ABSTRACT
Historically, vulvar pain syndrome cannot be separated from the earlier description of painful intercourse (dyspareunia). The problem of dyspareunia was first described in the Egyptian papyri scrolls over 2000 years ago. The earliest description of vulvar pain syndrome per se can be traced to T. Galliard Thomas’ (circa 1896) description of “hyperesthesia vulvae” (1). In 1928 Howard Kelly described vulvar vestibulitis as focal spots of erythema that were “a fruitful source of dyspareunia” (2), and in 1959, Robert O’Donnell described a classical surgical procedure for entry dyspareunia, later known as the perineoplasty (3). In contrast to the contemporary, decade-long expansion of pain research into conditions such as post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) and diabetic neuropathy, research into the causes and treatments of vulvar pain syndrome per se have only begun in the last several years.
