The accident damaged a nerve in her pelvis which controls desire, leaving it permanently switched on
The accident damaged a nerve in her pelvis which controls desire, leaving it permanently switched onA mother has told how her life has become "unbearable" after a car crash injury left her with a medical condition giving her an insatiable libido.
Joleen Baughman (39) was hurt in a collision two years ago, which damaged a nerve in her pelvis which controls desire, leaving it permanently switched on.
She now becomes sexually aroused by the slightest movement while sitting, bending over, or even simply walking across a room.
The mother-of-two from New Mexico, USA, said, "It's unbearable. Just my clothes rubbing against me gets me so aroused I can hardly think straight. It's very embarrassing and it's impossible to concentrate."
Baughman has been diagnosed with a rare condition called Restless Genital Syndrome, or Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome.
In the accident in April 2007, Joleen was in a pickup truck with her husband Brian (39), a plumber, when a man high on drugs crashed into them head on.
The ophthalmologist, who had just recovered from brain surgery, suffered severe injuries including a broken spine, and was in hospital for several weeks. Six months later, she began suffering the unexpected side effect.
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"I started getting these intense sexual urges. They would come out of nowhere and completely engulf me.
It would last for most of the day. I was really shocked because normally I have practically no sex drive at all," she saidInitially she and her husband of 20 years were pleased about her new-found sex drive.
She added, "Brian was ecstatic. He was like, 'Wow for once in our marriage, she is the one who wants all the sex'."
But she soon discovered that having sex could not cure her urges and that it started becoming painful.
"We would have sex once and I would feel no release at all," she said. "So we would go again and then it would start really hurting but I would still want sex, even more than before.
If my husband managed to go for a third time it would be agony, but I would still feel no release."
Not PsychologicalShe sought medical help and was told that her condition was triggered by damage to her pudendal nerve, a nerve in the pelvis, close to the genitalia.
"I was very relieved to find out my condition was not psychological," she said. "For a while I thought I was going crazy or that it was somehow my fault.
"I think a lot of people go through those thoughts with this condition. Being aroused pretty much 24 hours a day is exhausting."
| Restless Genital Syndrome |
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Restless Genital Syndrome (ReGS) is a condition only found in women. ReGS causes a woman to constantly feel the sensation of being on the verge of an orgasm.
They are not accompanied by fantasies or genuine sexual desires. The symptoms can better be described as arousal sensations of the genitals than genuine sexual excitement. |
