Women’s experiences of vulvodynia: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the journey toward diagnosis
Open accessAbstract
Vulvodynia is the experience of idiopathic pain characterized by burning, soreness, or throbbing in the external female genitalia or vulva and is estimated to be experienced by 4-16% of the female population, yet only half of women seek help regarding their symptoms. Of the women who do seek help, only around 2% obtain a diagnosis. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to explore the experiences of women with vulvodynia on their journey toward diagnosis, by using semi-structured interviews and an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) methodology. Eight women were interviewed, and their experiences were analyzed and interpreted into three master themes, each with constituent sub-themes: (1) The Journey Is a Battle, (2) "What Is Vulvodynia?": Ambivalence Toward Diagnosis, and (3) Patriarchy, Women, and Sex. Overall, women perceived a healthcare system which was dismissive and shaming, with an inadequate knowledge of vulvodynia. This in turn impacted on women's psychological well-being. Psychological understanding, one-to-one therapy, and consultation and training for healthcare professionals may help to improve the psychological well-being of women with vulvodynia.
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A delay in diagnosis may have a negative impact on prognosis.
“and a delay in diagnosis may have a negative impact on prognosis. 49,50”
From Internet-based treatment for provoked vulvodynia: Factors associated with treatment outcomes (2025) · cites this paper as [50]
Women with provoked vulvodynia have reported difficulty in getting a diagnosis.
“women with provoked vulvodynia have reported difficulty in getting a diagnosis”
From Internet-based treatment for provoked vulvodynia: Factors associated with treatment outcomes (2025) · cites this paper as [50]
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- Authors
- Shallcross, R., Dickson, J. M., Nunns, D., Taylor, K., & Kiemle, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Edith Cowan University (AU)
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Kiemle, Gundi
- Venue
- Archives of Sexual Behavior
- Published
- 2018-07-25
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 961-974
- ISSN
- 0004-0002 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-2800
- PMC
- PMC6418055
- OpenAlex
- W2884618421
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 6
- FWCI
- 1.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Archives of Sexual Behavior (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- Australasian Journal of Paramedicine (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Eli Lilly and Company
- University of Liverpool
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Sexual function and dysfunction studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Genital Health and Disease
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Pelvic floor disorders treatments
- Keywords
- vulvodynia, women's experiences, patriarchy, shame, psychological well-being, health professions education, psychotherapy
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Pain, Young Adult, Vulvodynia
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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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