"It's all my fault": a qualitative study of how heterosexual couples experience living with vulvodynia.

Introduction: Vulvodynia, a chronic genital pain disorder with a high lifetime prevalence among women, has a significant negative impact on both women and their partners. Although there is a growing body of literature on the experiences of women with vulvodynia, there has been little research on the condition's implications for partners and romantic relationships. The aim of this study is to explore how heterosexual couples experience living with vulvodynia.

A conceptual model for managing sexual pain with somatocognitive therapy in women with provoked vestibulodynia and implications for physiotherapy practice.

Somatocognitive therapy is a multimodal physiotherapy treatment developed in the early 2000s to alleviate the burden of chronic pelvic pain. In recent years, somatocognitive therapy has been further developed to treat women with provoked vestibulodynia. This prevalent gynecological pain condition is a subgroup of chronic pelvic pain and the most common form of vulvodynia.

Feasibility and acceptability of somatocognitive therapy in the management of women with provoked localized vestibulodynia-ProLoVe feasibility study.

Background: Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is a prevalent chronic pain condition especially among young women. Pain is localized to the vulvar vestibule and is provoked by touch or pressure, such as penetrative intercourse. PVD can have profound consequences, adversely affecting a woman's sexual life, relation to her partner, and her psychological health.

The Tampon Test as a Primary Outcome Measure in Provoked Vestibulodynia: A Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is characterized by severe pain, often induced by penetrative sex. This may lead to women abstaining from sexual intercourse, hence the recording of pain intensity levels in PVD research is often challenging. The standardized tampon test was designed as an alternative outcome measure to sexual intercourse pain and has frequently been used in clinical studies.

If I stop, then what am I supposed to do? The experiences of sexual intimacy of women who live with provoked vestibulodynia.

We explored the experiences of sexual intimacy in women living with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD), a chronic pain condition where pain at the vaginal opening is triggered by touch. We conducted in-depth interviews with nine women who had suffered from PVD. Our findings reveal that their ability to trust and accept themselves is essential to how they cope when pain disrupts their freedom to have sexual intercourse.

Treating gynecological pain: key factors in promoting body awareness and movement in somatocognitive therapy (SCT). A case study of a physiotherapy student´s treatment approaches.

Background: Longstanding gynecological pain affects large numbers of women in the Western world. Somatocognitive therapy (SCT), a hybrid of cognitive psychotherapy and physiotherapy, is an evidence-based approach that has been successfully applied in the treatment of women suffering from such disorders, for example chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and provoked vestibulodynia (PVD), both demanding pain conditions. The curriculum of Oslo Metropolitan University's Mensendieck physiotherapy bachelor's program includes SCT training for the management of PVD.

Coping Patterns and Emotional Distress in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease Who Are Undergoing Lung Transplant Evaluation.

Objectives: Living with severe lung disease like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a very stressful situation. The way patients cope may impact their symptoms of anxiety and depression and physical function as well. We studied how ways of coping are associated with levels of emotional distress and lung function in patients with COPD being evaluated for lung transplantation.

Group-based multimodal physical therapy in women with chronic pelvic pain: A randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Chronic pelvic pain in women is a complex condition, and physical therapy is recommended as part of a broader treatment approach. The objective of this study was to compare structured group-based multimodal physical therapy in a hospital setting (intervention group) with primary-care physical therapy (comparator group) for women with chronic pelvic pain.

Material And Methods: Women aged 20-65 years with pelvic pain ≥6 months and referred for physical therapy were eligible.

Somatocognitive therapy of women with provoked vulvodynia: a pilot study.

Background And Aims: Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is a common persistent pain state among women in the Western world, causing dyspareunia, psychological distress and challenges against fertility. Therapies aimed at relieving pain (physiotherapy) and psychological distress (psychotherapy) are often recommended, sometimes in multimodal combinations. We have previously developed somatocognitive therapy (SCT) as a multimodal intervention, administered by a physiotherapist, to a different group of patients with gynecological pain, i.

Characteristics of women with chronic pelvic pain referred to physiotherapy treatment after multidisciplinary assessment: a cross-sectional study.

Background and aims Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) in women is a complex condition that can seriously impact health and quality of life. Clinical guidelines for CPP place great demands on healthcare professionals, as they require both specialized knowledge about the pelvic area and knowledge of the mechanisms of chronic pain. To ensure best possible assessment and treatment of these women it is important to bring about more knowledge of the special CPP features.

Somatocognitive therapy in the management of chronic gynaecological pain. A review of the historical background and results of a current approach.

