From ancient Egyptian papayri, to the 1st century writings of Soranus of Ephesus, antiquity provides very early accounts of female dyspareunia akin to modern day vulvodynia (McElhiney et al., 2005). In more recent times, the medical literature of the 18th and 19th century again documents the existence of chronic vulvar pain, which was reported to cause great discomfort and distress in some female gynaecology patients. In 1874, T. Gilliard Thomas in his book A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Women describes hyperesthesia of the vulva with patients experiencing “excessive hypersensibility of the nerves supplying the mucous membrane of some portion of the vulva”  » Read more about: Historical Background to the Study of Vulvodynia  »