NITROGLYCERINE OINTMENT RELIEVES PAINFUL SEX
Doctors in Israel have found that an inexpensive nitroglycerine ointment, applied just before sexual relations, relieves vaginismus, or vaginal tightness that causes painful intercourse. The condition is one of the two most common causes of unconsummated marriages. Investigators at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev found that just two or three treatments with the nitroglycerine compound permanently relieved the problem in a young Bedouin couple who, because of their conservative religious background, were reluctant to participate in the long-term sexual and behavioral therapy usually employed to treat vaginismus. Dr. Roni Peleg, one of the doctors treating the couple, said they decided to try the ointment because it is widely used to relieve anal tightness and spasms responsible for anal fissures. Because vaginismus can be so devastating to a relationship, the investigators are testing this approach in other patients in the hopes that it proves to be a simple solution.