Sex Shouldn’t Hurt: Pain Is a Signal — Not a Sentence. | Ep. 177

When intimacy burns, stings, or suddenly disappears, it’s not your body betraying you — it’s your
body begging for help. Most women are never told why sex becomes painful or how deeply tissue health,
hormones, stress, pelvic floor tension, and the microbiome shape comfort and pleasure. Painful sex is
common, but it is never normal.
In this episode, Dr. Andrea McSwain breaks down the real reasons sex becomes painful — and why healing is
not only possible, but expected when you give the tissue the right support. This is the conversation women
deserve but rarely receive in a rushed doctor’s visit.
✨ What You’ll Learn
• Why painful sex is common but never normal
• The real physiology behind burning, pulling, tugging, dryness, or numbness
• How estrogen, DHEA, cortisol, and stress impact tissue health
• Why yoga pants can disrupt your microbiome and irritate vulvar tissue
• How pelvic floor tightness mimics emotional disconnection
• The “fear-brain loop” that keeps the body in pain–anticipation–pain cycles
• When PRP vaginal rejuvenation can restore comfort, elasticity, and sensation
• Practical steps you can start today to reduce pain and rebuild safety in your body
Your body isn’t broken. It’s communicating — and it can heal.
⏱ Timestamps
0:00 – The truth about painful sex
1:12 – Pain is a signal, not a sentence
3:40 – Tissue changes + hormone depletion explained
7:58 – PRP vaginal rejuvenation and how it helps
10:24 – Yoga pants, irritation & microbiome disruption
14:41 – Pelvic floor hypertonicity & nerve tension
18:02 – Stress, cortisol & libido
22:01 – How the fear brain blocks pleasure
26:07 – Practical steps to restore comfort
30:00 – Your next steps to heal
🔍 Keywords
painful sex, dyspareunia, vaginal dryness, painful intercourse solutions, women’s hormone health, pelvic floor
dysfunction, PRP vaginal rejuvenation, functional medicine women, low libido women, hormone imbalance
symptoms, vaginal tissue thinning, perimenopause intimacy, women’s health podcast
📢 If this episode helped you feel seen or understood, hit subscribe for weekly conversations that help
you feel clear, steady, and confident in your body again. Your body is wise — when you understand the why,
you gain the freedom to heal.

#WomensHealth #PainfulSex #Dyspareunia #VaginalHealth #HormoneHealth #PelvicFloorHealth
#IntimacyHealing #WomensWellness #FunctionalMedicine #LowLibidoSupport #SexualHealthMatters
#HealYourBody #PRPHealing #WomensHormones #HolisticGynecology #FeelBetterFeelGreat
#DrMcSwainPodcast #WomenDeserveBetter #HormoneImbalance #IntimacySupport