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Of the many choices available: drugs, hormones, penile prosthetic’s, herbal remedies and acupuncture, many men are opting for psychological approaches, particularly hypnotherapy. This is especially the case for men who can achieve an erection for masturbation but not when with a partner.

Can hypnosis cure erectile dysfunction?

Put simply, Yes, you can cure erectile dysfunction with hypnosis, there is a wealth of evidence to support the choice of hypnotherapy and the techniques employed by hypnotherapists, such as:

• Systematic desensitisation – The patient imagines various anxiety provoking situations whilst in a hypnotically induced state of relaxation. This is most effective for anxiety induced ED (Auerbach & Kilmann,1977).

• Cognitive approaches – The internal thought processes are adjusted and re-focused away from erection onto something more useful: giving pleasure, enjoying sex, how stimulating your partner is. Often this will be combined with systematic desensitisation to make a form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which has proven effective with erectile dysfunction even without the addition of hypnosis (Xueqian & Heqin’s 1990).

• Psychodynamic approaches – these involve exploring relationships, both past and present and traumas. Pioneered in hypnosis by Harold Crailneck (1982 & Crasilneck and Hall 1985), who treated over 500 men using these approaches, 83% of whom were still enjoying full erectile function a years later.

For a free consultation regarding your erectile disorder contact Matt on 0778 909 7741 / +44778 909 7741 (outside of the UK) or via mattkrouwel@gmail.com.

 Dr Matthew Krouwel is a hypnotherapist  with over 25 years experience, and is a Diplomate member of the BSCH.  His practice is based in Birmingham (UK) and he also works online.Matt has considerable experience of working with Erectile dysfunction (ED) along with other sexual problems such as pornography addiction and has lectured and trained hypnotherapist on the topic internationally. To find out more about what a hypnotherapy session is like, tap here! 

References

Auerbach, R., & Kilmann, P. R. (1977). The effects of group systematic desensitization on secondary erectile failure. Behavior therapy, 8(3), 330-339.

Crasilneck, H. B. (1982). A follow-up study in the use of hypnotherapy in the treatment of psychogenic impotency. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 25(1), 52-61.

Crasilneck and Hall (1985) Clinical Hypnosis Principles and Practice 2^nd edition Grune & Stratton

Hatzimouratidis K, et al. Guidelines on Male Sexual Dysfunction: Erectile Dysfunction and Premature Ejaculation. Eur Urol (2010), doi:10.1016/j.eururo.2010.02.020

JOHANNES, C. B., ARAUJO, A. B., FELDMAN, H. A., DERBY, C. A., KLEINMAN, K. P., & McKINLAY, J. O. H. N. (2000). Incidence of erectile dysfunction in men 40 to 69 years old: longitudinal results from the Massachusetts male aging study. The Journal of urology, 163(2), 460-463

Nicolosi, A., Moreira Jr, E. D., Shirai, M., Ismail Bin Mohd Tambi, M., & Glasser, D. B. (2003). Epidemiology of erectile dysfunction in four countries: cross-national study of the prevalence and correlates of erectile dysfunction. Urology, 61(1), 201-206

Rosen, R. C., Fisher, W. A., Eardley, I., Niederberger, C., Nadel, A., & Sand, M. (2004). The multinational Men’s Attitudes to Life Events and Sexuality (MALES) study: I. Prevalence oSf erectile dysfunction and related health concerns in the general population. Current Medical Research and Opinion®, 20(5), 607-617

Wylie, K. R. (1997). Treatment outcome of brief couple therapy in psychogenic male erectile disorder. Archives of sexual behavior, 26(5), 527-545.

Xueqian, L., & Heqin, Y. (1990). Cognitive behavioural therapy for erectile disorder: A study from the People’s Republic of China. Sexual and Marital Therapy, 5(2), 105-114.

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Vaginismus is a condition in which the vagina tightens or spasms in response to penetration or attempted penetration. This tightening causes discomfort, pain and often prevents sexual activity.A number of potential causes have been suggested, and it is widely considered to be an anxiety condition  . What are the main vaginismus treatment options?

Vaginismus effects between 0.5-1% of women, (Simons, & Carey’s 2001) meaning 10’s of thousands of women in the UK are prevented from enjoying a full sex life. However, there are many highly effective ways to treat vaginismus, in this blog we examine 5 of the most popular.

The 5 main vaginismus treatment options;

 1)    Couples therapy

One study of 56 couples achieved an 80.3% success rate as defined by achieving penetration. (Munasinghe, et al 2004) A similar study achieved a similar outcome, which was sustained at a three month follow up.(Hawton & Catalan 1990). Despite this high level of success, couple’s therapy has a drawback, it requires both partners to cooperate. Further, it requires them to  coordinate their time table, which may prove difficult with two busy lives.

2)    Pelvic floor exercises

Pelvic floor exercises are widely used exercises intended to strengthen and improve control over bladder. They may also help you to gain a greater control over your vagina. Research into pelvic floor exercises for vaginismus has found broadly positive out comes. One study of 23 women found that 69% moved in to total remission and almost all improved (Kokate & Bulbuli,2025). Another study demonstrated an additive effect when pelvic floor exercies were combined with dilator therapy. Dilator therapy is a form of desensitization (see below) (Reissing et al 2013).

