotional and social well-being. Therefore, sex can be vitally important to women’s health and quality of life.

For many women, intercourse helps to meet a basic human need for love, acceptance and intimacy. Yet, medical reports indicate that half of women worldwide will experience sexual dysfunction or pain during sex at some point during their lives. Fortunately, there’s relief in the form of medical shockwave treatments. Shockwave therapy, as a treatment for women’s sexual health, can address underlying medical conditions of women’s sexual dysfunction – treating the cause, not the symptoms.

Symptoms of Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD)

For FSD, the most common complaints involve:

Interest/desire disorder
Sexual arousal disorder
Orgasmic disorder
Pain disorder

Decreased sexual pleasure or pain during intercourse
Poor lubrication, especially when the vaginal canal is too loose (less sensation) or too tight (discomfort)
Difficulty or inability in achieving an orgasm

Women also commonly experience symptoms of urological disorders:

PVD
CPPS
Stress Urinary Incontinence

Sexual Dysfunction in Diabetic Women

Although quite common, data on sexual dysfunction in diabetic women is less conclusive due to the lack of standardized evaluation of sexual function in women. What is well known is that diabetes can lead to many challenges to overcome prior to even achieving sex, such as excessive tiredness, necessity for injections, placement of an insulin pump and/or a continuous glucose monitor, the effects of abnormally high or low blood glucose levels, and general management of the diabetes and its symptoms.

Diagnosis of Sexual Dysfunction for Women

In fact, a sexual complaint is diagnosed as a sexual dysfunction at a minimum of 6 months and when resulting in personal distress. According to some sexual specialists, there are few treatment options with limited clinical efficacy.

Process of Care for the Identification of Sexual Concerns and Problems in Women.
International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health.

Engaging with the patient (Step 1 of 4): “The first step is to elicit a narrative description of the problem and its effect on the patient’s life, emotional state, and relationships. The goal is to help the patient discover and describe her distress, her functional impairment, and the effect the problem is having on her life.”

Fast Treatment, No Downtime

Acoustic wave therapy for women is an outpatient procedure and allows patients to immediately get back to studies, work, or family life right away. It’s completely non-invasive, non-surgical, and does not involve any messy creams or hormones. It’s a pain-free, no-hassle way for doctors to help patients improve their daily lives and intimate wellness.

How Can Shockwave Therapy Improve Women’s Sexual Health?

Improve quality of relationships and overall quality of life
Overcome barriers of pain and discomfort in the bedroom
Gain increased confidence

Randomized Controlled Trial for Shockwave Treatment of Vestibulodynia

In a double-blinded, randomized, sham-controlled study, 32 women received a series of treatments, twice a week for 6 weeks: 500 pulses of low intensity shockwaves (0.09 mJmm2) using a Medispec shockwave medical device or sham.

The primary outcome was a change in dyspareunia from the baseline to 1 month and 3 months after completion of treatment:

Visual analog scale scores for dyspareunia decreased (8.0 ± 1.4, 5.7 ± 2.3, and 4.4 ± 2.5, respectively, P < .005)
Wong-Baker scores decreased (4.0 ± 0.6, 2.9 ± 1.2, 2.5 ± 1.3, respectively, P < .05)
Total Female Sexual Function Index increased (17.9 ± 6.3, 20.9 ± 6.2, 22.5 ± 8, respectively, P < .002).
No changes were observed in any of the measures assessed in the sham group.

Treatments of Male Sexual Dysfunction

Beyond shockwave therapy for women’s sexual dysfunction, male sexual dysfunction can similarly be treated. Due to homology, the physical response and efficacy for treatment of both males and females for sexual disorders is expected to be equivalent. Structurally, the male penis and the female clitoris both have a glans/head, shaft, bulbs, and crus. In fact, at very early stages of human growth, the genitalia appears the same and only differentiates between 12 and 20 weeks of development.