Category: <span>Vulvodynia</span>

It is never normal to experience pain during sex, but painful sex is more common than you probably think. Painful sex can be a symptom of a pelvic pain syndrome called Vulvodynia.

Vulvodynia is defined as pain anywhere in the vulva, which includes the mons pubis, inner and outer labia, the vestibule, the urethra, and Skene’s and Bartholin’s glands. In some women the pain is felt spontaneously, and can be intermittent or constant. This is often called unprovoked vulvodynia or unprovoked vestibulodynia. Other women may feel ‘normal’, with no pain, until they try to use a tampon, have sex, or undergo a speculum examination. This is called provoked vulvodynia or vestibulodynia. The symptoms are present in the absence of infection though the symptoms often mimic the feeling of a yeast or bacterial infection.

If you are experiencing these symptoms, you are not alone and there is help. Vulvar pain disorders affect 16% of women, which is roughly 10 million women in the United States.

While there are a number of different causes of vulvodynia,  90% of women diagnosed with provoked vestibulodynia demonstrated pelvic floor dysfunction. This is one of the reasons why pelvic floor physical therapy is the 1st-line and effective treatment for women with vulvar pain disorders and should always be part of a woman’s treatment plan.