FEMALE SEXUAL MEDICINE


• Disorders of sexual desire (sexual arousal disorder, or SAD) affect an estimated 30% of women in North America and Europe.
• Inhibited sexual desire (ISD) is a very common sexual disorder, with the most common cause being relationship issues.
• Female orgasmic disorder is characterized by a recurrent or persistent difficulty in achieving orgasm during sexual activity. Upwards of 24% of U.S. females aged 18 to 59 complain of significant difficulty achieving orgasm.

Specialists
Karen E. Boyle, M.D.

We address concerns of female sexuality from a multidisciplinary approach.

A woman's sexuality can be affected by a variety of factors, including relationship concerns, medical illness, hormonal changes, cultural differences, psychological difficulties, aging, menopause, body image, pregnancy, breastfeeding, lack of sexual self-knowledge, history of abuse, and partner sexual dysfunction. When any of these issues affect a woman's perspective of her own sexuality and her ability to have pleasurable sexual experiences, evaluation and treatment are recommended.

Karen E. Boyle, M.D., the Director Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at the Brady Urological Institute at Green Spring Station, a 15-minute drive from downtown Baltimore, directs a staff of compassionate physicians and therapists in addressing all aspects of women's sexual medicine. From hormonal treatment to cosmetic laser enhancement procedures, Dr. Boyle provides a treatment plan to address all issues in female sexuality. At the Brady Urological Institute, female sexual dysfunction is broken down into distinct and separate disorders. Although each has a specific medical definition, many women exhibit significant overlap of these disorders.

The overriding goal in this premier health care facility is to examine sexual dysfunction from a couple's perspective. Dr. Boyle and her staff offer complete couple-based diagnosis, therapy, and counseling for sexual dysfunction for women and their partners. The comprehensive medical evaluation includes assessment of hormones and Doppler ultrasound measurement of vaginal, clitoral, and labial blood flow during arousal. Treatments can include medications to enhance libido, arousal, and orgasm. Individual or couples therapy may also be recommended.

Evaluation of Female
Sexual Dysfunction

• Detailed medical, psychosocial, and
sexual history
• Physical and pelvic examination
    - Wet mount and culture
    - Vaginal pH
• Vaginal photoplethysmography
• Duplex ultrasound for measure of genitalblood flow
• Quantitative sensory testing
• Hormonal evaluation

Classification of Female
Sexual Dysfunction Disorders

• Women’s sexual interest/desire disorder
• Female sexual arousal disorder
   - Subjective sexual arousal disorder
   - Genital sexual arousal disorder
   - Combined subjective and genital sexual arousal disorder
• Women’s orgasmic disorder
• Female genital pain disorders
   - Dyspareunia
   - Vaginismus
• Sexual aversion disorder

 

 

For women with specific urologic conditions, cuttingedge therapies are offered for urethral pain, recurrent urinary tract infections, pelvic floor rehabilitation, and pelvic floor reconstruction. Vaginal relaxation, a common condition associated with aging and childbirth, can be treated with laser surgery to improve vaginal muscle tone and strength. Laser reduction labioplasty and vaginoplasty, vulvar reconstruction, hymenoplasty, and vulvar liposculpturing are performed to treat specific female aesthetic and cosmetic concerns.