I'm curious, isn't there a kind of nerve block that can be done to alleviate pain in that area? I recall something about that from childbirth information I used to have. I seem to recall it was called a pudendal block...? I googled it and here's a bit of what I found:
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/lab...endalblock.htm

This is a type of local and it may have changed as far as what drugs they use and how they do it. But I figured it was worth mentioning. When one is looking for pain relief any bit of info can be *the* bit of info, ya know?

Not a good pain to have. It would be like other kinds of pain that take you by surprise...such as sudden and severe thumb pain. Sounds silly I know but you don't realise just how much you use and depend on your thumb until you can't use it.