At the Women’s Center of CIFS all the problems connected with female fertility and sexuality are diagnosed and treated. Female sexual medicine is a relatively young branch of medicine: it studies the physiology and the pathology of the sexual response in women, and over the last decades it has developed medical, psychological and psychiatric strategies that resolve a large number of cases.
What is treated here
Pain during intercourse — dyspareunia — and the involuntary contraction of the perineal muscles that makes penetration difficult or impossible — vaginism — are the two conditions women most often describe at the first consultation. Next come anorgasmia, the failure to reach orgasm despite adequate stimulation, and libido disorders, where hormonal, neurological and emotional factors overlap. Vaginal dryness, burning and urinary incontinence linked to the fall of oestrogen are treated with the laser procedure Monnalisa Touch.
From the gynaecological examination to the treatment plan
The path always begins with a gynaecological examination that rules out anatomical alterations and infections: pelvic ultrasound, vaginal, endocervical and vulvar swabs, pap smear and HPV test are performed in the same building. When the cause is functional or psychological, a psycho-sexual therapy is set up with a professional; when it is hormonal or inflammatory, the treatment is medical. Women who are also following a fertility path find the ovarian reserve assessment and the first-level assisted reproduction techniques in the couples infertility department.
Why a gynaecological examination comes first
Two conditions that look alike at the first description need completely different answers. Pain confined to the vaginal entrance, appearing 24 to 72 hours after intercourse, usually points to post-coital cystitis and is treated as an infection; pain felt deep in the pelvis points towards endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease or an ovarian cyst and needs imaging. The examination, the pelvic ultrasound and the swabs are performed in the same building, so the distinction is made in one morning rather than in three appointments.
The same applies to recurrent discharge and itching. Four or more episodes in twelve months are not simply "candida again": they call for a swab with species identification, because a part of them is caused by yeasts that respond poorly to the usual antifungal, and for a check of blood glucose, since undiagnosed diabetes is a frequent background. Repeating the same treatment without that step is the most common reason a woman arrives at our centre already discouraged.
Appointments
Call +39 055 470521 or +39 055 485524, or write to [email protected], Monday to Friday 09–13 and 14–19:30. The centre is in Via della Fortezza 6, Florence, five minutes on foot from Santa Maria Novella station, at the Ataf stop in Piazza Indipendenza. Most of the assessment — consultation, ultrasound and laboratory sampling — can be concentrated in a single visit, and the results of the microbiological analyses are available within a few days.