What Doctors Don't Tell YouVulvodynia may be the ‘secret’ disease of women, the one that many suffer from but few do anything about. One study has discovered that it is far more prevalent than initially thought, and may affect around 16 per cent of all women aged between 18 and 64.
It often lasts for three months or more, and involves a constant or sporadic ‘stabbing’ or burning pain in the vulva. But because there are often no other symptoms, it’s been discounted as a psycho-sexual problem.
That probably explains why 40 per cent of sufferers don’t even bother to seek treatment, and those who did visited three or more doctors before getting a proper diagnosis.
Sometimes it’s associated with a long history of yeast infection, but it is not caused by sexual intercourse. Many of the women interviewed seem to be more sensitive to pain, and also reported pain in other areas of the body. There could be some association with other pain syndromes such as endometriosis, irritable bowel syndrome, cystitis and fybromyalgia.
Maryon Stewart
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD