Sexual wellness is an integral part of being human. That people deserve pleasure, connection, and all the other incredible things that come with sexuality.
While sex toys are incredible for pleasure, they offer immense value outside of that as well. You can also use sex toys as tools for healing. Your sexual health is not separate from the rest of your body. It is directly connected to your physical, mental, and overall health. They can be used as sex therapy tools, providing support for all sorts of conditions including sexual trauma recovery, postpartum healing, menopause relief, and overcoming dysfunction
Healing with sex toys can be transformational in helping to relieve stress and connecting with your body after trauma, medical issues, or big hormonal changes from pregnancy or menopause. Keep reading to learn more about how you can use sex toys as tools for healing.
The Science Behind Healing Through Pleasure
While there is so much power in reconnecting with your body through sexual empowerment, there’s also plenty of research to back up the idea of using sex toys as tools for healing.
Much of this healing comes down to hormones. When you have sex, whether it’s by yourself or with someone else, your body releases a whole bunch of hormones. Most people are familiar with oxytocin, also known as “the love hormone”, but you also release other feel good hormones like endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine.
These feel good hormones are essential to your overall health, playing a role in reducing stress and anxiety, alleviating chronic pain, improving sleep, and emotional regulation.
Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for your brain’s reward system – it’s associated with pleasurable sensations and helps you feel good. Serotonin helps regulate your mood, along with your sleep, memory, and more. Endorphins are the body’s natural pain reliever.
You can start to see how using sex toys as tools for healing can be incredibly helpful. For example, people with chronic pain may use vibrators for pain relief to help them release endorphins. Sex toys aren’t just a nice addition to your sex life, they are also an essential part of your holistic self-care.
Using Sex Toys for Trauma Recovery and Healing
For many people, trauma can make it difficult to experience or even desire pleasure. It’s essential to practice self-care after trauma, and sex toys can be an integral part of the healing journey.
Many sex therapists recommend the use of sex toys in trauma recovery, especially using vibrators and other gentle toys. No matter what type of trauma you may have experienced, it can cause you to disassociate, making it difficult to be present in your body, let alone experience pleasure.
Sex toys can allow you to start rebuilding trust with your body after trauma. They allow you to start dropping back into your body and remember that it can be a source of pleasure and joy, not fear, pain, or whatever emotions you may be experiencing.
You don’t need to focus on orgasms either. You can use toys to start touching and exploring your body in a way that feels safe. Try approaching your self-pleasure from a place of curiosity and empowerment in your own body. Slowly, you’ll start to feel a sense of control over your pleasure and intimacy, which is incredibly important when navigating sex after trauma.
How Sex Toys Support Postpartum Healing
The body changes during and after pregnancy, there’s no way around that. These changes can also have an impact on your pleasure and sex life.
Besides the shift of focus and lack of sleep, pregnancy can also lead to pelvic floor weakness or injuries, vaginal dryness and discomfort, and an emotional disconnect from one’s body. When it comes to postpartum healing and sex, it can take time to get back there, but you can also take matters into your own hands to help with the process.
If you want to slowly transition back into sex, soft vibrators can help you experience pleasure in a controlled, safe way. If you’re experiencing any pelvic floor issues, you can use pelvic therapy devices such as kegel balls and pelvic trainers to help strengthen your pelvic muscles. Pregnancy changes the body, but with time and the right tools, you’ll start to increase your comfort with intimacy and restore your sexual confidence.
The Role of Sex Toys in Menopause Relief
Pregnancy isn’t the only hormonal change that can make a big impact on your sexual wellness, menopause can as well. Menopause occurs when your ovaries stop producing estrogen, which stops ovulation and menstruation.
This decrease in estrogen can impact your sexual wellness by increasing vaginal dryness, decreasing elasticity, libido and sensitivity, and changing the intensity of your orgasms.
How do you stay sexually empowered after menopause? By making changes that support your changing body. Lube is the first step to help combat vaginal dryness and the discomfort that can come with it.
When it comes to menopause and sex toys, approaching pleasure as a form of self-care can help increase your libido and desire. Even if you’ve never tried toys before, using them can help increase blood flow in the vagina, while also helping maintain elasticity. You can think of using lubricated toys as a sexual wellness practice. One that will help improve your arousal and pleasure response – which are essential for your overall wellness.
Sex Toys for Pelvic Floor Health and Pain Relief
Pregnancy and menopause aren’t the only things that can affect vaginal and pelvic floor health.
Some of the most common reasons someone with a vagina may experience pelvic floor discomfort or pain are conditions like vaginismus, vulvodynia, and endometriosis. For people with pensises, they can experience pelvic floor issues related to their prostate health, as well as erectile dysfunction.
Vibrators not only feel amazing, they can also help improve circulation and relieve pain, especially for people with pelvic pain disorders, prostate problems, or erectile dysfunction. They can also help in post-surgery recovery to increase blood flow stimulation, which is essential for healing.
If you’ve experienced a pelvic floor injury or weakening, which most commonly occur from giving birth or aging, kegel balls and pelvic trainers can be essential in strengthening the pelvic floor muscles and introducing sensation in the vagina, so you can slowly start to experience pleasure again.
No matter what type of pelvic floor disorder you may be experiencing, orgasm and arousal are powerful tools in your healing process. Sexual pleasure allows you to stimulate healthy blood flow and muscle relaxation, all while reconnecting with your body.
Overcoming Sexual Anxiety and Reconnecting with Pleasure
Your libido can ebb and flow. Depending on what you’re experiencing in life, you may also develop sexual anxiety that can make it difficult to connect with a partner and even yourself. This can occur if you’re feeling stressed or anxious, from past sexual experiences, and from navigating health issues.
Using sex toys for sexual dysfunction can help you rebuild trust and intimacy with yourself and with your partner if you have one. Sometimes you just need some extra support and sex toys help you experience pleasure without worrying about needing to perform. Just simply being present in the sensations you’re experiencing can help to reduce anxiety around intimacy.
Healing Emotional and Psychological Barriers with Sex Toys
Your sex life is a place to explore different sensations, types of pleasure, and connections. Using sex toys can help promote a feeling of self-acceptance while boosting your body confidence.
This can be especially helpful if you feel disconnected from your body after a big life event like surgery, trauma, or medical conditions. Using sex toys can be a form of mindful self-care that promotes stress relief, and helps you feel better in your body overall. They also can help break down any negative associations you may have with sexuality, especially ones you may have picked up from the society around you.
Who Can Benefit from Healing Through Sex Toys?
Sexual wellness should not be overlooked when it comes to your overall healing and well-being.
So many people can benefit from using sex toys to heal on a holistic level, such as:
- Survivors of trauma looking to reclaim their pleasure.
- New parents recovering from childbirth.
- People experiencing menopause-related sexual changes.
- Anyone recovering from surgery or medical conditions affecting sexual health.
- Individuals with chronic pain conditions affecting intimacy.
- Anyone looking to explore self-care and emotional well-being through pleasure.
Starting to Use Sex Toys for Healing
Sex toys can be an integral part of your wellness toolkit. While they’re not a replacement for therapy, a pelvic floor physical therapist, or your doctor, they can be a great addition along with other treatments.
It’s totally normal to use sex toys for healing, in fact many therapists even recommend them! If you have a history of trauma or pain, remember to start slow and use gentle stimulation while focusing on your comfort.
Using sex toys can be incredibly helpful in your self-discovery, emotional recovery, and reconnecting to your body and sense of pleasure. Take your time and go at your own pace. This is your body and your healing journey.
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