Vulvodynia

What is vulvodynia?

Vulvodynia is persistent pain of the vulva that lasts longer than three months and has no identifiable cause. The pain is often burning, stinging, or raw. Sometimes you feel it only on touch, sometimes all the time. One thing matters here: the pain is real, even when nothing visible can be found.

Where it comes from

Honestly, we don’t know exactly. The NHS describes vulvodynia as pain in the vulva that lasts at least three months and has no specific cause, and lists possible factors: an oversensitive nervous system, earlier infections, hormonal swings, or a weakened pelvic floor. The Flemish Sensoa adds that the pain can be provoked by penetration, a tampon, tight clothing, or cycling, or sometimes comes on with no trigger at all. Often a vicious circle keeps it going: pain tightens the pelvic floor, which feeds the pain again.

What vulvodynia is not

“It’s all in your head.” No. The fact that nothing visible can be found does not mean the pain isn’t real. Vulvodynia is a recognized pain condition, not imagination, and one of the cruelest misunderstandings around it is that women are told for years that it’s “psychological”.

What I see of it myself

I’m not a doctor, and vulvodynia belongs with the GP or gynaecologist, not on a date. The diagnosis and the treatment, from pelvic-floor physiotherapy to medication, belong in the consulting room. But I know the other side of it from my work as a gigolo: how pain can hollow out both desire and relaxation, and how women start to avoid and tense up. One piece of advice doctors often give is to let penetration rest for a while and fill in intimacy differently. That is exactly where a patient, pain-free encounter can fit: touch that stops the moment something doesn’t feel right, with no pressure at all. I don’t fix the condition, but I can let you feel that touch can exist without pain too.

Sources

• Vulvodynia. NHS. Supplies that vulvodynia is pain in the vulva lasting at least three months with no specific cause, with possible factors such as nerve oversensitivity, earlier infections, hormones, or a weak pelvic floor, and treatments such as pelvic-floor exercises, medication, and therapy.
• Wat is vulvodynie. Sensoa. Supplies that it is persistent pain around the vaginal opening lasting longer than three months, provoked by things like penetration or tight clothing or sometimes with no trigger, and that doctors advise letting penetration rest for a time and filling in intimacy differently.

Related terms

• Vulva. The area where the pain plays out.
• Dyspareunia. Pain during sex, which vulvodynia can be a cause of.
• Vaginal dilation. Sometimes part of the approach, in small steps.