Most people have heard of death grip syndrome in the context of men, specifically, the desensitization that comes from years of masturbating with too much pressure. What fewer people know is that women can develop a version of it, too, and not many people are talking about it. 

The term itself doesn’t have a formal medical equivalent for women, but the underlying dynamic is the same. A Reddit post from a 20-year-old named Dylan recently put a face on it. He’d noticed his girlfriend could no longer finish during partnered sex or solo touch, but could still climax by squeezing her thighs together. He wanted to know if that counted as female death grip syndrome. According to women’s intimate health expert and cosmetic gynecologist Dr. Sima Al Asad, who spoke to Metro about the case, it absolutely could.

“There isn’t a formal medical term for this in women, but the pattern itself is something we do see,” Dr. Al Asad told Metro. “Over time, the body can get used to a certain type of stimulation, especially if it’s repeated in the same way. That can make other types of touch feel less effective by comparison.”

Women Can Get ‘Death Grip Syndrome,’ Too

The body is nothing if not a creature of habit. The body adapts to whatever it’s given consistently. Do the same thing the same way enough times, and it stops responding as readily to anything else. “If someone is used to a very specific level of pressure, position, or type of stimulation, the body adapts to that,” Dr. Al Asad explained. “The more consistent it is, the more the body starts to expect that same feeling.”

Recognizing it is its own challenge. The clearest sign is that orgasm becomes possible only through one very specific type of stimulation, and everything else just doesn’t quite do the trick. It can also just feel like things take longer, or require more effort than they used to, which is easy to write off as stress or distraction rather than something bigger.

The relatively good news is that the condition is behavioral rather than medical, which means it can be reversed. Healthline recommends taking at least a two-week break from masturbating, dialing back pressure significantly when resuming, and cutting back on pornography. It’s not particularly fun advice, but the alternative is a pretty narrow range of options for the rest of your life.

Dylan’s girlfriend, for what it’s worth, has a clearer answer now. Whether that makes things better or worse is between them.