ABSTRACT
The “dynias” are a group of chronic, focal pain syndromes with a predilection for
the orocervical and urogenital regions. They include glossodynia, carotidynia, vulvodynia,
orchidynia, prostatodynia, coccygodynia, and proctodynia. In some cases, the dynias
occur secondarily, but more often, despite an exhaustive evaluation, no etiology is
found and in these remaining cases, the cause of the pain remains enigmatic. The controversy
that surrounds this group of disorders, which ranges from questioning their existence
to suggesting that they are purely psychosomatic, is counterbalanced by an extensive
literature attesting to their organicity. The approach to the patient begins with
acknowledging that the symptom is well described, searching for a secondary cause,
and performing a careful psychologic assessment. Treatment is empirical and patients
can often be helped with medications used to treat neuropathic pain, all the while
providing psychologic support and exercising caution toward invasive and irreversible
therapeutic procedures.
