I became hysterical and when my husband got home I fell down on the floor and just begged him to kill me because I couldn’t do my job, I couldn’t be a wife, I couldn’t take care of my child, and there was no reason for me to go on. – Jane (interviewee)
The doctors told me it was all in my head, that I really couldn't be having any pain because I was no longer testing positive for a urinary tract infection. I would pray before going to see each new doctor. I'd walk in the office thinking, "Please. I don't care if I have cancer at this point. Just tell me it's something so I can learn to deal with it or take steps to make it better." – Kat (interviewee)
I was diagnosed with vulvodynia when I was 20, but I know I had it much longer than that. My family physician had no idea that vulvodynia was a condition and even went so far as to tell me that the pain was all in my head. – A patient of Dr. Echenberg
When the pain first started, I silently continued intercourse. When the pain was severe, I just had to stop. We would try at times, but I couldn't stand the pain. Eventually, my husband quit going to bed with me. He would stay up at night watching porn and satisfying his needs. We were married only two years when the pain started. – Survey Respondent

 

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Welcome to the Institute for Women in Pain

Watch the video to your right.
Do you connect with her story? 

For more information on common diagnoses and treatments click here.

The Institute for Women In Pain (IWIP) is committed to offering support, assessment, and innovative, multi-modal treatment approaches for individuals suffering from multiple types of chronic pain related to the pelvic region.  IWIP is dedicated to collaborative research and community education towards the effort of preventing these types of chronic pain in both women and men.

The Institute for Women in Pain is the “umbrella” organization for a number of different specialists who assess, support, and treat all aspects of pain in women (and also now in men). Dr. Echenberg's established pelvic and sexual pain program continues at his same location in Bethlehem, PA. However, we are now networking more closely with a variety of other modalities and practitioners in and around the Lehigh Valley. The providers in this venture have been chosen for their dedication in caring for, treating and honoring the specific needs of individuals in pain.   

Our goal is to integrate as many established practitioners into a vibrant network of physicians, manual therapists, mental health providers, spiritual counselors and others to provide a more seamless approach to caring for patients with chronic pelvic and genital pain disorders.  Most of these practitioners, including Dr. Echenberg, also see male patients, and we would encourage men in chronic pain to seek this type of care within our network as well.

In our pelvic pain program we have seen much success with this type of multidisciplinary approach, and it is our hope that with this Institute will come an expansion of this concept and the ability to accomplish clinical research and community education in the management of chronic pain that crosses multiple boundaries. 

View the trailer for the NEW Upcoming DVD! "Healing the Pain Down There" - featuring Dr. Echenberg & Alex Milspaw.

Click here to visit Dr. Echenberg's  home page

View a FREE webinar by Dr. Echenberg - click here


NEW Summer Workshop Series! Click Here for more information.


Read about our first International Retreat for CPP brought to you by the Alliance for Pelvic Pain.

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