Vulvar pain may be associated with simple chemical irritation, called contact dermatitis. Common irritants include soaps, shampoos, scented toilet paper, douches, fabric softeners and scented menstrual pads. Women with chronic yeast infections or other vaginal infections frequently have vulvar itching and burning. Unfortunately, the creams used to treat yeast infections (including anti-yeast creams, anti-bacterial vaginosis creams, and steroid creams) can cause itching and burning themselves. This may mean that a woman who was treated successfully for a yeast infection still has itching and burning. She (or her doctor) thinks that the yeast infection has not gone away or has come back, so she gets treated with more cream. This puts her in an endless loop where her burning is actually caused by the cream used to treat a yeast infection that she doesn't have any more. Polypropylene glycol, a common preservative in almost every cream and lotion, is also a common irritant.  Recurrent herpes infection can also cause vulvar pain. Various skin conditions including lichen sclerosis, lichen planus, severe vulvar atrophy, etc. can also cause pain and burning.