Confused, please help

Hi,

Iv been reading peoples stories regarding their pain and I think I have confused myself. My V pain is a rawness, burning and often times itching. I was diagnosed as having Vulvodynia about 8 months ago but Iv suffered from these problems since I was 13 (Im 27 now).
So Iv been reading about peoples pain being eased with muscle therapy and I was wondering if the exercises help with the burning, itching? I know its nerve damage and the muscles and nerves are connected etc but how does it help with the itching/burning?
Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
px

It is really just about learning control to relax the area. As with any pain such as headache, cuts or bruise, if you can relax you can manage the pain better.

There is a lot of agreement that the pain leads to stress and tense muscles, and these two things generate more pain. If you can stop the pain you can stop the building of the pain. Some people do muscle exercises so they are very aware of how to control the muscles.

Also using pain numbing gel or liquid such as lidocaine when you sense that the pain is starting to get bad can help. For example you can put the lidocaine on before they do something that might start the pain burning.

Is the vaginal skin in a raw condition (can this be seen?) or does it just feel raw? Does the doctor see lesions, raw skin, or does the doctor say they can't see anything that is really wrong. There are all three kinds (and all are real!!).

Hi,

Thanks for responding. Regarding the pain its an itch and a burning feeling. The rawness comes from those two. Its been checked out by a stupid amount of doctors (apparently I have a very healthy looking foof!) and I looked at it in a mirror almost every day to see if there are any lesions, cuts, redness etc and theres nothing. To look at my foof no one would think there is a problem but I know how it feels.
Actually my pain has been a lot less and Im more chilled out and relaxed at the moment which I think contributes to the lack of pain.

Thanks again
Px

Does anyone find that lidocaine - I know this might sound bizarre - makes the area more sore? A couple of times when feeling an onset of mild soreness I've put lidocaine on thinking I'll stop it getting worse to find that for a while at least it makes it a good deal more uncomfortable, and again when it begins to wear off?
The last gyno I went to also said that I had a perfectly good look foof bla bla bla but (she was a bitch, so I might well ignore her) said that there was a tiny red spot on the left hand side of my labia minora. Does anyone else have anything like this, is it even relevant? my pain is diffuse and all over my vulva so I'm inclined to think its nothing, seeing as she then randomly claimed I might have herpes but 'she didn't know how I'd go about finding this out'. I have no symptoms of herpes, ie sores etc, and have had a thorough STD check so she might just be mental. I intend to complain about her to the hospital as she was so rude and unkind that she made me cry.

I would try a different product (lots of lidocaine products and gels/liquids) before you are sure. Also sit very still and relax while it starts working. The problem is often 'nerve' based so you need to keep the nerves as quiet as poss!

Both of you mention that doctors can't see any physical evidence of any pain. This is also the case with me and then a doctor did the 'Q-tip' test and this showed that the pain was inside a gland entrance (Bartholin gland) and this is why it could not be seen, and yet could be felt very acutely when the area was stretched or strained eg by intercourse.

I too went through a lot of unsympathetic medical personnel before getting a cool one and got a referral to gynaecology dept. Don't let them get you down and they don't know anything so have to try and imply you are 'wrong' for some reason.