Julianne Hough has been open about the fact that she has endometriosis. This has earned her a job shilling for a pharmaceutical company, but to be fair she talked about it before she landed that gig. Mostly she’s discussed how debilitating it is, and how it can leave her doubled over in pain. In a recent interview with Women’s Health, Julianne said that if affects her sex life too. I didn’t know about this!
“It can definitely cut things short,” says Julianne. “Sometimes we’re in the middle and I’m just like ‘AH, stop!’ Other times, she needs to tell her husband, professional hockey player Brooks Laich, to just forget it that night.
Agarwal says pain during intercourse is a top concern among his patients. “It can cause pain with penetration, so women won’t engage in intercourse or they’ll terminate it early because of the pain,” says Agarwal. It can affect intimacy in other ways, too: “Long-term pain can have psychological consequences like depression, anxiety, or other emotional issues.”
It can be really frustrating,” says Julianne. But Brooks is supportive and understanding of her condition. “He only wants to love on me and make me feel good.” And, according to Julianne, the couple doesn’t necessarily need penetration to keep their relationship hot and heavy. Their secret? Foreplay (along with open and honest communication and creativity, of course).
“There’s so much intimacy without actually having sex,” says Julianne. “There are some cool things we’ve learned and it’s literally been awesome.”
Agarwal offers some additional tips, like pelvic physical therapy or, doctor permitting, a new FDA-approved drug called Orilissa, which improves pain with intercourse. He also advises seeking psychological help when necessary to get past any non-physical barriers.
Now, Julianne says she’s learned to listen to her body throughout the day.
“My body is very precious to me, I didn’t think of it that way before,” says Julianne. “If I don’t feel like working out that day, then I don’t do it. If I want to sleep in, then I will.”
Julianne also takes a mindful approach to her condition. She keeps her body moving, even if some days call for just simply standing or walking around.
“If I feel stagnant, then my body’s stagnant, and then my insides feel stagnant,” she says. “Even if I don’t want to move or exercise, I just stand with my hands on my abdomen, move my hips, and send love to my pelvic area.”
It sounds like woo woo to send love to your pelvic area, but mindfulness exercises like that really work. I was using an app called Curable for a while (not a plug I really used it) and I learned a lot about the mind body connection. Pain isn’t in your head but your head is wired to make it worse by focusing on it. By doing those type of exercises you can rewire your brain and reduce your pain response.
I’m so glad this isn’t an issue for me. I can’t imagine what that’s like to not even be able to have sex. I do get recurrent UTIs. (This has been a problem throughout my life but a urologist recently put me on a low dose daily antibiotic and it helps.) During the actual freaky time I don’t feel bad though. Like wouldn’t that make you reluctant to even do it as that doctor talks about? It sounds like Julianne is hinting at workarounds. My mind just went to some creative places but I’ll spare you. I already had to take the ads off this post.
These people surely got paid to take this vacation. I can’t.
This sponcon thing is probably how they make a living. Damn.
It’s can be HORRIFICALLY debilitating…and can actually build up a psychological barrier between you and your libido…like you wanna walk around with a HUGE…”Closed…Under Construction Until Further Notice” sign in front of your punany….So I LOVE that she bought up other forms of intimacy versus the “ole in & out”….because if endo is haunting your life…just the THOUGHT of that…makes you wanna HOLLER!
Plus…enhanced foreplay…MY GAWD!!!! As I’ve gotten older and bolder…I TRULY understand why so many of my gay male friends have told me that they have MAGNIFICENT sex lives and haven’t been penetrated in YEARS!!!
I get it!!!!
I dont have Endo, but I have PCOS and I soooo get what she is saying..it really helps to have a partner who is understanding and with whom you can be open with…
Can definitely relate. It can make you almost scared to try sex, even if you’re really in the mood. Yoga and massage have been incredibly helpful to me in reducing overall everyday pain. Highly recommend both to my fellow endometriosis sufferers.
There are so many forms of intimacy like oral, touch, mental and this a good reminder to us all! Appreciate this post… plus, I’m really forgiving of dancers in general because the profession is hard, short & largely less exalted form of art/entertainment. And, dancers live with managing pain, therefore being generally honest helps a lot. I know she’s a bit extra but thanks Julianna!
i feel her pain. it is an issue women have had to deal with silently for a long time and are just expected to keep going and having sex to please their partners. i had severe pain after giving birth from scar tissue from an episiotomy. i didn’t mention anything until nearly a year post-partum and my OB was like “guuuurlll….you waited too long! you should have told me this a long time ago” and sent me to a pelvic specialist. first – i never knew there was such a thing as a physical therapist that specializes from the waist to the knees….in it NEVER occurred to me to call my doctor b/c my vagina hurt after having a baby. i thought it was normal. NOPE! women should start seeing one when they are 18 like the ob/gyn – she seriously changed my life. i think it would help destigmatize genital problems, in addition to helping you get seriously in-tune with your body.
sidenote: the phrase “he wants to love on me’ is nauseating
It’s amazing how little people know about endo. I haven’t been able to have sex or use a tampon for seven years now. I’m fairly young and I honestly feel like there’s a good chance I’ll never be able to have sex again.
Also, try D-Mannose for recurrent UTIs. Zero side effects, unlike antibiotics. You never build up a tolerance to it and it works wonders. My sis uses it for her paraplegic son who’s catheterized and had recurrent UTIs and he’s 2 yrs clear now. My mom has been a nurse for 30 years and has been recommending it to her patients with a almost 100% success rate. I’ve recommended it to friends and EVERY SINGLE ONE says it works to clear/prevent UTIs.
I had debilitating endo for years. I finally had the surgery to remove the lesions. They had actually twisted my left ovary like a rope, it had to be removed. Before surgery, I missed days of work or if I did go to work, I would come home, put a heating pad across my belly and drink copious amounts of wine. I also had to eliminate sex as well. Endo is debilitating in incredible ways. You just want to put an out of order sign on your forhead for at least a week.
I just want to say…I’m not her biggest fan or anything, but I’m incredibly in awe of her for speaking out about this. It’s helpful to me; I don’t have endometriosis but have had other issues in the past that have made sex painful, and it is so hard to talk about, even to your doctor. It’s a big comfort and makes me feel hopeful to hear someone else speak out about their issues. I think it’s awesome that she’s so open about it, and it will help other women not feel so alone, as it has me.
Daily antibiotics are so bad in the long run!!! It’s also used to have chronic UTI’s (one lasted for a year) and got so tired and exhausted with the antibiotic cycle. Obviously everyone is different and especially with UTI’s it’s specific to your body’s bacteria but if it’s ok I’d love to suggest some non-antibiotic options. Kombucha really changed my life, all the antibiotics messed up my natural balance and kombucha helped me do a reset. Cranberry is the most popular remedy but through extensive research and experimentation I’ve found pineapple and blueberries are the true natural powerhouses. Pineapple doesn’t get enough credit! You can also try D-Manoose, it’s a powder you dissolve and drink and honestly it tastes like terrible fake sweetener but for me at least it has also been a game changer! This is all coming from someone who has been hospitalized, lived with one infection for a year, in 10 years probably had 50 ITI’s, has had x-rays to ensure there’s nothing physically happened wrong (there’s not), and it admittedly a hippie. So take it as you will but I have now been UTI free for 5 years.
On a superficial note ghat video was amazing!