Millions of women experience substantial pain and suffering from vulvodynia, which is pain around the entrance to the vagina (vulva). A common treatment is surgical removal of the tissue (vestibulectomy). This case report describes the detailed process of a holistic biofeedback-based intervention that successfully resolved the vulvodynia in a 23-year-old woman. The four-session treatment interventions included teaching diaphragmatic breathing to transform shallow thoracic breathing into slower diaphragmatic breathing. Treatment transformed her feeling of powerlessness, a belief that there was nothing she could do, into empowerment and a hope that she could reduce her symptoms and optimize her health. She also practiced self-healing imagery and learned to change her posture from collapsed to erect/empowered. Each time she felt discomfort or was fearful, her lower abdomen tended to tighten. After treatment, she used this sensation as a reminder to breathe lower and slower and sit or stand erect. After 6 weeks, she once again could initiate and enjoy intercourse and has been symptom free during the 8 month follow-up.
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Summer 2015
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June 01 2015
Vulvodynia Treated Successfully with Breathing Biofeedback and Integrated Stress Reduction: A Case Report
Erik Peper, PhD, BCB;
Erik Peper, PhD, BCB
1Institute for Holistic Health Studies, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA;
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Pamela Martinez Aranda;
Pamela Martinez Aranda
1Institute for Holistic Health Studies, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA;
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Donald Moss, PhD, BCB, BCN
Donald Moss, PhD, BCB, BCN
2Saybrook University, San Francisco, CA
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Biofeedback (2015) 43 (2): 94–100.
Citation
Erik Peper, Pamela Martinez Aranda, Donald Moss; Vulvodynia Treated Successfully with Breathing Biofeedback and Integrated Stress Reduction: A Case Report. Biofeedback 1 June 2015; 43 (2): 94–100. doi: https://doi.org/10.5298/1081-5937-43.2.04
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