The treatment of vulvar vestibulitis syndrome: Toward a multimodal approach

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1997

Publication Title

Sexual and Marital Therapy

Volume

12

Issue

4

First page number:

305

Last page number:

311

Abstract

Vulvar vestibulitis syndrome (VVS) is currently thought to be the main cause of dyspareunia in pre-menopausal women (Friedrich, 1988; Meana et al., in press a), with reported prevalence rates of up to 15% in general gynecological practice (Goetsch, 1991). This syndrome is characterized by severe pain on vestibular touch or attempted vaginal entry, point tenderness to cotton-tip palpation of the vulvar vestibule, and physical findings confined to vestibular erythema and non-specific inflammation (Friedrich, 1987). Irritation and burning can persist for hours or days after sexual activity, and many patients also report localized pain from tampon use, finger insertion, gynecological examinations, wearing tight clothing and exercise. VVS is usually classified as one of the most common subsets of vulvodynia, a general condition of chronic, unexplained vulvar pain. Although it was probably described over a century ago (Skene, 1889), VVS has only recently been recognized as worthy of serious clinical and empirical consideration (e.g. Basson, 1994).

Keywords

Dyspareunia; Pelvic pain; Psychosexual disorders; Sexual disorders; Vulva—Diseases; Vulvodynia

Disciplines

Community-Based Research | Counseling Psychology | Health Psychology | Medicine and Health | Obstetrics and Gynecology | Psychiatry and Psychology | Psychology

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or use interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the article. Publisher copyright policy allows author to archive post-print (author’s final manuscript). When post-print is available or publisher policy changes, the article will be deposited

Publisher Citation

Bergeron, S., Binik, Y. M., Khalifé, S., Meana, M., Berkley, K. J., & Pagidas, K. (1997). The treatment of vulvar vestibulitis syndrome: towards a multimodal approach. Sexual and Marital Therapy, 12(4), 305-311.

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