“Why does my stomach hurt after sex?”
Because your body always seems to know how to turn the tables on you at every point, including after having sex. Why else would such a heavenly act cause hellish things like stomach pain?
This article will help you find out why your system deemed it necessary to serve fine doses of stomach cramps after sex.
Table of Contents
Why Does My Stomach Hurt After Sex? General Reasons
Muscle Strain
During sexual activity, the pelvic muscles constantly contract and relax, which can put a lot of stress on them. If these muscles are not properly warmed up or are pushed beyond their limits, they can become strained, leading to pain and cramping.
How to Bounce Back
- The sexual position taken has a huge effect on muscle strain. Try substituting complex positions that require a lot of physical exertion for less tasking ones, like spooning and see what happens.
- You can also take meds for reducing pain, such as Tylenol.
Dysorgasmia
Dysorgasmia is a medical condition that affects individuals who experience painful orgasms, typically in the abdomen or pelvis, either during or after sexual climax.
This condition usually affects
women, and it is estimated that up to 20% of them may experience dysorgasmia at some point in their lives.
The pain associated with dysorgasmia can vary in intensity and duration, ranging from mild cramps to more severe sensations that can last for several hours.
How to Bounce Back
- Place a hot water bottle on your abdomen.
- Try over-the-counter anti-inflammatory or pain-relieving drugs, e.g. paracetamol or ibuprofen.
- If neither option above works, please see an obstetrician.
Trauma
Trauma can cause the body to go into fight-or-flight mode, which is the same response that occurs when we’re trying to escape from danger. This causes adrenaline and cortisol to flood our system, which can cause things like nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and dizziness.
In addition to these physical symptoms, trauma can make it hard to relax and sexually connect with others.
We might experience flashbacks or dissociation while we’re engaging in sexual activity, which can make it difficult to focus on what we’re doing or enjoy ourselves.
How to Bounce Back
- Breathe deeply and slowly, then exhale fully before having sex. Repeat this process as often as needed until you feel calm and relaxed.
- Take some time to be alone with yourself or with your loved ones if they are supportive.
- Talk about your trauma in a safe space where you feel supported by others.
Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
A UTI is an infection of the urinary tract—the kidneys, bladder and urethra. It can cause pain when you pee or have sex, as well as other symptoms like a burning sensation when you go to the bathroom or foul-smelling urine.
UTI can be caused by bacteria that enter your urinary tract through the urethra (the tube that carries urine out of your body). This can happen if you don’t wash before sex, if you have sexual intercourse without a condom or if you use a diaphragm without spermicide.
Sexually transmitted infections are also possible culprits. In men, gonorrhea and chlamydia can cause UTIs. In women, gonorrhea and trichomoniasis can do it too.
Women are more likely than men to have UTIs because their shorter urethras make them more prone to infections from germs in their vaginal secretions.
If you experience stomach pain after sex, it could be because your UTI has led to kidney stones or an abscess in your bladder or kidneys. But it might also be due to an unrelated condition such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or diverticulitis.
How to Bounce Back
- Take the full course of antibiotics your doctor prescribes, even if you feel better after a few days or weeks.
- Drink plenty of fluids—water is best—to stay hydrated while on antibiotics.
- Use wet wipes instead of toilet paper when going to the bathroom. Toilet paper doesn’t clean as well as wet wipes do and can irritate the skin around your vagina or anus.
Chlamydia
Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that affects the genitals, rectum, and throat. It’s usually transmitted through vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Women are at higher risk for chlamydia than men because their cervix is closer to the vagina and anus; this makes it easier for bacteria to enter their reproductive organs.
In addition to genital pain and discharge, chlamydia symptoms may include abdominal discomfort and nausea.
If you experience these symptoms after having sex with a new partner or multiple partners without using protection, you should get tested for chlamydia immediately.
Anxiety and Stress
When you’re anxious or stressed, your body produces high levels of cortisol—a hormone that’s also known as the stress hormone.
A release of cortisol into your body triggers a fight-or-flight response, which sends all of your blood from your gut to your muscles and brain.
