Barbie DavenporteA study out of Italy has shown women who suffer from frequent headaches report higher rates of sexual dysfunction — a blanket term for all kinds of issues including lack of orgasm, pain during intercourse, and low libido.
“Women referred for severe head pain report a high rate of sexual symptoms and sexual distress,” the University of Pavia researchers wrote in their study, which was published in the most recent Journal of Sexual Medicine.
In other news, people with one leg find dissatisfaction running marathons and fisherman without boats have difficulty catching tuna.
One hundred women were selected from an initial group of 194, all having had problems with recurring migraines and tension headaches. The subjects first received official diagnoses from the International Classification of Headache Disorders, presumably to confirm they weren't just making it up to steer clear of terrible sex. (Just kidding.)
After filling out a survey regarding their sex lives, researchers found that 91 percent of the women reported sex-related problems, 45.5 percent of the women experienced “sexual distress,” and 20 percent had a confirmed diagnosis of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) — meaning basically that women whose heads don't stop pounding also find sexual intercourse and other intimate acts unappealing.
That's where the “duh” comes in. Sex educator and published author Jamye Waxman told AfterDark that she's frankly tired of the term “sexual dysfunction,” as it connotes something about the woman is “broken” and in need of repair.
She doesn't wanna fuck cuz her head might explode? Lame.
“We place too much emphasis on women being broken when they just haven't figured themselves out, or when what they know about themselves seems like it's just not enough,” Waxman said. “A woman who only has clitoral orgasms could think she's 'broken' for not having squirting ones.”
Waxman seconds the above-offered “duh,” pointing out that the brain is our most powerful — and essential — sex organ, and if it (the brain, not boner) is swollen and throbbing you're more likely to focus on the pain than pleasure.
“If we can't wrap our brain around pleasure and finding a way to relax, how can we enjoy sexual or sensual moments?” Waxman said.
The Italian researchers behind this study acknowledged that further studies are needed for “better insight into the determinants of this overrepresentation of sexual dysfunction in women treated for primary headaches.”
I bet Waxman — or anyone with a brain and corresponding vagina — could give them a hint or three for the next round.
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