Dr. Pukall, is the vulvodynia pain I’m having all in my head? Caroline F. Pukall, Ph.D., CPsych is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

For more information on Dr. Caroline Pukall visit Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

What is Vulvodynia?

Vulvodynia is defined as “vulvar discomfort, most often described as burning pain, occurring in the absence of relevant visible findings or a specific, clinically identifiable, neurologic disorder.” Vulvodynia affects an estimated 16% of women in the general population. There are two major types of vulvodynia that are based on pain location. The first is localized vulvodynia, in which pain is restricted to a portion of the vulva, such as the vestibule, as in vulvar vestibulitis syndrome (VVS). The second is generalized vulvodynia (GVD), in which the pain is more diffuse, involving the whole vulva.