No matter what type of sexual challenges you face, psychologists, neuroscientists, and sex therapists alike agree that you can move toward sexual healing by exploring these healthy solutions:

• Break the taboos and talk about your feelings, whether with your partner, a therapist, or your closest friends.
• De-emphasize genital sex. If you can’t have an orgasm or just don’t feel like having intercourse, explore neglected zones on your body and see if that doesn’t raise your sexual desire level.
• Exercise regularly and eat well to keep your brain and the rest of your body in shape.
• Use it or lose it, as Northrup points out. Researchers say that women feel more pain during intercourse when they have not had vaginal sex in a long while, and conversely, that pain from vaginal atrophy often diminishes with more frequent use.