vaginapagina | "Localized provoked vulvodynia"

THANK YOU SO MUCH to those here who encouraged me to seek help from a pelvic pain specialist! :D

I went to see Doctor Ken Levey today at the NYU Pelvic Pain Center (great doctor, if you need one for a pain condition), and was FINALLY diagnosed with localized, provoked vulvodynia, after five loooong years of putting up with gynos who knew nothing about the condition. As it turns out, I have involuntary spasms of the pelvic floor muscles, which cause pain during sex. I began to associate sex with said pain, which in turn, led to mild vaginismus. There's no real cause for any of this (I was never sexually abused, and the emotional abuse that I did deal with was not related to any sexual dysfunction that I now have), which is sort of a bummer. I was hoping that it would be something simpler to deal with, like a bad reaction to the pill or something of that sort. I will have to find a pelvic floor physical therapist, and will probably end up using some combination of biofeedback and dialators, along with some kind of lidocaine-gel cocktail that has a few different drugs in it. I was upset all day at the prospect of being unable to find someone who specializes in pelvic floor physical therapy in the middle of nowhere, but as it turns out, there appears to be one at a hospital close to my university, and I'll be calling her in the morning. I am SO excited--maybe something will finally work for me! Even if I don't feel completely better, it is so great to know that there's a name for this condition, and it's not "in my head," like I've been told so many times.

I suppose the main point of this post is to encourage those who have pelvic pain to find a specialist who can help, rather than allow hoardes of gynecologists to bounce them around from one half-assed treatment to the next. Again, thanks to those who gave me advice!!

x-posted to vvs_community