Painful sex is a real condition. It’s not in your head!You are not alone! Nearly 15 million women suffer from chronic pelvic pain, of which nearly 6.9 million suffer from painful intercourse.Stop! No need to be a silent sufferer. You can get help for your chronic pain.Painful sex is a real condition. It’s not in your head!You are not alone! Nearly 15 million women suffer from chronic pelvic pain, of which nearly 6.9 million suffer from painful intercourse.Stop! No need to be a silent sufferer. You can get help for your chronic pain.
UGAP Pain SyndromePreviously known as POPSS syndrome

Symptoms

Physical pain and emotional strain that feed each other.

Chronic groin, abdominal and pelvic (UGAP) pain is a combination of physical symptoms like pain, restricted mobility, nausea and loss of appetite, and psychological/behavioral changes like depression, insomnia and change in relationships.

UGAP pain can affect other parts of the body like adjoining muscles and organs, causing muscle tension, leg pain and back pain. It can cause pain over the tailbone and sitting bones. It can affect bladder and rectal functions causing painful urination and painful bowel movements. It is commonly misdiagnosed as interstitial cystitis and proctalgia fugax.

It can cause dyspareunia (painful intercourse) in both sexes. Mobility like walking, standing or prolonged sitting can be painful and restricted. UGAP pain can affect all aspects of emotional life and may cause anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances and sexual dysfunction, and can cause problems with work and home life. Emotional distress makes the pain worse, and likewise living with chronic pain makes the emotional distress worse. So chronic pain and emotional distress frequently get locked into a vicious cycle.

Muscle Tension Anxiety Pain
Tension leads to pain, pain to anxiety, and anxiety back to tension.

Chronic tension shortens the muscles of the pelvic floor, which then function like a clenched fist. This leads to pain, which in turn causes anxiety. Anxiety leads to tension. The cycle of tension, anxiety and pain plays a significant role in UGAP pain patients.

A figure standing behind tall vertical bars
“I felt so imprisoned by the pain.” (Cindy B.)

Presenting symptoms in our series

The severity of pain varied from grade 3 to 10 (on a scale of 1 to 10), with most experiencing grade 7 to 9. Seventeen patients (8.4%) presented with acute symptoms; the remaining 92% had chronic symptoms lasting from 6 weeks to 22 years, the majority for 3 to 10 years.