Intimate Details: Your Sexual Health Guide

Solutions to Common Sexual Health Problems

We asked the experts for the tips and tricks they use to keep a handle on these sexual health issues.

Expert Fix: Take ibuprofen.
Why It Works: It reduces levels of prostaglandins, chemicals that cause blood vessels to open.

Expert Fix: Try taking them at different times of day or night.
Why It Works: Hormones in the pill may be easier on your stomach depending on the time of day.

Expert Fix: Switch from high-impact exercise to lower-impact in the two weeks before your period.
Why It Works: Incontinence peaks during the second half of your cycle. Likely reason? An estrogen dip. Less-strenuous exercise is better during that time.

Expert Fix: Wax or trim your bikini area.
Why It Works: Hair traps sweat and bacteria, causing odor.

Expert Fix: Do four daily sets of 10 Kegel exercises.
Why It Works: They strengthen vaginal muscles that may have stretched out.

Nearly two out of three women have felt pain during intercourse at some point, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, yet "patients have a hard time speaking up about it, to their doctors or partners," says Mona Saint, MD. Endometriosis, vaginismus, vulvodynia, fibroids, cysts, pelvic inflammatory disease, and an infection, among others, can be causes -- and all are treatable conditions. Your gyno can do a pelvic exam and possibly an ultrasound to diagnose you. Unless your pain is severe, try increasing foreplay for added lubrication, or use an OTC vaginal lubricant and experiment with different positions, since pain is often caused by the angle of penetration or pressure on certain muscles and joints.