Mucocutaneous Pain Syndromes

Abstract

The mucocutaneous pain syndromes (MCPs) typically involve the head, neck and mouth. Genital dysaesthetic syndromes (vulvodynia, vestibulodynia, penoscrotodynia) are also common and are discussed in this chapter, as well as in specific genital chapters. For many MCPs no organic cause for their disease can be identified (with the exception of post‐herpetic neuralgia and trigeminal trophic syndrome), and the causes are thought to be related to the complex physiological interaction between the cranial and peripheral nervous systems and the brain itself. It is therefore essential that organic differential diagnoses for MCPs are excluded before a firm diagnosis is established. The management of patients with these diseases is often complex. There is a growing body of evidence that these patients are best managed in specialist, multidisciplinary clinics.