This means that less blood gets sent to other parts of your body, including your digestive tract, and it can lead to stomach pain after sex for several reasons:
- You cannot digest food properly because of a lack of blood flow.
- Your stomach acids can’t break down food properly because enough blood isn’t circulating through them.
- Your intestines can’t move food through properly because they don’t have enough blood flow either (this can cause constipation).
Why Does My Stomach Hurt After Sex Female
Penetration
One of the main reasons for experiencing stomach cramps during penetration is the presence of the uterus in the pelvic area.
As the penetrating object goes back and forth or up and down in the vagina, it can push or bump the uterus, which can cause discomfort, pain, or cramping sensations.
This is especially true during certain sexual positions that allow for deeper penetration, like the doggy and the missionary.
Vaginismus
Vaginismus is a condition that makes it difficult or impossible for the vaginal muscles to relax. This can make it painful or impossible to have sex, use tampons, and sometimes insert a doctor’s finger into the vagina for a pelvic exam.
How to Bounce Back
- Do pelvic floor exercises to learn how to control your vaginal muscles.
- Botox therapy:
Botox is injected into the vaginal area to help relax the pelvic muscles and allow easier penetration. Botox therapy may be uncomfortable initially, but it will become less painful as your body adjusts to the injections.
- Dilator therapy:
This involves inserting progressively larger devices into your vagina until they comfortably accommodate penile penetration without causing pain or discomfort.
- Psychotherapy:
This can help you learn techniques for relaxing your pelvic muscles and making sex more comfortable.
Fibroids
Fibroids are non-cancerous tumors that grow in the uterus. They can cause pain during sex if they are pressing against the walls of your uterus or fallopian tubes. This can make it difficult for you to enjoy sex or even feel comfortable enough to have sex in the first place.
However, if you’re experiencing pain during sex with fibroids, it’s important not to assume that this is a normal side effect of having fibroids.
It’s possible that your fibroids are causing other symptoms, such as heavy bleeding or pelvic pain, and those could be more serious than just vaginal discomfort during intercourse.
How to Bounce Back
- Medication:
The first treatment for fibroids is usually medication. Your doctor will probably recommend birth control pills. These pills will help shrink the fibroid over time to reduce its size, which can help ease any associated pain and discomfort.
- Surgery:
If your doctor recommends surgery, several options are available: laparoscopy, hysterectomy, and myomectomy. Each has pros and cons that you’ll want to discuss with your doctor before deciding what’s best for you.
Tilted Uterus
The uterus is a hollow, pear-shaped organ that is located in a woman’s lower abdomen.
This part is attached to other organs in your body, including the bladder and the bowel. It is normally tipped slightly forward, but sometimes it may tilt backward or to the side—this condition is called a retroverted or tilted uterus.
A tilted uterus can push against your stomach, causing discomfort after sex.
How to Bounce Back
- Try to have your partner enter from the rear so he does not hit your cervix with his penis.
- Use a lubricant to reduce friction and make penetration more comfortable for both partners.
Endometriosis
Endometriosis is a condition in which tissue that lines the uterus grows outside of it. This occurs when cells from the uterine lining are released and attached to other areas of the body, such as the ovaries or fallopian tubes.
These cells then grow and multiply as they do inside the uterus. In each area, this misplaced endometrial tissue responds to hormonal changes as it does in your uterus.
As a result, every month, when you have your period, it will build up and break down like normal menstrual bleeding.
However, because it is not inside your uterus, it cannot be shed through bleeding or flushed out through urination as normal menstrual blood would be.
Instead, it bleeds into surrounding tissues causing inflammation and irritation, which may lead to pain during menstruation and intercourse.
How to Bounce Back
The type of treatment you receive will depend on how severe your symptoms are and whether you want to become pregnant in the future. Your doctor may recommend:
- Birth control pills:
This can help reduce pain and bleeding caused by endometriosis, but it won’t cure it completely because it doesn’t address the problem of scar tissue building up in your body over time.
Birth control pills should be used only temporarily while other treatments are being considered.
