Outrageous advice from doctors?

[lynmynott]

A journalist is working on a piece for the Guardian about sexism and healthcare. The piece is about the outrageous advice women are sometimes given to deal with symptoms (eg. Get drunk to deal with vaginismus). The journalist is looking to interview women with who have been given outrageous sexist comments to deal with the symptoms.

If you fit the criteria and are interested in being interviewed, please contact me on [e-mail] and put "Outrageous comments" in the subject line.

[NWA6]

Well now I can’t say I was ever advised to get drunk for a tight vagina but it did work 😬😂 After my first child I tore and was stitched up rather tightly 😩 my poor husband and I really did suffer. I was BF so not really drinking, then at around 9mths finally I let our baby have a bottle and be baby sat for the night. I got Rip roaring drunk and finally ripped my hubbys clothes! That sorted my mechanically tightened vagina! Lol

[MaisieGray]

Well in certain circumstances / for some women, getting drunk and successfully getting through the psychological and physical barrier of vaginismus might in fact be just the solution they need. That a solution doesn't follow a medical or politically-correct model doesn't necessarily make it any the less effective or appropriate and doesn't necessarily make it outrageous. If my vaginismus, if I had it, was a phobic behaviour, and the alternative was weeks spent tediously scaling up with ever increasingly large artificial implements in the hope that it might cure me; or having a great night out with my partner with an excess of alcohol that led to a natural successful conclusion, it would be a no brainer for me. Vaginismus as a stand alone condition was in fact removed from the DSM about 3 years ago, the current thinking being that it is just one factor in a wider disorder, the preferred term now being genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder (GPPPD).