Vulvodynia blog post

[jenn-possible.livejournal.com]

Hey all,

Feministing has a piece up about a woman's experience with vulvodynia. I thought it might be of interest to many of you in the community.

A (Chronic) Pain in the Vadge

Edit: Could a mod please tag this? I tried to tag the entry with "vulvodynia," but it told me I can't add tags. Thanks!

Comments

[f0rgetmen0t.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Thanks for posting that. I didn't get a chance to read Feministing today. I've never really heard of this particular condition, though I have had numerous stories about the pains. I didn't know it had a name.

[spinsterkitten.livejournal.com]

Thank you in general for posting this, I have never heard of feministing.com and now I'm hooked!

[pygmybugs.livejournal.com]

I had a friend with vestibulitis, who knew I do a lot of reading and research about natural remedies and had me do some research for her. I think it's crazy that there are a fairly large amount of women that suffer from it, and so little research into why it actually happens and what to do about it. I was even calling up scientist friends of mine to "borrow" their subscriptions to online med-article sites and whatnot, and still wasn't finding jack outside of "vaginas that really hurt for unknown reasons."

Her doctor pretty much gave her the option of a (I might get the term wrong, it's been several years) vestibulectomy? Basically to excize the parts that hurt, which might or might not help. An idea she was thoroughly not fond of, seeing as there was no guarantee it would relieve her pain, and in her opinion was dangerously close to FGM. Although I know it's worked for some people, it was something she wasn't comfortable with.

I'll refrain from getting ranty, but you bet your last $10, if it was something that affected affluent male bits, there'd be 4 different prescriptions, research grants a-plenty, a state-of-the-art laser treatment and specialized private clinics devoted to its cure.

[pinkdramon.livejournal.com]

It's not FGM ok.

I had a vestibulectomy. It's not FGM, ok. Don't tell me my genitals were mutilated. They weren't mutilated, they were made more better!
I don't know I like them better now. At least now I can stick some things in my snatch. And I'm not running back & forth to the bathroom at work all day long worrying & fretting about it & itching & shit.

Whether it works or not, depends on which study you read, who your doctor is, and personal attributes... if you get properly screened for the surgery & have an experienced doctor, the success rate is up to 93%. A lot of studies cite success around 80%. The lowest is 60% and that's from a bit of an older study.

But yeah if this happened to guys...