Hey y’all! It’s been a while since you heard from me. Life has been crazy over here! I have been learning a ton about eligibility and benefits and getting insurances set up.

My schedule has also been picking up, which is very exciting! A major theme has been popping up across age and gender. What is it? The title gave it away – a common issue I’m seeing at the moment is difficulty with intimacy.

Being intimate with your partner is an important part of any relationship and when one or both partners are having issues with what people typically think of as “sex”, this can heighten guilt or shame surrounding the issues you may be experiencing.

This pressure changes throughout different stages of life.

I have had patients who are older, who may be interested in being intimate with their partner, but have given up all hope because of issues related to post-menopausal pain or erectile dysfunction.

At the same time, I have patients who are younger who feel significant performance pressure for a variety of reasons – starting a family, not wanting to disappoint a new partner, among others.

This is only a small selection of issues I have helped people with since becoming a pelvic floor PT.

These recent discussions have inspired me to start a series on the different kinds of difficulty with intimacy that people can experience during their lifetimes – and what to do about it.

There are a few different categories for us to discuss, check back in 2 weeks for my next post on the effect hormones can have on someone’s tolerance of penetrative sex.

Is there a specific topic you’d like to see discussed? Shoot me an email to let me know what you’d like to see!

-Naomi