How many other women have vulvodynia?
Because many women are reluctant to report symptoms of vulvodynia to their health care providers, and because many health care providers don’t always quickly diagnose vulvodynia, assessing how many women have vulvodynia is difficult. Nevertheless, researchers conservatively estimate that over their lifetime, as many as 18% of women will experience symptoms consistent with vulvodynia. Symptom onset appears to be highest among women between the ages of 18 and 25, and lowest for women older than 35. As noted before, vulvodynia knows no ethnic or socio-economic boundaries, including women with disabilities, sexual minorities, and rural and urban women. Once considered a condition that affects primarily Caucasian women, several recent studies have shown that African American and Hispanic women are equally likely to develop vulvodynia. More studies are needed to understand the risk factors, etiology, diagnosis, and clinical management of vulvodynia.