3)    Systematic Desensitisation

This is graded exposure to vaginal penetration, often by the use of a series of different sized dilators (essentially dildos) or the insertion of fingers (1 finger, then 2 fingers etc). This is accompanied by relaxation exercises to counter the tensing which comes with vaginismus. In addition, often new thought patterns will be introduced. Most commonly the relaxation and new thoughts are taught in a session with a hypnotherapist or Cognitive behavioral therapist and then put into practice in private at home. Success rates are extremely high. With one study (Jeng et al 2006) finding that 83.3% of the participants were having regular intercourse with orgasm at one year follow up. Many studies of desensitization for vagnismus report 100% of participants achieve full intercourse at or before the completion of the study (Biswas & Ratnam 1995, ter Kuile et al 2007, Reamy 1982).

4)    Surgery

Hymenectomy, the surgical removal of tissue which partially or full obstructs the vagina, may at first appear to be a sensible treatment option for vaginismus. However, this is based on idea that penetration is likely to cause traumatic rupturing of the hymen, which is a common belief, but it may be that the belief is causing the symptom more frequently than the symptom causes the belief (Ward & Ogden 1994). Evidence suggests that for vaginismus hymenectomy is mostly ineffective (Katz & Tabisel 2001). Doubtless, for a small number of women surgery will be the right option, but for most there are easeir and safer options.

5)    Botox

Botox for vaginismus involves the injection of a controlled dose of botulinum toxin to freeze the pelvic floor muscles (Pacik 2011). Success rates vary from 75% (Ghazizadeh &, Nikzad  2004) up to 100% (El-Sibai 2000), at completion of therapy, with many studies showing a good retention of benefits at 1 to 2 year follow up (Pacik 2011, Bertolasi et al 2008). However, as with any intervention side effects have been reported including vaginal dryness and stress incontinence (Velayati,, Jahanian Sadatmahalleh,, Ziaei, & Kazemnejad,2019).

The Author

Matt Krouwel is a hypnotherapist in Birmingham who works with a variety of issues including specialisms in psycho-sexual disorders, including vaginismus and  Erectile dysfunction.   Contact him for a free consultation on 0778 909 7741or via email at mattkrouwel@gmail.com, sessions can be in-person or online.

References

Bertolasi, L., Frasson, E., & Graziottin, A. (2008). Botulinum toxin treatment of pelvic floor disorders and genital pain in women. Current Women’s Health Reviews, 4(3), 180-187

Biswas, A., & Ratnam, S. S. (1995). Vaginismus and outcome of treatment. Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 24(5), 755.

El-Sibai, A. S. O. (2000). Vaginismus: results of treatment with botulin toxin. Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 20(3), 300-302.

Hawton, K., & Catalan, J. (1990). Sex therapy for vaginismus: characteristics of couples and treatment outcome. Sexual and marital therapy, 5(1), 39-48.

Ghazizadeh S, Nikzad M (2004) Botulinum toxin in the treatment of refractory vaginismus. Obstet Gynecol. 2004 Nov;104(5 Pt 1):922-5.

Jeng, C. J., Wang, L. R., Chou, C. S., Shen, J., & Tzeng, C. R. (2006). Management and outcome of primary vaginismus. Journal of sex & marital therapy, 32(5), 379-387.

Katz, D., & Tabisel, R. L. (2001). Is surgery the answer to vaginismus?. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 97(4), S27

Kokate, V. A., & Bulbuli, A. (2025). Effect of Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation in Women with Primary Vaginismus: A Clinical Trial. Journal of South Asian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 17(4), 475-480.

Munasinghe, T., Goonaratna, C., & de Silva, P. (2004). Couple characteristics and outcome of therapy in vaginismus. Ceylon Medical Journal, 49(2), 54-57.

Pacik, P. T. (2011). Vaginismus: review of current concepts and treatment using botox injections, bupivacaine injections, and progressive dilation with the patient under anesthesia. Aesthetic plastic surgery, 35(6), 1160-1164.

Read, S., King, M., & Watson, J. (1997). Sexual dysfunction in primary medical care: prevalence, characteristics and detection by the general practitioner. Journal of Public Health, 19(4), 387-391.

REAMY, K. (1982). The treatment of vaginismus by the gynecologist: An eclectic approach. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 59(1), 58-62

Reissing, E. D., Armstrong, H. L., & Allen, C. (2013). Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy for Lifelong Vaginismus: A Retrospective Chart Review and Interview Study. Journal of sex & marital therapy, 39(4), 306-320.

Simons, J. S., & Carey, M. P. (2001). Prevalence of sexual dysfunctions: results from a decade of research. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 30(2), 177-219.

ter Kuile, M. M., van Lankveld, J. J., Groot, E. D., Melles, R., Neffs, J., & Zandbergen, M. (2007). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for women with lifelong vaginismus: Process and prognostic factors. Behaviour research and therapy, 45(2), 359-373.

Velayati, A., Jahanian Sadatmahalleh, S., Ziaei, S., & Kazemnejad, A. (2019). Can botox offer help women with vaginismus? A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Sexual Health, 31(3), 233-243.

Ward, E., & Ogden, J. (1994). Experiencing vaginismus–sufferers beliefs about causes and effects. Sexual and Marital Therapy, 9(1), 33–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/02674659408409565z

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