Let's talk about sex and endometriosis

Lone Hummelshoj, Lone Hummelshøj, Aisha de Graaff, Gerard A.J. Dunselman, Gerard Dunselman, Paolo Vercellini
The journal of family planning and reproductive health care · 2013 · vol. 40(1) , pp. 8–10 · doi:10.1136/jfprhc-2012-100530 · PMID:24132514 · W1997377523
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 25 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study found that women with endometriosis experience more frequent and severe deep dyspareunia and worse sexual functioning than women without the condition.

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Abstract

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the main symptoms of endometriosis are pelvic pain and, to a lesser extent, infertility and fatigue.1 ,2 These symptoms affect an estimated 176 million women worldwide.3 What is less frequently acknowledged, however, are the different types of pains associated with symptomatic endometriosis, a disease which constitutes the most frequent origin of the ‘3D Syndrome’4: Dyspareunia is generally described as deep (pain experienced inside the vaginal canal, at the level of the cervix, or in the pelvic/uterine/abdominal region) or superficial (pain in the vulvar region and/or the vaginal introitus).5 However, if sex hurts it is a problem for the woman and the couple regardless of whether the pain is deep or superficial. If something is painful, it is painful, and one will typically wish to avoid it. Women with endometriosis have a nine-fold increase in risk of deep dyspareunia in comparison to the general female population of corresponding age.6 In two groups of women with recto-vaginal endometriosis ( n =100) and peritoneal and/or ovarian endometriosis ( n  = 100) compared to healthy controls ( n =100), 67% and 53%, respectively, reported deep dyspareunia compared with 26% of controls.7 Whilst recognising that dyspareunia is found in populations without endometriosis, this study demonstrated that women with endometriosis experience more frequent and severe deep dyspareunia and worse sexual functioning compared with women without endometriosis. Differences between women with diverse endometriosis forms are, however, marginal.7 In a market research survey of 2753 women, with symptomatic endometriosis or suspected (symptomatic of) endometriosis, 50% responded …

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Condition tags

dyspareuniaendometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Dyspareunia Dyspareunia Endometriosis Causality Coitus Comorbidity Dyspareunia Endometriosis Female Humans Incidence

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (18)

Cited by (25)

Source provenance

europepmc
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License: CC0 · commercial use OK