Exploring the neural correlates of touch and pain in women with provoked vestibulodynia.

Group differences in touch and pain thresholds-and their neural correlates-were studied in women with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD; N = 15), a common subtype of vulvodynia (chronic vulvar pain), and pain-free control women (N = 15). Results from quantitative sensory testing and self-report measures indicated that, as compared with control participants, women with PVD exhibited allodynia (ie, pain in response to a normally nonpainful stimulus) and hyperalgesia (ie, an increased response to a normally painful stimulus) at vulvar and nonvulvar sites. In addition, brain imaging analyses demonstrated reduced difference scores between touch and pain in the S2 area in women with PVD compared with control participants, supporting previous findings of allodynia in women with PVD.

Patient Characteristics by Type of Hypersexuality Referral: A Quantitative Chart Review of 115 Consecutive Male Cases.

Hypersexuality remains an increasingly common but poorly understood patient complaint. Despite diversity in clinical presentations of patients referred for hypersexuality, the literature has maintained treatment approaches that are assumed to apply to the entire phenomenon. This approach has proven ineffective, despite its application over several decades.

Pain ratings, sensory thresholds, and psychosocial functioning in women with provoked vestibulodynia.

Psychosocial and psychophysical functioning in 25 women with and 25 without provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) were examined. Participants underwent quantitative sensory testing and completed psychosocial measures. Women with PVD displayed lower pain thresholds, higher pain ratings, lower sexual functioning and sexual self-efficacy, and higher levels of somatization and catastrophization than controls.

Pain, psychosocial, sexual, and psychophysical characteristics of women with primary vs. secondary provoked vestibulodynia.

Introduction: Women with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD), a common cause of dyspareunia, are typically considered a homogeneous group. However, research suggests that differences on some factors (e.g.

The vulvalgesiometer as a device to measure genital pressure-pain threshold.

The construction and application of the vulvalgesiometer are described. This manually-applied device allows for the quantifiable measurement of pressure-pain thresholds in the external female genital region. A set of five vulvalgesiometers exerting pressures from 3 to 950 g was used in two studies.