Sex Without Pain

Sex doesn't have to hurt! Whether your pain during intercourse (or your partner’s) began with a first sexual experience or after pregnancy or injury, this step-by-step guide - developed by a leading women’s health physical therapist - can put you on the path to recovery, and to enjoying the sex life you deserve.

Sex doesn't have to hurt! Whether your pain during intercourse (or your partner’s) began with a first sexual experience or after pregnancy or injury, this step-by-step guide - developed by a leading women’s health physical therapist - can put you on the path to recovery, and to enjoying the sex life you deserve. Women who experience painful intercourse, including those diagnosed with vaginismus, overactive pelvic floor, vulvodynia, vulvar vestibulitis, vestibulodynia, dyspareunia, and interstitial cystitis, have all benefited from author and physical therapist Heather Jeffcoat's unique treatment program. Now, after years of experience and countless successes, Heather is sharing her insights and making her proven methods available as a self-treatment guide women and their partners can use in the comfort and privacy of their own homes. Using her orthopaedic background as a foundation, Heather's approach begins with a simple, but often overlooked, truth; pelvic muscles are muscles, and should be treated that way. Her program showcases the IRAS MethodTM (pronounced "erase"), a series of physical therapy treatment techniques with proven results. In this book, she explains the anatomy of the pelvic floor and guides readers through the use of a self-treatment tool called a dilator to provide massage and other muscle relaxation - gentle stretching techniques designed to return a women's muscles back to a resting state. Detailed medical illustrations, step-by-step instructions, additional exercises for progressive relaxation and large muscle groups, and helpful links to a variety of resources - along with Heather's wealth of solid medical advice and encouragement - make this book a must-read for any woman pursuing the goal of a satisfying, pain free sex life.

Heather Jeffcoat, DPT, received her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Duke University and her Bachelor of Science in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of California-San Diego. She also holds her Comprehensive Teacher Training Certification in Pilates from Body Arts and Science International, and is a Certified Fascial Stretch Therapist through the Stretch To Win Institute. Heather specializes in treating orthopaedic and women’s health physical therapy diagnoses, as well as developing personalized perinatal fitness programs. Her primary interests are treating pelvic pain, and pregnancy and postpartum related disorders as well as tension headaches and pain or dysfunction in the neck, shoulder, hip, low back, and sacroiliac joint. She often partners with physicians and sex therapists both at the Southern California Pelvic Pain Center and in the Los Angeles medical community. Heather also enjoys significant involvement with the American Physical Therapy Association’s Section on Women’s Health. In addition to writing and editing numerous articles distributed nationwide, she has been a featured writer on BabyFriendlyLA.com and authored a long-running quarterly column, Perinatal Wellness, for the International Childbirth Education Association Journal. Heather currently teaches wellness and restorative classes for women and provides patient care and personal training in the greater Los Angeles area, where she lives with her husband and two children.