- Surgery:
Surgery may be recommended if other treatments haven’t worked or if there’s a risk for infertility due to extensive scar tissue buildup around your ovaries (called adhesions).
Why Does My Stomach Hurt After Sex Male
Prostatitis
The prostate gland is a small, walnut-shaped organ located just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. Prostatitis is an inflammation of the prostate gland.
If you have prostatitis, you may experience pain in your lower abdomen or groin area during or after sex. The pain may also be felt in your penis or testicles. This can make it difficult to urinate or ejaculate.
How to Bounce Back
- Use hot and cold compresses on your prostate gland to relieve pain or swelling. You can also try using an ice pack wrapped in a towel for 20 minutes every few hours or so.
- Try taking over-the-counter painkillers like ibuprofen or acetaminophen if the pain is severe enough that it keeps you from sleeping or causes discomfort while sitting down for long periods (such as during work).
- Stop smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol if you do either regularly because both have been shown to aggravate symptoms of prostatitis.
Peyronie’s Disease
If a man has Peyronie’s disease, his penis is curved rather than straight.
The exact cause of Peyronie’s disease is unknown, but it may be related to a buildup of plaque inside the penis, which makes it swollen and stiff. The plaque can also cause scar tissue to develop in the penis, which causes it to bend.
Peyronie’s disease affects men over 40 who have been sexually active for many years. It is more common in men who have diabetes or high blood pressure.
How to Bounce Back
- Medication:
Your doctor may prescribe alprostadil (Caverject, Edex), which helps your body form more collagen in scar tissue and treat pain caused by the condition.
- Injection:
Injecting collagenase clostridium histolyticum (Xiaflex) directly into your penis breaks down scar tissue and reduces the curve of your penis by about 75 percent after six months of treatment.
- Penile traction therapy:
Weights or traction devices are attached to your penis to help pull it straight.
- Penile surgery
This procedure involves cutting away scar tissue inside the penis and inserting grafts or other materials into the area to reshape it. It’s often used alongside other treatments, such as injections.
Penile Fracture
The penis is attached to the lower abdomen. During an erection, it may be pulled or strained so that it causes internal damage to the abdominal muscles and connective tissue.
Such a strain can induce pain, inflammation and swelling in the abdomen, radiating through the pelvis and groin area to your penis.
The pain may also come from an injury to the perineal muscle group, which connects the penis to the pubic bone. These muscles help you control urine flow and assist with ejaculation.
If they are injured or strained during sex, they can cause discomfort in your groin or penis that radiates up into your abdomen.
How to Bounce Back
- Ice packs may be applied to reduce swelling and pain.
- You can take over-the-counter pain medicines like acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil).
- Avoid sexual activity until you feel better.
Penile fractures do not always require emergency care. If your symptoms worsen or do not improve within a few days, you should see your doctor for further evaluation and treatment.
Too Tight Foreskin
The foreskin is a flap of skin that covers the head of your penis. When you’re born, it’s attached to the glans (or tip) of your penis.
Over time, it should separate from the glans so you can pull the foreskin back over your glans when you pee or ejaculate. In some guys, that process never happens—and they end up with a phimotic or an extremely tight foreskin.
When you have a tight foreskin, it means that your foreskin cannot retract fully. This can then cause pain during sex.
I’ve had an issue where my foreskin was tight, and anytime I had sex, it would split and bleed.
Source: Contributor, HealthUnlocked Community
How to Bounce Back
- If you’re uncircumcised, try pulling your foreskin back while flaccid. This will help stretch the skin and make it easier for the foreskin to retract when erect.
- Alternatively, use a stretching device on your penis. These devices are sold online and in sex shops, designed to stretch out your skin slowly.
This way, it becomes more elastic and less prone to discomfort during sex or other activities involving sexual arousal (like masturbation).
Conclusion
This article doesn’t exhaust the physical and emotional conditions that give rise to stomach pain after sex. It’s also not intended to serve as medical advice. To find out why your stomach hurts during or after sex and how to resolve it, please speak with a certified healthcare worker. Happy healing!