Pain in the clitoris (clitorodynia) has a dramatic impact on the sex lives of women, Canadian researchers report in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Such pain can lead to less intercourse, less masturbation, and less foreplay, they reported. It can also make everyday activities like sitting, exercising, and walking difficult. Research suggests that clitorodynia is a subtype of vulvodynia (pain in the vulvar area). Lifetime cumulative incidence of vulvodynia is estimated to be 8%.
At present, there are no specific criteria for diagnosing clitorodynia and little research had been published on the subject before the current study. It is thought to be linked to conditions like provoked vestibulodynia (pain in the vestibule area of vulva, around the entrance of the vagina) or multiple sclerosis. Or, it could be the result of trauma, like surgery or vaginal childbirth.
With this research, scientists from McGill University in Montreal and the Wasser Pain Management Centre in Toronto wanted to learn more about women’s experiences with clitoral pain and how it affected them.
They surveyed 126 women between the ages of 18 and 69 years (mean age 39.4 years). All of the participants had clitoral pain. They answered questions about the nature of the pain, situations that could worsen the pain, treatments, and the impact of pain on their daily lives.
On average, the women experienced two to three instances of pain each week. Pain episodes lasted an average of 7.70 hours, and the intensity was rated 6.16 on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the worst pain ever). For 29% of the women, the pain occurred daily.
About two-thirds of the women had other pain in conjunction with clitoral pain, particularly in the vulva and vagina.
Almost 37% had undergone some form of treatment, such as medication or local anesthetics. Some women got relief from resting or putting a heating or cooling pad on the area.
Wearing tight clothing, exercising, sitting, and wiping the area after using the bathroom tended to worsen the pain. Sixty percent of the women said the pain interfered with sitting, while difficulties with exercise, sleeping, and walking were reported by 49%, 48%, and 49%, respectively. %.
Almost three-quarters of the women said they had intercourse less often because of clitoral pain. Roughly the same percentages reported less masturbation and less foreplay as well. Twenty-seven percent called the pain “disabling.”
The researchers described two subgroups of clitoral pain patients. The “high clitoral pain” subgroup experienced more severe pain, which was more frequent, lasted longer, and affected a wider area. In contrast, the “low clitoral pain group” had less intense pain that was more likely to be localized to the clitoris. The authors suggested that these subgroups may represent two separate syndromes or different presentations of the same syndrome.
They added that, in their view, healthcare providers do not regularly ask patients about clitoral pain, but should.
“Hopefully, further research and clinical attention will lead to treatment protocols and effective intervention,” they said.
Resources
The Journal of Sexual Medicine
Parada, Mayte, PhD, et al.
“Clitorodynia: A Descriptive Study of Clitoral Pain”
(Full-text. First published online: June 23, 2015)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsm.12934/full