某些女性和男性在性交期間體驗到疼痛。過去的教科書把這種症狀稱為“性交困難(dyspareunia,希拉語不匹配)”。但是，這個術語什麼也沒有解釋清楚。它對於診斷來說，並不比“咳嗽”或“皮膚發紅”更有診斷價值。所以，它過於籠統，對性科學家們的研究和臨床運用會產生誤導。無論如何，發現性交疼痛的原因並就此實施進一步的性治療始終是必要的。

病因
性交疼痛有多種多樣軀體方面的病因，從外傷、性傳播疾病到器官退行性疾病，不一而足。在女性，可能有陰蒂粘連；在男性，可能是帕榮雷氏病(Peyronie’s disease，拉丁病名為induratio penis plastica或簡稱IPP，即陰莖進行性彎曲。也稱陰莖海綿體硬結——譯者注)發病的徵兆。性交疼痛也可能純粹是像焦慮和緊張這樣的心理原因所導致。

治療
依據個體的具體病因，治療會有所不同。可能從藥物治療、外科手術到心理諮詢和心理療法等等。

Some women and men experience pain during sexual intercourse. Older textboooks refer to this as "dyspareunia" (gr. not fitting together). However, this term explains nothing. It is no more helpful for any diagnosis than “cough” or “reddening of the skin”. Thus, it is too imprecise and, in fact, misleading to be useful to sexologists. In any case, it is always necessary to find the cause of the pain and then to proceed from there.

Causes
There are a variety of possible physical causes, from injuries and sexually transmitted infections to degenerative diseases. In women, there may be clitoral adhesions, in men the beginnings of Peyronie's disease (lat. induratio penis plastica, i.e. an increasing curvature of the penis). There may also be purely psychological causes like anxiety and tension.

Treatment
The treatment will be different depending on the individual case. It may range from medication and surgery to counseling and psychotherapy.