Continued on page 142barely taught in medical school.
“The average gynecologist
knows very little about sexual
function,” says Andrew Gold-
stein, MD, an ob-gyn in Washing-
ton, D.C., who performs LEEPs in
developing countries. “I guaran-
tee they couldn’t tell you the
nerves that go to the cervix.”
Plus, many gynecologists resist
blaming these symptoms on a
procedure that can save lives.
And the research just isn’t
there: Studies on LEEPs mostly
focus on cancer prevention or
pregnancy complications. A 2010
one out of Thailand did find a
small but statistically significant
decrease in overall sexual satis-
faction after a LEEP, and an Ital-
ian study that same year showed
a loss of sexual desire. But both
concluded that the cause is likely
psychological versus the result of
damage to the cervix. In 2015, a
review in the American Journal of
Obstetrics & Gynecology sug-
gested that LEEPs can affect sex-
ual function...but that more
research is needed.
Without strong evidence to
back them up, several women
Cosmo spoke to say they face an
endless procession of doctors
who don’t believe that their sex-
ual dysfunction could be caused
by the procedure. The trauma of
being disbelieved only com-
pounds the trauma of feeling
t h a t a n e s s e n t i a l p a r t o f t h e m h a s
been irreparably damaged. No
one gave them another option.To s t ay a l ive , t he y h a d t o g ive up
one of the things that makes life
worth living.In February 2011,
Sasha went back to her doctor.
She’d hung out with a couple of
other guys by then, but most
flings flamed out before even
progressing into the bedroom.
The loss of her once-vibrant sex-
uality deflated her confidence.
Alone at home, she kept trying to
touch herself, but stroking inside
her vagina felt about as sexy as
touching her elbow.
Sasha struggled to describe
what had happened. “Something
is terribly wrong,” she said. “I
can’t feel sex.” Her MD jotted
down “low libido” and asked,
“Anything else?” Before Sasha
could argue that she wanted to
h ave s e x , s he j u s t c ou ld n’t e nj oy
it, she was rushed out.
Feeling dazed and invisible,
Sasha booked an appointment
with a new gyno who did a specu-
lum exam and told her that her
cervix had healed nicely from
her LEEP and “looked fine.”
When Sasha insisted that she
did not feel fine, she was referred
to a psychologist.
She spent the next two years in
a maddening cycle of referrals:
General practitioners sent her to
gynecologists who sent her to
therapists who sent her to psy-
chiatrists. With each appoint-
ment came the hope that
someone might validate her sus-
picions—and debilitating disap-
pointment when they didn’t. “It’s
dystopian to speak to so many2ND CENTURY CE
The Greek physician Soranus gives the first
accurate description of the cervix
as a distinct, separate part of the uterus.1842
A century ahead of his time, a surgeon
i n I t a l y o b s e r v e s t h a t c a n c e r o f t h e u t e r u s
rarely occurs among celibate nuns.1943
A breakthrough happens when George
Papanicolaou, MD, develops a way
to screen for precancerous abnormalities
on the cervix. Women start getting Pap
smears, and from 1955 to 1992, cervical
cancer rates drop by about 70 percent.1953
More than 500 pages into famous
sex researcher Albert Kinsey’s controversial
book Sexual Behavior in the Human Female,
he writes that for some women, the cervix
must be stimulated during penetrative sex
to “achieve full and complete satisfaction
in orgasm.” (Weirdly, the same book says
that the cervix lacks feeling, so....)1990
The loop electrosurgical excisional
procedure, or LEEP, is introduced in the
U.S., quickly gaining popularity as a way
to remove high-risk precancerous cells
from the cervix. “Physicians are thumping
themselves on the head, wondering
why they didn’t think of it sooner,” Thomas
Wright, MD, told the New York Times.1999
A study published in Clinical Obstetrics
and Gynecology concludes that
e x is t i n g r e s e a rc h o n t h e c e r v i x ’s ro l e i n s e x
is weak and that we need (way) more.2004
While studying pain blockage in women
with spinal-cord injuries, neuroscientist
Barry Komisaruk, PhD, discovers a third
major nerve in the cervix, one that
bypasses the spinal cord and carries
sensation straight to the brain—suggesting
the cervix is even more important
t o s e x u a l f u n c t i o n t h a n p r e v i o u s l y t h o u g h t.2018 TO NOW
Researchers are looking for the exact
l o c a t i o n o f t h e n e r v e s i n t h e c e r v i x b y
dissecting organs removed during
hysterectomies. They hope to map out the
nerve endings so that doctors can
see how LEEPs might affect sexual function.SEX AND THE
CERVIX
A brief history of your most
misunderstood pleasure tool“It’s dystopian to
speak to so many
doctors and have themnot believe you.” ...
PRO
PS^
STY
LED
BY
KA
TJA
G
REE
FF.
131
Cosmopolitan October 2019