…Vaginal/vulvar itching, burning, stabbing/throbbing sensations; painful sex; urinary urgency/frequency/pain? If so, then you’ve just found a “Hope Chest” filled with information & support. We’ll explain how the conditions that trigger “chronic pelvic pain syndrome” (such as irritable bowel, interstitial cystitis, painful bladder syndrome, vulvodynia, vestibulitis, endometriosis) cause sexual pain, and what you need to know to get help.
Below is a segment about interstitial cystitis,
featuring Dr. E and one of his patients.
This segment aired on the Lehigh Valley, PA
television show, "Talk to Your Doctor."
"In our practice, approximately 85 – 90% of
patients with chronic pelvic pain – no
matter what the cause – experience sexual
pain or discomfort as the main contributor
to their diminished quality of life."
Dr. Echenberg
| I’m very excited to let you know that we have received a contract with Praeger Publishing for our book – Secret Suffering – and we are in the midst of working on it.
Unfortunately, until the book is done, we cannot dedicate the time we want to the Secret Suffering website. We hope you will continue to post your thoughts. Please sign up for our mailing list and we’ll let you know as soon as the book is finished and we’re back online full force. Thanks to all who have been contributing. As always, please feel free to email us and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. |
Read our post about a new article in Redbook magazine online about sexual pain. We urge you all to comment at their website (and ours too!), as the more attention we bring to the subject, the more attention we’ll get from the medical community.
Click here to take the (anonymous) Internet Survey on sexual pain & relationships
We’ve created a community for you to share your story and read others’, hear what experts in the field of sexual pain have to say, get the latest news and more. To make navigating easy, here’s an overview of the Secret Suffering site to help you find your way.
Healing Room
We invite you to share your own story about how sexual and pelvic pain affected your relationships with partners, family, friends, employers/co-workers and other important people in your life. We believe you’ll find, as we did, that revealing the truth of your experience can provide you with relief and aid both you and other patients in knowing you aren’t alone. Just register and log in and you can immediately write and publish your story.
Random Thoughts
Please use the Random Thoughts area to share ideas, issues, concerns and questions. This is the section where you can discuss specific and general topics surrounding pelvic pain, sexual pain and relationships. Just register and log in and you can immediately post.
Expert’s Corner
We will invite health practitioners who are doing serious research to help women with sexual pain and who are dedicated to treating patients with pelvic pain to share their knowledge with you. If you would like to post in the Expert’s Corner, please contact us.
Editor’s Corner
In this area, we will update you with news about the site, our book (also called Secret Suffering), and any other pertinent topics.
Resources Section
This section contains a growing resource of trusted websites, books and other information for:
Newsworthy
We’ll update you with news about research and other information you need to know about chronic pelvic/sexual pain.
The Survey section displays some of the results of our anonymous online survey of women and their partners. We conducted this survey from January 2007 to January 1, 2008. Hundreds of women and their partners responded. Statistics will also be used in our upcoming book.
Events Section
As we grow, our events section will present information on podcasts, online seminars, classes and personal appearances by our own and other experts.
“Secret Suffering” - The Book
Currently, the Products section has information on our book, also titled Secret Suffering, which is a work-in-progress.
And don’t forget to join our monthly mailing list for the latest news and research about sexual pain.
The Secret Suffering website is a joint effort of Dr. Robert J. Echenberg (we call him “Dr. E!”), gynecologist and specialist in the field of pelvic and sexual pain and women’s health for over three decades, and Susan Bilheimer, writer, developer of the PerimenopauseSupport.com website and sexual pain sufferer. Together, we are writing a book called Secret Suffering, the first book that tells the story of how pelvic and sexual pain affects women and their partners, in their own words, and provides information on how to facilitate your healing and work with your doctor.
We have created a glossary of terms that are vital to understanding chronic pelvic pain. You will find these definitions by moving your mouse over words that look like this: vulvodynia.
Our Privacy Policy is very simple – we will never sell, share or distribute your contact information in any way. Period.
We have a very strict usage policy for this site. www.SecretSuffering.com is intended as a safe and comfortable online home for those who suffer from a very sensitive and delicate condition. Unsolicited advertising, spamming, flaming or inappropriate comments will be immediately deleted and their senders barred from future postings.
Please feel free to contact us at any time with your suggestions and comments.
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