Ethnomedicinal plants used for treating dyspareunia in southern Pakistan

The current research is the first conducted to record the native remedial flora utilised by the occupants of southern areas of Pakistan for the curing of dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse). For the contemporary study, an ethnomedicinal exploration of 3 chief rustic locations of southern regions (Thar Desert, Bahawalpur and Cholistan Desert) of Pakistan was conducted during January 2024 to February 2025. All through the current research, 20 curative flora belonging to 16 families were recognised. Lamiaceae was the chief family with 3 species. Likewise, the major life form was herbs (11 species). Similarly, the technique of formulation was decoction (11 species). The greatest value of informant consensus factor (ICF) was about 0.97 which enabled informants to attain orgasm. The maximum consensus index (CI) value was gained for Rosa gallica L. (98.4 %). Correspondingly, the maximum cultural significance index (CSI) was 52.4 for Nigella sativa L. Likewise, the uppermost value of relative frequency of citation for Tribulus terrestris L. was 0.56. The most used medicinal plants in the study area with 100 % FL were Cocos nucifera L., Cousinia stocksii C.Winkl., etc which were used to treat muscular pain along with contractions in the pelvic area, and to relieve aching feelings in non-penetrative sexual activity respectively. The current study recorded that 3 chief distant regions of southern areas of Pakistan have significant diversity of curative plants, for curing of dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse). Therefore, the present research provides a base for further pharmacological and phytochemical investigation for the assessment of their bioactive compounds that might leads to innovative drug discovery.