Unlabelled: Historic background and development of our somatocognitive approach Mensendieck physiotherapy of the Oslo School is a tradition of physiotherapy founded by the American physician Bess Mensendieck, a contemporary and fellow student of Sigmund Freud at the Paris School of Neurology. It builds on the principles of functional anatomy and the theories of motor learning. We have further developed the theory and practice from this physiotherapy tradition, challenged by the enormous load of patients with longstanding, incapacitating pain on western health care systems, by seeking to incorporate inspirational ideas from body oriented dynamic psychotherapy and cognitive psychotherapy.

The Standardised Mensendieck Test as a tool for evaluation of movement quality in patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain.

Background And Aims: Nonspecific chronic low back pain is a multifactorial biopsychosocial health problem where accurate assessments of pain, function and movement are vital. There are few reliable and valid assessment tools evaluating movement quality, hence the aim was to investigate nonspecific chronic low back pain patients' movement patterns with the Standardised Mensendieck Test.

Methods: Twenty patients (mean age=41, SD=9.

Pain, psychological distress and motor pattern in women with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) - symptom characteristics and therapy suggestions.

Background And Aims: Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) represent a longstanding pain syndrome that affects large numbers of women worldwide. However, no standardized guidelines for PVD treatment exist. In a cross-sectional pilot study we examined 30 PVD patients on multidimensional parameters including pain, psychological distress and quality of movement, in order to obtain a broader understanding of the somatic and psychological symptoms in PVD, and for the future to develop better interventions.

Recovering from provoked vestibulodynia: Experiences from encounters with somatocognitive therapy.

Although provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) represents a significant challenge for many young women in the Western world, little is known about how these women experience therapeutic efforts. The aim of this paper is to enhance our knowledge of the way that the therapeutic process is experienced by women with PVD undergoing somatocognitive therapy (SCT). The study enhances insight into this recently developed therapy through a detailed description of the physiotherapy approach.

Psychiatric disorders and psychological distress in patients undergoing evaluation for lung transplantation: a national cohort study.

Objective: We sought to investigate type and prevalence of psychiatric disorders and psychological distress in patients being evaluated for lung transplantation.

Methods: One hundred eighteen patients were assessed [74% with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)] with the MINI Neuropsychiatric Interview, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), and Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS). Spirometry and the 6-min walk test (6MWT) assessed lung function with data subject to multivariate regression analyses.

"Will I ever be a true woman?" An exploration of the experiences of women with vestibulodynia.

In this study we explored the experiences of Norwegian women living with vestibulodynia, a chronic disease affecting young women all over the world. Using a phenomenological approach we conducted in-depth interviews with eight women who had struggled with vestibulodynia for several years. Our findings reveal that their efforts to fulfill their partners' sexual desires as well as their own represented an encompassing ongoing process.

Treating gynecological pain: the experiences of bachelor students in physiotherapy performing somatocognitive therapy.

Background: Longstanding gynecological pain affects large numbers of women in the Western world. In recently published studies, we have found that a hybrid of physiotherapy and cognitive psychotherapy called somatocognitive therapy (SCT) ameliorates physical symptoms and psychological distress. In this paper, we report on the experiences of undergraduate physiotherapy students performing the therapy to patients with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD).

Posture, movement patterns, and body awareness in women with chronic pelvic pain.

Objective: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common cause of infirmity but is still poorly understood. We studied the clinical characteristics, including body awareness, of 60 women with this diagnosis compared to those of healthy controls in an effort to understand its pathophysiology and to develop a more efficient treatment protocol.

Methods: After prior gynecologic and psychometric evaluation, the women were examined with the Standardized Mensendieck Test to evaluate posture and movement patterns.

Reliability and validity of a standardized Mensendieck physiotherapy test (SMT).

A standardized test was developed to evaluate posture, movement, gait, sitting posture, and respiration of patients with psychosomatic disorders, based on the Mensendieck principles of observation and analysis of motor function. To validate the test and to make a comprehensive body examination of a defined group of patients, it was applied in a study of women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP, ICD10 F45.4).

[Chronic pelvic pain in women].

Background: This paper reviews empirical and clinical evidence of the aetiology and treatment of medically unexplained chronic pelvic pain in women.

Material And Methods: Clinical experience from an ongoing randomised treatment trial supplemented by computer-assisted reviews of studies obtained by a Premedline and Medline search (1996 to February 2002) and data from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the EBM database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness.

Results: The aetiology of medically unexplained chronic pelvic pain is disputed but likely to be multifactorial.